Instagram woes

A text from a friend, re: liking her Instagram photo. It's all about 11 likes! 

Learn what else works on Instagram with this Mashable chart.

Facebook photos

Putting up Facebook photos as a post-grad adult seems to be a big deal!

I warned Twitter that photos would be going up before my friends texted about getting notifications. 

Funny text from a friend in Chicago 

Within an hour, my ~200 photos solicited nearly 94 notifications.  Geez! 

Why to work at your company's headquarters

At lunch with one of my former professors, we were discussing livable cities and companies in advertising and marketing headquartered there. It wasn't until then that I realized all the benefits I receive at work because my company's Chicago office is our headquarters.

Just a few examples:

1. Accessibility to higher leadership
Although authority figures travel a lot, both the president and CEO label Chicago as their main office - as does the majority of our managing board. Whether you are in a meeting or just an elevator with someone, you can always access those that run the company in some form or another. 

2. Learning opportunities
From brown bag lunches with individuals within the company to other company visits, there is always an emerging topic in media being addressed, measurement solution presented or industry issue to learn about. Other companies often come in to "schmooze" us with tutorials and put themselves on our radar, so it's nice to be in the center of that.

3. Free lunch
I'm not kidding! Groceries and food are not one of my main expenses because I have so much free food at work. From  free Kellogg cereal for breakfast every morning, lunch meetings and vendor dinners, I have gotten to try many Chicago restaurants that I otherwise couldn't afford :).

A photo of my company's headquarters in the Leo Burnett building at 35 W Wacker. Source: Wikipedia

The future of children in America

On the CTA this weekend, I sat across from a mom and her daughter in a stroller. The mom was zoning out in her own world, and the stroller child below was occupying herself perfectly playing games on her mom's smartphone. This is our future! 

A kid playing with her mom's smartphone on the El

Growing up in the information age

A few weeks ago, I wrote about social media anxiety and our need for instant gratification. Recently, I've downloaded Chicago's TransitStop app from the CTA, giving up-to-the-minute updates on when the next train or bus will arrive at your destination. Growing up in the age of constant, accessible information - we have grown to accept and expect these apps to be present, which I've learned is both a blessing and a curse. It's great to know when the next train is coming, but also upsetting to know if it will be a longer wait than was anticipated. 

Recently while headed back home, I was about three stops away from Howard- the station where I transfer to the Purple Line closest to the north suburbs. Out of curiosity, I checked when the next purple line train would arrive, hoping it would be a seamless transfer.

Needless to say, my heart started beating faster when I saw that not only was the train arriving in a minute, but the next one wasn't for 14 minutes. Parts of me felt like it was a race and the train had to make it in time for my transfer, and I actually started to get eager and anxious.

The TransitStop app while waiting for the Purple Line

A different part of me thought, "Would I really have known the wait time was 14 minutes if I just got outside and waited?" Probably not. We have plenty to entertain ourselves these days, with smartphones, reading material and music or audio books right in front of us - that it was going to move right along anyway. 

With the vast amount of data and information available at our fingertips, we can't let information that was once inaccessible stress us out as much as it does. 

Millennials in Adulthood

Wanted to share a link to a recent Pew Research Center study on Millennials in adulthood.

The facts and figures show that we are less trusting, more optimistic, get married later, and overall- less patriotic, religious and environmental. The one that shocks me the most is less trusting. Why is that?
 

Source: Pew Research Center

Voting - why we don't do it

Earlier last month, there was a local primary election. I would have had no idea, except for this piece of mail I received a few days beforehand.

Somehow, this direct mail was not enough to remind me to vote, nonetheless - where to go for the election. Our generation has grown up in a world with constant communication - emails, texts, push notifications and more. Anything we actually need to do is reinforced multiple times before it actually needs to get done, and most of the time that reinforcement is digital communication.

One example of this is applying for graduation. This is something important enough that we should be able to proactively seek out this task and ensure that it gets done, but we know the university will send us multiple reminder emails with step-by-step instructions on what to do. It's how we have grown up.

It's fascinating to me that we live in an age of information, but no one from the city, state or government has our email addresses. The NSA has our metadata, phone information, and companies like Facebook and Google have our contact information, but our cities do not. In order to remind me how to vote, I am mailed a postcard with three options- going to an election day polling location, an early voting location or voting absentee online- which becomes a nuisance once all registration is complete. So many corporations and retail stores have our email addresses to remind us to shop, go to the bank or take other actions, but our city or country can't simply remind us to vote on the communication vehicle where we are most attentive.

