{"id":9176,"date":"2011-01-01T12:38:36","date_gmt":"2011-01-01T17:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/9176\/friendburst-featured-member\/"},"modified":"2011-01-01T12:38:36","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T17:38:36","slug":"friendburst-featured-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/9176\/friendburst-featured-member\/","title":{"rendered":"What NOT to Do as a FriendBurst Featured Member"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, smell that?<\/span> That odor of possibilities and new beginnings? That eau d\u2019 la low chronometer<\/em>? It\u2019s that New Year smell! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When I first read Kevin announce his plans for the \u201cFriendBurst 1000\u201d Club and badges for featured members<\/a>, I was skeptical. Honestly, I didn\u2019t think it was such a good idea. Recognizing the first 1000 members thing sounded exclusive, and maybe a bit premature for a site that has what, 1500 members right now? One thing any social network that is trying to expand should avoid is creating an non-welcoming atmosphere of \u201cus\u201d and \u201cthe rest of you.<\/em>\u201d\u2026 Yeah, it\u2019s great if you\u2019re on the \u201cus\u201d side of the equation, but I\u2019ve been on the other side of that too. Any small social network is going to create some exclusivity; us \u201cground floorers\u201d are going to feel special, like this site is partly \u201cours\u201d\u2026 That will turn off new members. This FriendBurst 1000 thing seems like it could be a legitimization of that attitude. Again, Kevin\u2019s motives are all good: recognizing deserving early members, but I think he should think about how that might effect this site\u2019s growth. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe new members could earn an automatic \u201cFriendBurst Noob\u201d badge immediately upon joining. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I felt the same thing about the \u201cFeatured Member\u201d distinction. We\u2019re all equals here, right? What makes someone deserving of some quasi-aristocratic distinction? It would be just as bad as MySpace handing out badges that said \u201cTop Blogger\u201d or some other nonsense. Goes against <\/span><\/span>libert\u00e9, \u00e9galit\u00e9, fraternit\u00e9<\/strong><\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then I came home after my New Years Night to find a message from Kevin in my Inbox. In it, I found this:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A Featured Member? <\/strong><\/em>I\u2019ve never even sent pictures of my member over the Internet; how could it be featured? OH! I <\/em>AM A FEATURED MEMBER! Well\u2026 Snazzy looking badge here too! Well\u2026 Hmm\u2026 Maybe this Featured Member thing isn\u2019t such a bad idea after all. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Okay\u2026 I should make a \u201cpoll\u201d here\u2026 If someone boasts about their featured member status, do you want to punch them in the nose?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Allrightythen\u2026 Now that I\u2019m featured, what do I need to do? Be extra special nice to people? Meh<\/em><\/strong>. Create more content for FriendBurtst? Well, I\u2019d be doing that anyways. How about what I SHOULDN\u2019T do? <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For example, don\u2019t lead your 7 year-old nephew into making obscene gestures on YouTube videos.\u00a0 There’s a start.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/object><\/p>\n

I swear, it was not pre-planned!! <\/strong>I was just hanging out with the kid and I noticed that the little bits of broken balloons looked like little hats. The skit we made up was entirely spontaneous (but it\u2018s June<\/strong><\/em>! – the kid has a future in comedy, I tell ya). Good thing my sister, the kid\u2019s mom, isn\u2019t on FriendBurst. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

* * *
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What else shouldn\u2019t I do? Okay, this shouldn\u2019t be too tough. How about not ridiculing the developmentally disabled in front of large groups of people? Don\u2019t make fun of the mentally retarded<\/span>. That should be easy, right? Shoot! I\u2019m 0 for 2<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So I was up on stage last night, and after spitting out my kazoo during the first number, I picked it up and tossed it to a guy sitting in the front row in the middle of my set. He looked at me with these big eyes and this wondrous expression on his face, like I was giving him my kazoo, like rock stars throw their guitar picks to the crowd, this tremendous gift. You\u2019ll hear me have fun with the guy in the video below\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Later, in the green room, the young man came up to me, and complimented my performance. I apologized for kind of putting him on the spot while I was up there. He looked at me uncomprehendingly. He talked some more. Then I realized something. He was differently-abled. Dang. I really, really don\u2019t want to make fun of those guys. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

\"\"How about not making fun of large bodied women, particularly when they\u2019re doing something that I love, play basketball. I was out on the basketball court for the first time in several months the other day, and I really felt my huskiness slowing me down. I enjoy basketball on TV, but I can\u2019t imagine that fat girls playing basketball is going to garner very good ratings.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I took this picture off my TV\u2019s program guide this morning\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oh\u2026 they\u2019re talking about the University of Washington Huskies women’s basketball team!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what being a Featured Members means in terms of being a good FriendBurst citizen, but I am definitely not off to a good start. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll conclude this New Years blog with hopes for the team of the state where I was born, my dad\u2019s alma mater, GO BADGERS!! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Today’s Rose Bowl features the University of Wisconsin Badgers versus the TCU HORNED FROGS<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 C\u2019mon\u2026 When it comes to mascots, that\u2019s a no-brainer, a badger would whip ANY frog, I don’t care how many horns it has! Still, I wouldn\u2019t bet on either of those two if they had to face an angry Husky Woman. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Did you catch my YEAR IN REVIEW<\/a> from yesterday?\u00a0 I think its worth a look, even if I wasn’t featured yesterday.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey, smell that? That odor of possibilities and new beginnings? That eau d\u2019 la low chronometer? It\u2019s that New Year smell! When I first read Kevin announce his plans for the \u201cFriendBurst 1000\u201d Club and badges for featured members, I was skeptical. Honestly, I didn\u2019t think it was such a good idea. Recognizing the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11,9],"tags":[420,1128,7,81,160,813],"class_list":["post-9176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friendburst","category-people","category-sports","tag-blogging","tag-football","tag-friendburst-2","tag-joko","tag-kevin","tag-sports-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}