Social Software and Tagging

That Girl Is Top Eight Material

Sex Offenders on MySpace? No Way!

Twitter This

Facebook Responds to the Texas Attorney General's Office

Twitter Is Very Important!

Sole of Houston: Strip Mall Taverns on the Southwest Side

Miss Pop Rocks: Special Hurricane Ike Edition

Facebook Lawsuit Has A Houston Connection

The Secret World Of Dan Patrick, Via Twitter

Dan Patrick -- hyperbolic talk-show host, slightly unhinged state senator -- has joined the Twitter world.Normally, that wouldn't be too exciting, as his Twitter page proves ("Getting ready for the 81st Texas Legislature session").But the decision gave his compadres at Lone Star Times the chance to ... More >>

Tweating Out

Twitter, the microblogging and social media tool that's become increasingly popular among the technologically hip, both young and old, has literally thousands of applications.  How any one person (or company) uses Twitter is unique unto them.While some people (also called Twitterers or Tweepl ... More >>

Burger King Urges You to Abandon Your Friends for Whoppers

I have to say, I wish Burger King's food was better. Because their marketing department is evidently full of interesting people who, unlike other companies who balk at any controversy whatsoever, simply do not care whose feelings get hurt. Burger King has announced the implementation of the Whopp ... More >>

Sole of Houston: Airline Drive, Part 2

The longest walk in the history of the Sole of Houston requires the longest piece. This being a blog and all, we have decided to break it up into three installments.This is part two. Yesterday's is here, and we'll wrap it up tomorrow.In this installment, we venture west down Aldine-Bender from Aldi ... More >>

Facebook Hamstrings Whopper Sacrifice Application

It was easy to guess that Burger King's somewhat mean-spirited Whopper Sacrifice Facebook application was going to draw some kind of fire; less easy to guess was that the fire would be drawn from Facebook itself, because the application, to put it bluntly, worked too well. In the world of Whopper ... More >>

A Call for More Honesty in Facebook Status Updates

I'll admit it...I'm as self-absorbed as the next person when it comes to writing Facebook status updates. I know no one really cares if I'm watching Larry King or filing my nails or whatever, yet for some reason I choose to update my status line constantly. Have you noticed that very few people se ... More >>

Follow Friday for Foodies

The group collective on Twitter, the increasingly popular micro-blogging and social networking platform, has developed a recent tradition called Follow Friday.  Follow Friday is part circle jerk, part honest and helpful advice from your Twitter friends on who to follow if you're new or simply l ... More >>

A New Way to Crawl

Lennie Ambrose, events and marketing director at Saint Arnold and @saintarnold on Twitter.Any Houstonian who's fond of beer is familiar with Saint Arnold, our hometown hero microbrewery.  And anyone familiar with Saint Arnold has been on at least one of their famed pub crawls through Ric ... More >>

Musicians on Twitter

Is the "microblog" Internet phenomenon the next leap forward or just a tweeting waste of time?

Caught In The Net

Is the "microblog" Internet phenomenon the next leap forward or just a tweeting waste of time?

“Lawndale Has Many Friends”

Brian Piana creates an entire art installation to gain Top Friend status

Rev It Up

Roaring engines, screaming guitars and...Net safety?

Move Over, MySpace: Not So Fast

Local musicians aren't ready to write off MySpace just yet

Move Over, MySpace

With friends like these...

The Upside of MySpace

How it's changed things for the better

Better Watch What You're Putting On Your Facebook Page

Allegedly, more people use Facebook than e-mail, and during the last several months, Twitter became a verb. But for Corporate America, that could cause some problems, according to Houston attorney Chris Schaeper. "Twenty years ago, you might be having beers with an old frat buddy from college and ha ... More >>

Social Media Smackdown: Facebook vs. LinkedIn

They tell you landing a job via social media that won't trigger your gag reflex is a piece of cake. They share insider tips and tricks like Carrie and Samantha dishing blowjob techniques over Cosmos. They tell you to keep your nose clean, but if you can't, don't post photos of it online. So whe ... More >>

The 7 Most Obnoxious Twitter Users

​Twitter is faced with a looming problem these days. As it grows in popularity (and in users), Twitter backlash has grown alongside it. Non-Twitter users don't understand the social opportunities associated with using Twitter and how Twitterers can quickly become part of networks that were ... More >>

Local Mayoral Campaigns Use Social Media, and Apparently That's News

​If you don't have eyes, ears, or a television set with that nonsensical converter box, you may not be aware that today kicks off early voting for stuff that's pretty crucial to the Houston political agenda. Not only can you stick your ballot in the box for City Council, City Controller, comm ... More >>

Metro Rolls Out Facebook & Twitter Accounts To Zero Fanfare

​In a press release clearly launched from the Stone Age, the Bayou City's Metropolitan Transit Authority (that's Metro, if you're nasty) puffed up its chest and triumphantly declared today that it is "expanding the conversation by adding social media tools Facebook and Twitter to its communica ... More >>

The Other Winners And Losers Of The 2009 Election

​Every election cycle, there are winners and there are losers. 2009 is no different. Here is a list of winners and losers and brief reason why.WinnersGarnet Coleman -- He was one of the few African-Americans that supported Annise Parker when she began her career. He stuck out his neck once again, ... More >>

Seven Followers, But Her Tweets Are Still Monitored By The Authorities, Maybe

​As much as social media broadens our horizons, be it through interpersonal or business relations, it creates a whole new universe of privacy issues. Friendswood-era college student Ashley Marzullo found that out firsthand last week after making an off-hand remark on Twitter last week on a particu ... More >>

The Twitterverse

More than just cyberspace, the tweet life inspires people to make friends and adopt causes in person. It has a few problems, too.