According to the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, of eligible voters, voter turnout was estimated at the following rates for presidential elections: 54.2% (2000), 60.4% (2004), 62.3% (2008) and 57.5% (2012). If this is for presidential elections, one can only estimate that local state or city elections have a lot lower numbers.

Some say Millennials were "coddled" by our parents, but we must acknowledge digital communication as a generational shift rather than Millennials' lack of interest in government matters or being proactive at all. In order to stay relevant, cities and politics must "catch up" on where and how to best communicate with their target audiences to send the proper calls-to-action.

Dual screens: a lifesaver

The best thing I've done for focus and productivity at work: set up two screens as monitors.

My desk at work

When I started working in August, I was lucky to be greeted with a laptop and desktop, but had the same image appear on both screens. I used the laptop to walk around the office for meetings and the desktop while I was sitting down and wanted the big screen.

My busy time started to die down and I had some extra time, so I called our IT desk to set up the dual monitors. They set it up and showed me how it works, and you can drag various documents, programs or applications from one straight to the other. For example, I can look at one Excel spreadsheet on the laptop and a larger spreadsheet that I'm populating on the desktop.

I thought it would take some adjustment, but it has actually done wonders for my level of focus and attentiveness to a project at hand. When items are on one screen, I have multiple documents, work email (good old Lotus Notes), Gchat, our work instant message program called Sametime) and presentations open - and any message can pop up. With separate screens, I can remain focused on a project on the big screen - and drag over distractions like email, Twitter and instant message to the other and look at them when I choose. It's been great! If you have two screens - I highly recommend you set it up! 

More Snapchat secrets

I called out some Snapchat secrets back in October, but as the updates continue, there is always more to learn.

My general perspective on Snapchat stories is that they are not necessary. If I wanted you to see the Snapchat, I would send it to you directly. Since stories were rolled out later, most of my friends that post them downloaded the app after stories were released, so it's easy to tell who the "newbies" are. Plus, they just seem like a photo Facebook status.

While some friends were over for dinner the other night, we were group-Snapchatting some people that weren't there and complaining about stories. Much to my surprise (and scare), I learned that when you post a Snapchat story, you can see who looks at it! I thought this was creepy, because it's like getting a list of everyone who has "seen" your Facebook posts. In addition, I don't like push notifications and clutter, so I often clear out my Snapchat stories (regardless of who sent them) so they don't show up under recent updates. I'm not friends with anyone on Snapchat who I would actually be embarrassed in front of if they knew I watched their "stories," but still wasn't too keen on the concept.

I decided to "research" this firsthand by posting a story or two myself and see how exactly this works:

You click on your own name, see your score and 'best friends,' and then any stories you have posted with the number of eyeballs who have seen it. Then, click the story to see who has viewed.

Under the "story," which was about it being warm enough to bike outside, this is what appears when you click to see the list of everyone who saw it.

My original expectation was that maybe 10 people view these, but I quickly saw that many other people do what I do and clear them out. More than 60 people watched each Snap in 24 hours, which is the majority of my Snapchat contact list. It honestly was an irrational self-esteem boost to think that that many people cared about clicking on it, but placing myself in the situation...I don't always care about the ones I am passively 'watching.' I'm still curious behind the motivations to post a story, but now we all know about this list of those who viewed!

Funny things my friends say: March edition

The habit lives on…yes, I still write down the hilarious things my friends say, with as much context as possible. Here is the month of March's quotes with a heavy emphasis on Greeks, work and funny one-offs. Enjoy! 

  

20-something life

"And everyone on the face of Instagram was there." -Penelope, on the Blackhawks game at Soldier Field 

“I owe you my life. Whatever you want.” -Eleni, on being able to get into bars 

“Pinterest. Food, not going to make it. Crafts, never gonna do them. Clothes, never going to look like that. Let’s just all be honest with ourselves.” -Kelly

"It's Social 25, not Social 58." -Lexi, to her Dad 

"I am overwhelmed with work and underwhelmed with men." -a friend 

“I’m actually starting to become friends with the girl who sold me renter’s insurance. We have a ton in common.” -Dani, on adjusting to a new city 

"All I do is work, work out…” -Jordin

"And tweet about it.” -Jen

“If one of my Instagram photos has 10 likes, I’ll like it and if it gets 12, I’ll unlike it.” -Christina

