Getting Sociable? Skew 'em!

By John, 7 February, 2013
Type
What's on my Mind?

You can see from the right-hand sidebar that your gas-guzzling Pilgrim is also active on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites.

Due to technical limitations, some sites on which we post are not listed there:

  • Pinterest is a fun one. It's about collections of images. You create "boards" and "pin" to it images that you find anywhere on the internet. There are some really fine images out there. And then there are my humble attempts... check out http://pinterest.com/foodiepilgrim/ 
  • FourSquare is right up your Pilgrim's shady lane! It's a site for checking into and offering tips or photos about where you've been. If you go to some nifty place where we have checked in, you might see a foodie tip: https://foursquare.com/foodiepilgrim
  • TripAdvisor is another good one. When we eat or stay someplace, I often write a review at TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/members-reviews/foodiepilgrim
  • Untappd is an app for craft beer drinkers. You discover and log the beers (and ciders and meads) that you drink and rate them, and read the thoughts of your fellow topers: https://untappd.com/user/FoodiePilgrim 
Some of you who know me well may wonder: why would I sign up for these sites, which harvest my consumer data to sell to soulless megacorps? That's a good question. It's not because I am so infatuated with the latest fad (yeah, that's me...) or because I want to be a part of "what's happening now". It's simple, really. It's striking a blow for the Little Guy, for the foodie artisan and the small farmer. What do you think happens when MegaCorp Int'l 1's computers get distracted from hundreds of entries for Applebee's or TGIFriday's for an entry from Morse's Sauerkraut? The machine doesn't crash, but the skinny little column for "Other" (which means non-chain restaurants) doubles in significance!  The middle-aged white male dined at Other (the Broadway Diner) again! And at Other (the Shawmut Diner) again! Bang! Bang! "Other" is not insignificant! Real Americans spend real greenbacks at real markets and restaurants owned by real Americans who spend real greenbacks...What are you drinking? The Alchemist Heady Topper? OTHER! Rattle that cage! Shake up those soulless spreadsheets! So if you're a Foodie Pilgrim and you spend your money at places that don't have a corporate Marketing department, check out those sites and skew some soulless corporate data!Skew 'em, I say! 

 

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