I know, my title is a bit elementary and a bit over the edge, but it’s true: 98% of YouTubers are uneducated, racist, full of hate and some, yes I said some, are even inbred. <gasp!>

First, I want to say that I’m not a fan of big generalizations and you can’t solve the world’s problems by just putting ALL peoples into one category. Second, the 2% of YouTubers who have something productive to say, who are educated and have common sense, are the ones reading this. So please don’t think I’m directing this to you. Also, even though I personally think YouTube should incorporate an 18+ yr old minimum age limit, I want to say I’ve been so impressed with teenagers such as SpencerC, Chris Farley and Max Murphy. These three are absolutely what America should be proud about in regards to how we raise our children. Props to all three of them.

Now, it’s time to discuss my beef with YouTube. I realize I’m actually crawling down to the level of these people’s “patheticness” by discussing these examples, but how can I not? It’s truly getting out of hand! For any of you who have posted a video, I will be willing to bet you’ve received not just ONE but maybe even 50 to 100 insane, racist, cruel and uneducated/stupid comments from users on YouTube. Nine of out ten times whenever I post a video, there’s always that one 14 yr old who thinks he/she is so cool because they called me a “faggot.” Oh, they really got me… [blank stare]

So I began discussing this a while ago within my social network community. Do others feel the same way? Neal Cambell, Geekbrief.tv producer, was one of the first to agree with me. He told me he never allows comments on YouTube anymore due to some of them coming back hateful. Cali Lewis, his counterpart, said the same thing. I then began getting several responses on Twitter that almost every single person agreed with me! YouTube lacked legitimacy because there were too many idiots on YouTube.

So why is that? Well, a few of the people I mentioned above think it’s because it doesn’t take any education to register. You simply need an email address and the simplicity of YouTube allows for anyone and everyone to upload and post material. Sure, YouTube has a “spam” marker, but does it even work? I recall spamming several people’s comments when I posted something about my brother who had PASSED away, yet they all seemed to keep coming up. “You’re such a fag… who gives a ‘insert curse word’ about your brother.” It was brilliancy as its best.

I have countless examples (personal and others I’ve just recently viewed) where I can show you exactly what I’m talking about. Here’s one I found in literally 20 seconds. PhillyD.TV is a guy I subscribe to on YouTube because he has a funny show. He’s a bit controversial but he’s educated and researches what he’s talking about. He brought up a story of a teenager who was decapitated at Six Flag’s in Georgia. Obviously, a heartbreaking story for this teen’s family and yes, the kid didn’t make the smartest decision. Here’s just ONE out of many video responses I found to this news piece. All I need to say is “wow…” Also, look at the comments on this guy’s video post. It proves my point in so many countless ways.

One more example, just because it’s too pathetically sad and funny. This “eighteen” year old girl (mikanikki07) responded to one of Phil’s videos with “like oh my God, you guys. Like oh, this is like SO GAY. Like oh my Gaaaaaawd.” So I simply wrote “hey, congrats on your first YouTube post, but seriously… that’s gay? Really not appropriate.” Little did I know she and her “boyfriend” would then begin harassing me with comments calling me an idiot, a pedophile and other hysterically funny names. Five minutes later, she SENDS ME A FRIEND REQUEST! [total blank stare]

So, am I prude? Absolutely not. I’ve never minded cursing when it’s necessary. Controversy never upsets me and in all honesty, I got over the “gay name calling” in 10th grade. I’m very proud of who I am. Also, I rarely post things on YouTube anymore, so this is not about me getting my feelings hurt and not being able to take it. Trust me.

My point in this post is where is there a huge community, like YouTube, where the viewers have truly something to say. The comments are constructive and engaging and you’ll never have to see the word “n*gger, f*ggot, or b*tch” in a sentence? AND the show has the mass audience that YouTube has? Sadly, I don’t think one exists just yet.