"Breaking up stinks since he might delete my Netflix profile." -a friend

"Do you know how unoriginal it is to propose at DisneyWorld? I've seen like 25." -Maria 

"I love that Walmart. It's my most popular Yelp review." -Gwen, on the Walmart on Diversey in Chicago

"Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool." -Hostess at California Pizza Kitchen

“I don’t think Steve could be happier that you called. I’m talking his ear off about wedding stuff and he’s just staring at me. Steve, Katie’s plans just got cancelled!” -Helen

“Thank God.” -Steve 

“Whatever I get, I want it to be easily available in Kansas City, Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis and St. Louis. So there’s that.” -Helen, on the wedding and bridesmaid dresses 

Greeks
“There’s a monk here from Mt. Athos and you’re serving beverages in Bud Light cups?” -Penelope, on a weekday Lenten service 

“Greek boys don’t know what they want. And they don’t figure it out until they’re like 28. My mom & Yiayia are like that’s why you need to marry someone older.” -Sara

“So basically Facebook for Orthodox people over 30 over the past few days has been all “Don’t forget to bring your icons for Sunday of Orthodoxy.” -Dad 

“I sit next to this woman who drives me crazy and talks the whole time.” -Yiayia Nikie, on her position in church 

“And these Greek Philoptochos ladies from North Chicago think that going to a suburb is like going to Alaska.” -Papou

“You know Yiayia & Papou are getting old when they go out to dinner and order steak during Lent.” -George P. 

"He is Greek but I don't think we have any mutual friends." -Alyssa

"That's just weird." -Christina

"His Eminence Metropolitan Iakavos will be here tonight so we have a long day ahead." -Priest at St. George downtown 

“The kid’s first word is going to be Mama and second will be Papou!” -Dad, on a baby with an older father

“Is he Greek or Antiochian?? -Katie

“E- none of the above.” -Dad

“It was right after church so she was in her 'I’m hungry and haven’t had coffee yet' mood.” -Eleni, on mom

Work

"And in 1996, clients would ask 'What are we going to do on the Internet? There's nobody there." -a manager at work 

"Usually our [Friday] meetings are very unproductive but super fun." -Meredith, on effective meetings at work 

"People with no journalism experience are like how do I get an internship at Propublica? And I’m like maybe you should intern somewhere and GET JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE." -Kara, on answering miscellaneous applicant questions 

"Those millenniums." -Someone in a focus group at work, referring to Millennials 

  

“I found out you were engaged from the printer. Lauren, The Knot.” -one co-worker to another

“It’s the most talked about show on television.” -ABC on the new 'Resurrection' TV show 

“Well how are you measuring that?” -Holly, what your co-workers say when you are in research 

Funny comments from friends

"I can't get any more [driving] tickets this year. I reached my quota in January." -Dean 

"What I do know is that the food won’t suck." -Shaina, on her sister’s wedding, and not knowing a date or any other details 

“Like why would we go to a bar and pay to not hear each other when we could hang out at home? We’re not social.” -Becca

“And then my credit card stopped working.” -Brock

"How?"

"I don’t know, probably Target." 

“My bus hit a taxi this morning so that’s good.” -Lauren L. 

“And their moms are friends. It's just like high school in Northbrook.” -Stacey 

“Every time Steve does something stupid I threaten to not invite him.” -Helen, on their wedding 

“I hate it when we don’t get carded.” -Elizabeth

“Is it rude to call a kid a bastard?” -Blake

“To their face?” -Brock

“As soon as you get into the country, there are signs that say prison area- do not pick up hitchhikers. Boy if I had a camera phone that would be a good Instagram.” -Dad

“I never want to get off my parents’ phone plan.” -Shelley

“He was strange and had a stutter. He wasn't strange BECAUSE he had a stutter, he was strange AND he had a stutter.” -Penelope

“That's my biggest fear about buying pasta sauce, is that I'll want to make pasta and I won't be able to get the sauce open.” -Lauren L, on living alone and having to open bottles, after I shared that I can't open my bottled water

“Just think about a place that Katie & Kathryn would want to go, then think of the complete opposite and that’s where I want to go.” -Shaina, on what bar to go to with Andrew in Knoxville, Tennessee

"The plane’s in a Chicago pothole."
"Too soon people." -Friends, on the Malaysia plane