Category: Misc

Don’t let Social Media Send You To Hell

Posted on by bencassman
A great article by Timothy Flanders :
“Social media works by giving consolations and then creating attachments to these consolations through “likes,” “retweets,” and “followers.” This may seem unbelievable, but try paying attention to how you feel when you receive these throughout the day. Try putting your phone down for an entire day and see if you feel an urge to pick it up again to check for notifications. Most people feel an urge to pick up their phone and check within seconds of having any free time.”
… Read the rest

Getting Work Right – Michael J. Naughton

Posted on by bencassman
An attorney friend of mine just finished “Getting Work Right” and highly recommends it. Here’s a review by another reader of this book:
“This is a short book (171 pages), and relatively easy to read and understand. It examines really important questions for most people, whether we know it or not. Author Michael Naughton is both a professor who examines questions related to work and who is also a board chair of a business firm. So this book is not just academic thought considered in the abstract but is grounded in the daily work world. This is a helpful combination to have when reflecting on work and how it can be more meaningful.
The author looks at issues such as the challenge of integrity in our lives, the purpose of business, what makes good work, good goods, and good wealth. He also considers how our work lives are related to our need for leisure, and what makes good leisure. These are issues that touch upon every working person, but likely not considered by many.
This book is deeply rooted in the Catholic worldview, which offers much that can enrich life and make it worth living….. This book has given me a much deeper understanding and appreciation of work than I had before reading it. “
… Read the rest

You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook; Here’s How to Cull the Dead Weight

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

I unfriended 60 people today. And yesterday. And the day before that. Well, yesterday it was more than 60 because I removed a badly behaved cleric.

Why?

It’s not because they’re Distributists, Sedes, Flat Earthers or Liberals (although I’m sure some % are). It’s because I have this neat little Chrome plugin that tells me who, among my 5,000 friends, do not ‘like’, comment or share my posts. Ever.

In other words, I friended them or they friended me but they never engage with me. Some of them are just stalkers. Others are people who want to unfriend me but politics cause them to merely unfollow (this is mostly family).

Here’s the rub: the way the Facebook algorithm works is that your posts are shown to your friends proportionate to your friends’ engagement your content, and so when people engage, your posts are shown to ever more people, and when they don’t engage, FB stops showing them.

(So if you post and are disappointed at how many of your friends seem to see it, now you know why).

Out of 5,000 friends (as of two weeks ago), 60% had not engaged with a single post in 60 days. I thought that was bad, although it turns out my posts perform very well for an audience of that size.

So what’s the solution? Culling.

Therefore, every day I remove 60 inactive friends at random. Actually, I push the button, and the plugin does the work. In a month I will have … Read the rest