Twitter: The Five Most Annoying Things You Can Do

No Foursquare or proctologist visits, please​In this week's cover feature, "The Twitterverse", we dive into the world of Twitter to spotlight some of the best things going with the social networking hub, and also uncover some of the worst things permeating the site. We talked to tweeting Texans in ... More >>

Gravitas Not Closing; The Twitter Rumor Mill Continues to Spin

The blue plate fried chicken at Gravitas.​It started with a Twitter update from @jimbo126 this past Sunday, July 18: "Per waiter, Gravitas closing after today's bruch service. Sure felt like it - out of half the menu and no bread! Out of SALAD DRESSING." Before long, what was merely an out-of ... More >>

Christopher Rohrman, Dumbest Employee Ever: Tries To Solicit His Boss' 11-Year-Old Daughter

Christopher Rohrman, using Facebook to sex-chat with an 11-year-old girl​If you think Facebook-sexing your boss' pre-teen daughter is a good idea, you have something in common with Christopher Rohrman. And you don't really want to have too much in common with Christopher Rohrman. At least partly ... More >>

Why, Lord? Now They're Foursquaring From Space

Life just got better​You, like all people, just LOVE Foursquare, the web application that lets you keep up with where people you don't care about are at any given moment.Because if you don't know that someone has earned enough points to be "Mayor of Lupe Tortilla's" or some such crap, your life wi ... More >>

Aggies Shelter In Place With Gunman Report (UPDATED: All Clear)

Texas A&M is in a lockdown mode after reports of a man carrying an AK-47 on campus.The school's "Code Maroon" warning page says no gunman has been found, but police are still searching.Reporters listening to the local police scanner say the shooter is described as a white male with olive or gree ... More >>

Before Networking Was Social: Ten Early Social Websites That Are Dead or Dying

Who needs Classmates.com when we have Facebook?​Social networking today is a foregone conclusion. Many of us wake up and check Twitter on our smart phones or pull up Facebook on our laptops. We surf YouTube videos in our spare time, find dates on Match.com and spend hours reading music, politi ... More >>

What Do Rappers Have Against Facebook?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday (or thereabouts) that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Z-Ro, Slim Thug, hasHBrown, Kirk ... More >>

Why We Can't Be Friends on Facebook

Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends.....​Something interesting happened when social media started bearing down on us a few years back. We began to yearn for friends, and not the kind that you can call up on a Tuesday night for a bull session at the bar, or someone to watch your pu ... More >>

Amazon Crash Hits Reddit, Others: Social Media Armageddon

Now get some work done.​The spinning of the earth has nearly come to a standstill thanks to major server problems with Amazon.com's Web Services, a cloud-computing platform used by dozens of very popular social networking sites. "The cloud," for you luddites, means stuff that's saved in the ... More >>

App of the Week: MySocialMania

It doesn't get much easier than this.​App: MySocialMania Platforms: iPhone Web site: Apple Link Cost: $0.99 Mania seems to be an appropriate word when discussing the crazed use of social media by millions worldwide. From Twitter to Facebook to Flickr to MySpace (God help us), millions of ... More >>

Would You Sell Your Soul For A Million Twitter Followers?

​Recently, Rocks Off was rolling the List o'Craig like we do when an all caps entry screamed at us that for only $50 they would gain us thousands of Twitter followers and Facebook friends. $50? That's less than a the price of a good Lego set! However, is it a good deal? Rocks Off firmly belie ... More >>

Masters of Cyberspace

The Press hands out its first Houston Web Awards.

Saluting C.M. Punk With 5 Awesome Wrestling Promo's (w/ Video)

C.M. Punk lights up Twitter​If you're plugged into social media, the new litmus test for the relevancy of a show, a sporting event, a singular occurrence is "Did Twitter react?" And if they did react how heavily did the reaction clog your Twitter feed. I am a fan of professional wrestling. I ... More >>

Land Of Confusion: A Google Playlist

Join my circle, won't you? ​About a week ago, we finally took up a friend's Google invite offer, and immediately starting tooling around the search engine's new social-media outlet. In Google's words, the new site "makes sharing on the Web feel like sharing in real life." That sounds cool, bu ... More >>

Top 5 Musician Twitter Quitters

​Most of us would be happy to have 1,000 Twitter followers. A million is pretty much unattainable, even for some big enchiladas. Yet we see celebs erasing their Twitter pages as if it isn't the best thing since some 5'3" guy in Iowa took a knife to a loaf of bread. What's driving the Twitter ... More >>

Comment of the Day: If Twitter, Google and Social Media Were Around During the First Moon Walk

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Restaurant Ejects Diner for Tweeting While Eating

Social media isn't always as friendly as it sounds.​Ever since Te House of Tea and its sister restaurant, the now-defunct Saute World Bistro, signed up for Twitter accounts in August 2008 -- the first two restaurants in Houston to do so -- it's become not only de rigeur but almost necessary f ... More >>

Five Reasons Why Perry's Attempt to Block Negative Social Media Content is a Bad Idea

Web users can be psycho. Don't sink to their level.​Controlling negative publicity is tough business in the modern world. Virtually everything is caught on tape -- good and bad -- and the internet provides the ideal place for opposition. From anonymous commenters to bloggers to people on socia ... More >>

Republicans Dominate Democrats...in Tweeting

​Our modern technological age has created a lot of new ways to communicate with others. For some, these means seem cold and impersonal. For those who use them regularly, they are simply another option for sending messages into the giant black hole of data that is the Internet. For politicians ... More >>