Do the 98% of YouTubers who suck prohibit you from posting material on YouTube? Do you get upset when the antics of a three year old halt the communication of hundreds of people talking about an important topic? Lastly, do you allow comments when you post on YouTube? I’d love to hear your comments below…

God Bless America! A gorgeous, amazing show!

http://www.vimeo.com/1283226

Maybe only weather geeks will love this, but I don’t care… I’m going to write about it anyway. So Deco and I are sitting on my couch watching the History Channel about the American Revolution when all of a sudden I heard the loudest BANG. It is the 4th of July, but it’s 3:00pm so I thought that it surely wasn’t a firecracker. What was it?

An unexpected thunderstorm! I know, nothing exciting, right? Well, to me it is. Considering Dallas has had a heat wave the last few weeks with almost no rain, this was a nice lil’ surprise. And what a natural contradiction… sun and rain?! I love it! Happy Indepdendence Day!

http://www.vimeo.com/1282332

Steve:

On this day three years ago, you left us. You fought so hard. You never gave up, until you had to. You sat there, in your bed, lifeless for the last two weeks of your life. Cancer had ravished your body to a tiny, skeletal frame. Yet, on the day you transformed into a spiritual being, you were able to utter your last words to Mom. “Take care of my family,” you said. Mom then gave you the blessing to stop fighting, to stop worrying and to stop trying… and just go.  Go be with God. And you did.

That day will live with me forever. It was a day that changed our family in ways I would never have imagined. Your precious daughter, 10 years old, wondering what life was going to bring her next. Your other daughter, not yet born, would come into this world without her Dad. It didn’t make sense. Why would God do this to you? Why would God do this to us? Questions I will never solve.

So, three years later, where are we? Well, your daughters are gorgeous. I love my nieces. Presley and I are closer than ever before. Savannah, she’s growing up so quickly. I wish I could be home to see her grow up, but Mom and Dad keep me posted. And Mom and Dad? Well, I wish I could say they were better, but they’re not. It changed them in so many ways that only God’s grace has kept them moving forward. But we’re a strong family… you know that, especially you.

I’m still in Dallas. I wish you knew James. It’s been two years now… an amazing feat for me, huh? You would really like him. He reminds me of you sometimes (the stubborn part! hehe). I’m still dealing with losing my only brother and there are days I’m great. I’m strong. I have to be for Mom and Dad. Then there are days I lose it. Things don’t make sense. My anger doesn’t subside either with God. He and I are still battling it out, although I know, He will always win. I don’t hate him, though. I just am mad.

What gets me the most, now that you’re gone? I took your advice for granted when you were hear. Brotherly advice is something I crave. I want to know if my decision is right or wrong. I want to know someone is there to protect me, just like you did when I was little. I don’t have that anymore. Guess that’s part of life.

But I know you’re listening and that means everything to me. I hope you’re happy, I hope you’re filled with love and healing and I can’t wait to see you again. I love you.

Your lil bro,

Jeff

Web 2.0 is really awesome, if you ask me. One of hundreds of reasons why I love Web 2.0 is the creativity that websites are creating on a daily basis. Have you ever wanted to express yourself in a way that has never been done before? Well, I have the website for you.  My friends, you must check out Wordle.

Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg. According to Wordle, Wordle is “a toy for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.” In other words, it’s a way of expressing yourself by something you write and then Wordle uses an algorithym to create an artistic piece of what you expressed in the words you wrote. I hope that makes sense.

So, the best way for me to show you (besides trying it out for yourself) is to show you my 2 Wordles that I created. I hope you enjoy them.  The first wordle is about 3 paragraphs I wrote about who I am, what makes me the person I am and what describes me.

My second Wordle was created by taking every word in this blog post and creating a Wordle from the words in this post.

So there you go! How cool is this? Go to Wordle and try yours out and leave your HTML code in the comments or show us a link to yours once you save it.

So from time time I will write a post relating to a new social network or the power of social networks.  Social networking and social media have changed my life, in the last six months, in ways that I never imagined.

Social networking used to be known, simply, as Facebook or MySpace.  Twitter came along in 2007 (but really became a hit this year) and that infrastructure began changing the way I communicate to people.  It also widened my network of “friends” and these past six months, I’ve met some amazing people. The best way for me to explain this is through my own, personal story:

If you recall, I’ve written a few posts on specifically how social networking is changing the foundation in how we connect with others online.  Whether it’s by finding a job with Twitter or interacting daily with people outside of your physical network, social networks are here to stay.  Web 2.0 isn’t 2.0 without the social networking piece embedded into it.  So, this post isn’t about me trying to persuade you that social networks are important; rather, it’s here to show you how it’s helped me in the past 6 months.

