Sometimes you don’t need words to get your point across. This is one of the simplest and best ad spots I’ve seen in awhile.
Plus, what could be better than dog-treat catching in slo-mo?!?
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From the category archives:
general
I live in Boulder, CO. It’s my adopted hometown, and I like it. I enjoy the active culture, and the access to outdoor activities. I enjoy the attractive people, and the attractive places they congregate. I enjoy the hot tech scene, and the group of friends I’ve developed through it. I enjoy the sunshine.
It’s no surprise these attributes have caught people’s eye, and it’s no surprise that with people like Andrew Hyde repping the town so fervently, that it’s grown a significant following of its own. Megan Soto’s recent blog post and the comments therein are but the latest example. Just Summize ‘Boulder’ and you’ll get another.
My point here is not to discourage Megan - she’s a friend - nor to discourage others who dream of living in Boulder some day. In fact, I encourage them to come visit, live, and enjoy what we have to offer.
Rather, my point is to try and paint a more realistic picture of the city. Because frankly, while Boulder is nice, it’s no paradise.
There are dirty people here. There are too many bikes, and they run too many stop signs. There are mountain lions, and they eat humans. There are college students, and they don’t act like humans. There are 12,00 foot peaks, but they’re far away. And fuck, there’s not much water here. Or nice trees.
Minor quips aside, the bigger point is that in imitating paradise, Boulder misses out on the one thing I think makes a place divine: reality. There’s an undeniable lack of real-ness here in Boulder. Therefore the city is pleasant, but only for a little while, and only in small doses. To me, it’s rarely fulfilling, or truly life-enriching.
In fact, after an extended piece of time here, I’m readily willing to trade its comforts for everything a less comfortable place has to offer. On a Friday night lately, I’m more apt to go bowling in Longmont with all my toothless brethren than I am to sip $7 drinks in one of Boulder’s bars.
I could just be one reality-starved country boy stuck in a city that’s getting old. Or I could be highlighting an important reason why a city full of promises will fail to deliver on all of them.
Which one is it?
You tell me.
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My name is Brian Burns, and I’m a Tweetaholic.
OK, Good. I’m glad to get that out of the way.
These past few weeks have been a tough one for the service, though - accounts have been hacked into, and tons of new spammer accounts have popped up. I’m not going as far as some to swear off the participating alltogether, but my own user experience has grown increasingly frustrating lately, and it’s at least time for a change.
It used to be that I followed nearly anyone who followed me. If they weren’t over-the-top spammers (no, @penisenlarger, I’m not falling for that one), and as long as I thought they might provide some value, I added them to my stream.
However, especially recently, that approach has gotten me in trouble. I’ve gotten a lot of follows from people with 2,000+ followers themselves, who look like regular good users. The problem I find when I follow them back though, is they aren’t there to interact or to add value like regular users, but just there to bump their own creds, and boost their own products. They’re trying to build a brand (theirs), not a community.
This approach is tiresome… especially as I see it over time. Rarely is any one tweet insidious, but never really are the collection of their tweets of any value. I go along thinking that they may be at some point - that I’ll be able to pick up on something I can use - but there’s just no space for interaction in broadcasting.
So, this is my note to these people:
I have a new policy. I only follow people providing immediate value to my stream. Follow and unfollow as many people as you want. Get as good a following/followers ratio as possible. Even reply to some people (so it looks like you’re going back-and-forth). But from this point forward, you can’t fool me. I just unfollowed you.
My new policy, only a day later, has already significantly streamlined my stream, and delivered a much better experience. I’m glad I did it.
YOUR INPUT: What about you? What is your twitter policy? Has it changed recently, with the greater influx of stupidity?
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