Oh what to do with all these online means of expression!?
So with the recent release of Google Buzz, I've been thinking a lot about the outlets of expression I have and the best way to coordinate them. The main ones I try to maintain are this (my blog), Twitter, Google Buzz, and Flickr. I still haven't completely bought into twitter, but since I had already set up an account and it was a simple step to tie it to my Facebook status updates, I went ahead and set it up. So I mostly use it to update Facebook, but there are people who only see it on Twitter. Until my recent lapse, my blog is probably my primary outlet. I like the open forum as opposed to short messages, or the combination of notes, status updates, and photo galleries that I would have to use on Facebook to achieve the equivalent. That and it is public. Flickr gets imported to my blog, which ties them together. Buzz is new enough that I've been playing around with it, but it hasn't built enough popularity to use too much so I just tied it to Twitter as well, but there isn't a way (yet) to have it automatically import my blog posts.
So basically, right now, I update Twitter and that then automatically updates my Facebook status and my Buzz. I update my blog and it automatically imports into Facebook. I update Flickr and it is set up nicely to export to my blog (and thus Facebook), but it is still a manual process.
I have been thinking a lot about the best way to bring everything together, but am still at a loss for the best, and most cost effective, solution. (and yes, I know "stop being online so damn much" would solve these issues) Initially, I thought I would just redo my webpage and set it up nicely so that I it brings everything together in one spot. I can even set up RSS feeds so anyone can subscribe to updates if they are so inclined. This brought me to where to host. I could do the usual and host it on my academic space, which is free (or pre-paid for in a sense), but I would have to be more careful about what I post and would have to migrate yet again when I finish at FSU. There are some free alternatives (like Weebly), but they tend to have various limitations and restrictions. Then I thought of just paying for web hosting. It isn't terribly expensive, but considering I already pay for Flickr and Livejournal (and have a wedding coming up) it seemed a little excessive.
Currently, I'm thinking of using Weebly to set up my site for free (even if it is kinda restricted), keep my Livejournal account but downgrade it to a free one, and keep my Flickr and use it to host all my pictures (currently I only use it for my "nice" photography). Then I reduce my paid sites to one and can (in a semi-reasonable fashion) bring everything together. Right now the biggest issue with that is that I can't embed my blog posts and retain the displaying of pictures. I've read a couple ways to do it, but all involve server access.
Another possibility would be to reduce my paid sites to paying for web hosting and downgrade both Livejournal and Flickr and host everything there. If my internet connection was better (and preferably I had a dedicated server I could hook up) I could just host everything myself (still an option if I can acquire a comp).
Any ideas/suggestions/insights? I think one of the things that makes this harder is that I'm somewhat particular about how things are displayed. Is it easy to take my Buzz or Tweets and embed them in a website? Sure. Does it usually look cheap and crappy? You betcha. Give me some ideas! :-)
So basically, right now, I update Twitter and that then automatically updates my Facebook status and my Buzz. I update my blog and it automatically imports into Facebook. I update Flickr and it is set up nicely to export to my blog (and thus Facebook), but it is still a manual process.
I have been thinking a lot about the best way to bring everything together, but am still at a loss for the best, and most cost effective, solution. (and yes, I know "stop being online so damn much" would solve these issues) Initially, I thought I would just redo my webpage and set it up nicely so that I it brings everything together in one spot. I can even set up RSS feeds so anyone can subscribe to updates if they are so inclined. This brought me to where to host. I could do the usual and host it on my academic space, which is free (or pre-paid for in a sense), but I would have to be more careful about what I post and would have to migrate yet again when I finish at FSU. There are some free alternatives (like Weebly), but they tend to have various limitations and restrictions. Then I thought of just paying for web hosting. It isn't terribly expensive, but considering I already pay for Flickr and Livejournal (and have a wedding coming up) it seemed a little excessive.
Currently, I'm thinking of using Weebly to set up my site for free (even if it is kinda restricted), keep my Livejournal account but downgrade it to a free one, and keep my Flickr and use it to host all my pictures (currently I only use it for my "nice" photography). Then I reduce my paid sites to one and can (in a semi-reasonable fashion) bring everything together. Right now the biggest issue with that is that I can't embed my blog posts and retain the displaying of pictures. I've read a couple ways to do it, but all involve server access.
Another possibility would be to reduce my paid sites to paying for web hosting and downgrade both Livejournal and Flickr and host everything there. If my internet connection was better (and preferably I had a dedicated server I could hook up) I could just host everything myself (still an option if I can acquire a comp).
Any ideas/suggestions/insights? I think one of the things that makes this harder is that I'm somewhat particular about how things are displayed. Is it easy to take my Buzz or Tweets and embed them in a website? Sure. Does it usually look cheap and crappy? You betcha. Give me some ideas! :-)