Numinous

Despite the many fyi's going around about the new facebook there seems to be alot of (understandable) confusion about how it currently works. Here's some observations made about the latest, current functionality of facebook that addresses a few basic, frequently asked questions in brief (meaning: the information below may no longer apply should Facebook continue making wholesale changes - pls keep that in mind). Hope this info is helpful. (Note: special thanks to Ambassador Michael Faraday for supporting friends of friends netiquette on Facebook ).

Question: What's the difference between "Status Update", "News Feed" and "Live Feed"? -- In short: Status updates are when you change your "status" by manually typing into the "what's on your mind" box within your facebook wall. "News Feeds" are feeds display based upon whom you have allowed for view in your stream and factors such as: whether linked, liked, commented, or shared. And "Live Feeds" are real time updates ONLY. Live feeds get quickly buried, and they do not necessarily appear as a "News Feed" or as a "Status Update". To view ALL activities within your facebook profile, you may want to manually click on: Live Feed, News Feed, AS WELL AS Status Updates to see the variety of activities occurring. See screenshots below for visuals on these differences. 

Question: Why don't I see the stuff I or my friends post on the wall show up in Status Updates or in the News Feed - I only see it appear in LIVE feeds? The reason you do NOT see every link, video, share etc. that you or others post appearing in status is because: it is not considered "status" - it is considered general activity with content attached. Type something directly into your "what's on your mind box" - with no additional content. Click Enter. You will now see your status update (refer to screenshots below). // The reason you are not seeing latest videos, articles, links, shares etcv. appearing in "News" feeds is because it is not considered "news" until and unless it fulfills a variety of criterias for example: if anyone has linked it, shared it, commented on it - in addition to: whether or not you or your friends have actually manually added one another to appear (and are not hidden for example). Think of "news feeds" as content that appears according to a type of popularity rank that Facebook determines is "news to you" via a very imperfect logic. That's not exactly the truth of it, but a simple way to describe it.

Question: In my feeds I am seeing 455 posts from the same facebook user and also some of the same content keeps appearing as "news" when comments are continually added to a thread that actually was from like 4 days ago. This is annoying. I want to see other news and live updates from all my friends - not just a few that bombard the stream. How can I do that? You can determine what appears in your "news" and "live" feeds by hiding specific users from appearing in your streams. You do that by hovering over any post in the live feed OR news feed and click "hide". You will then see a confirmation message appear: "So and so has been hidden from your feed - in the future you won't see so and so in your feeds."

Question: I am not seeing some of my friends appearing AT ALL in live feeds. Why not? This phenomena of missing friends in the Live Feed is likely attributed to Facebook application updates this month (10/2009). What I have found works to CONSISTENTLY see all older and current new friends is: to MANUALLY add those friends to your Live Feed by clicking > Live Feed > scroll to bottom of page > Click EDIT OPTIONS link > Click VIEW RECOMMENDED FRIENDS. Then from here, manually click EVERY SINGLE FRIEND you want to appear in your feed. Clicking friends highlights them "blue". Friends you do not want to appear in your feed you can unclick so they are de-highlighted (i.e.: appear white). So far, I have found as of now with these new updates, Facebook DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY "add" new friends into your Live Feed. You must do this yourself manually, ongoing by going into Edit Options (as described above) and highlighting them to be included in the Live Feed. Additionally, while you are adjusting these options, you may want to also change Facebook default "250" posts display to something like 500 or more because that number determines how far back / how much content will be pulled in for your personal feed view. FYI. 

Question: People keep suggesting to remove activities from the feeds like "who is friends with who" and other things like that which bog down the feeds. How do I do that? Simply go to Settings > Privacy Settings > News Feeds and Wall. From here you can go UNCHECK autoposting of relationship status, friends added and other redundant information that you (nor your friends) may want bogging down the community feeds.

Screenshots:

Being "busy" always makes me feel disconnected. You know that nagging sense of resistance, as if you are swimming against the tide. Almost always when that happens the dominant thought in my mind is rationalizing "how important" whatever I am doing is. Thoughts like, "I must get this done" with the mind racing through an array of "must do's". And the result of it is: that's the moment I am no longer in the flow, no longer connected, but projecting my big task list of post-it notes, work, laundry, errands and all the rest into each moment, racing the clock and hating every minute of it.

It seems like an impossible task to just STOP. Like right now. Stop doing and get above that high demand level of what I expect of myself. And I suspect far too many of us, probably many more than would care to admit, also experience these exact same things.

I am learning how to "shut it off" and stop. The moments I can accomplish that one thing, stopping my mind, somehow make the endless array of "other tasks" so much more doable  and, less stressful.

We are being disconnected from wisdom ...by our so-called "knowledge". Stress, fear, anxiety, depression and burn-out contantly increase thru bombardment of mental information.. We are held in a continual state of "high beta"... That's when we start becoming impatient, aggressive, shortminded... We become imprisoned in our minds.. the left brain mentality equals our limitation and resistance. 

One of the ways I am overcoming my sense of "constant high beta busyness" is through meditation. I know lots of people talk about it, but it always felt to me like something distant, impractical - in other words: not "doable". How could there be time to stop when I can barely keep up with the list of "to-do's" I already have? Well, I found out I was right. There wasn't time. Until I made the time. So I started stealing some. And I am proud of myself for taking "time" that my mind likes to tell me I don't have... stealing time from smack in the middle of some other planned task. It is actually working! So meditation isn't just for the "super spiritual" and ephemeral after all. It is also for coders, construction workers, media managers, writers, estheticians... it can work for everyone and at any time. I am finding out that it is "ok" to take even just a few minutes to consciously disconnect from my busy mind - in order to consciously connect instead to a silent one.

I am sharing a video about this here because it is on point to the subject, and because the speaker is not just saying words. They are speaking from direct experience. It inspires me to continue with stopping my busy mind. I hope it inspires you also today.

An Interview with Pattie Maes of MIT Media Lab

• Failure is not fatal but failure to change might be.

• Ability is a poor man’s wealth.

• It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

• Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

• What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.

• You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

• Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

• Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

• Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

• Never mistake activity for achievement.

Excerpted from CSMonitor via Don Hornsby's beautiful post about John Wooden. I loved all John's quotes but the one in bold was particularly striking. It shows a beautiful spirit to have lived that kind of generousity.

I love the concept of hip onesies! Reckon (aka Chris Weige who is a genious artist and poet) designed them for BlackWagon. They even have an IGGY POP one! Blondie, Grandmaster Flash and Frida Kahlo are cool too - even more so on a baby onsie :) You can buy these and others at the Black Wagon shop. Check out more of Chris Weige's awesome work at his Reckon.ws site too; he's built a whole universe of art, poetry, literature, videos... amazing!