I’ve been awarded three part-time jobs thanks to my networking via Twitter, Plurk and blogging.  I’m a guest writer on Culture Feast and PC Authorities.  I’ve also had the opportunity to create corporations’ profiles on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.  Obviously, the extra income has been a pleasant surprise.  I recently was interviewed by Brazen Careerist because I started my company’s first-ever recruiting approach using social networking and microblogs.

I’ve been a guest on The Neal Show and when I wrote about fixing Woopra on a Mac, Geekbrief’s Cali Lewis mentioned me on her show which caused my Woopra post to be one of the highest read posts I’ve ever written.  I still get around 30 to 40 unique hits per day on that post which was written a few months ago!  How did this happen?  Luck had a part of it.  Social networks had the rest.  Twitter has some of the most amazing people I’ve ever had the chance of knowing.  99% of them are educated, interested in what you have to say and they will support you in almost anything you ask.  I don’t find too much on other social networks.  Plurk, Twitter’s first cousin, has that beginning support, but it’s not as strong as Twitter, in my opinion.

I’m also currently working with Tony C. Hall on a podcast that he and I will be publishing very soon.  It’s all about microblogging and I really think it’s going to be a great success.  I wouldn’t have had the chance of meeting Tony if it weren’t for social networking.

So, in my eyes, social networking and social media have changed my life in the last six months.  Those that know me will know this blog post isn’t me bragging.  On the contrary, it’s just showing those who may not “get” social networking’s power to understand how “little ol’ me” has blossomed in this wonderful world of technology.  I may not be a Cali Lewis or a Michael Arrington, but I am Jeff McCord… and well, that’s just moxie to me!

Share your story… how have social networks changed your life or your perspective in 2008?

Summer time reminds me of beaches, oceans, pools, BBQs and magazines.  Magazines?  Yes, magazines.  For some reason, I’ve always associated summer time with reading one of my most favorite mags while laying out at the pool.  Or if I’m blessed to be able to go to the beach during a summer vacation, I always take my favorite mags with me.  Some people read books… I read People.

So that got me thinking.  What are my favorite magazines?  I’m always interested in knowing what magazines are out there. I read a lot of my news and celebrity gossip online these days, but there’s still something about flipping through pages that gets my brain turned on!  I know, it’s odd.

Here are my top five favorite magazines:

(1) People - People Magazine has to be the best celebrity magazine there is. It’s weekly (which means you don’t have to wait 30 days to get your new one) and People is generally known to be a reliable source in regards to news and “gossip”.  I can’t stand magazines that sell nothing but trash (Star, Inquirer) and People is definitely in a class of its own.

(2) Macworld - I’m a geek, what can I say? Ever since I bought my Macbook on 12/31/07, I’ve been blessed with a free one year subscription of Macworld.  It’s the best tech magazine I know.  Every month there are new tips, tricks and informative articles on anything related to my favorite tech producer, Apple.

(3) Newsweek - I like to read about politics, our economy, national issues and controversy. What other magazine encompasses all of these into one, wonderfully written monthly magazine? That would be Newsweek. Newsweek covers everything including Entertainment, Technology, News and Health topics.

(4) The Advocate - Now, I get that you may not like this magazine because you’re not a “mo”.  But I love it.  The Advocate is one of the only gay magazines that covers news, politics, opinions/editorials and local issues pertaining to the gay community.  It’s very informative and also entertaining (and it’s totally G-rated, ps).

(5) Pottery Barn - Now who would I be if I didn’t include a magazine about home decor and fashion? I love my Pottern Barn subscription.  I always enjoy the moxiest couches, candles, bathroom set ups and coffee tables. This one is a toss up, though.  West Elm has a great magazine subscription too. (disclaimer: James works at West Elm so we’re a lil’ biased)

So my favorite readers, what’s your favorite magazine?  Give me a comment below and tell me why it’s your favorite!