Talk Mobile Social Week Recap: The best things you said

Talk Mobile Social

Possibly our most contentious week of discussion yet, the third week of Talk Mobile 2013 was all about social networking and communication, and some great discussion came as a result. Read on for a hand-picked selection of your best comments of the week.

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Recap
Day 1: Social Status
Day 2: Notifications
Day 3: Privacy
Day 4: Online 24/7
Day 5: Keyboards
Comments
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Social networking and communications proved to be one of our broader topics thus far. Tackling everything from who you should follow online, why we post status updates in the first place, protecting our online privacy, and what kind of keyboard is the best, week three of Talk Mobile 2013 ran the gamut. And true to our goals with Talk Mobile, little time was spent talking about specs and stats - the discussion revolved around higher concepts of how we use these devices to begin with.

As always, we're wholly interested in your feedback and are constantly tweaking Talk Mobile to be the very best we can make it. So feel free to sound off in the comments about what you think of Talk Mobile so far.

Our goal with Talk Mobile has always been to generate a discussion in the community, and we're thrilled with the comments and deep discussions that have come as a result. There are a lot of great comments, and we'd like to take a few minutes here to highlight what we think to be the very best. You'll find them below, and those we've picked as winning comments will be receiving some awesome prizes - so be sure to watch your email.

We're also happy to have a reader survey for social and communications week, and by simply filling it out you can be entered to win a $100 gift card to Best Buy. Incentive? You betcha.

Talk Mobile 2013 Week Three: Mobile Social

Day 1: Why should anybody care about your social status?

Day 2: Messaging Overload: Why have we let notifications rule our lives?

Day 3: Would you want your mom to see this?

Day 4: Just because you can reach me 24/7, doesn't mean you should!

Day 5: Pushing buttons vs. Tapping pixels: The Great Keyboard Debate

Social media is brilliant for finding and getting information quickly. I do however think that we as humans need to take step back from social media, and really interact with people. naviwilliams's thoughts on why anybody should care about your social status

I absolutely think it is both. I think that if you can put yourself out there in an intelligent way, social media can be a great tool to share ideas and promote yourself and your business or ideas. cwbcpa's thoughts on why anybody should care about your social status

Day One Winning Comment!

People need to remember that when you put something out on the internet, you can't pull it back. Once it's out there it's out there, and there's A LOT of over sharing going on! just_luc's thoughts on why anybody should care about your social status

Messaging Overload: Why have we let notifications rule our lives?

I would love to see one system (chat, voice, video) that was available irregardless of the platform (Windows Phone, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Linux) that could be used by everyone. The problem would be getting everyone to switch to just one system... Xopher's thoughts on why we have let notifications rule our lives

I don't understand why there's so many options...don't get me wrong, options are good, but there's a point where there's just too many, and you can't make or expect everyone to adopt to the same service(s) as yours. Jacques's thoughts on why we have let notifications rule our lives

Day Two Winning Comment!

I feel like anything choice is a good thing. I like having separate services rather than having everything lumped into one... Premium1's thoughts on why we have let notifications rule our lives

Would you want your mom to see this?

Absolutely not; the company has no right whatsoever to your Facebook password or any other password. It's not an issue of whether or not they can see what you post, it's a privacy issue. coraphise's thoughts on what we want our moms to see

My boss doesn't even have the right to know that I have a Facebook account let alone the password to it. NFLPLAYBOOK's thoughts on what we want our moms to see

Day Three Winning Comment!

The Internet is a public domain. If you don't want anyone to see it, don't put stuff in it. MeapleG's thoughts on what we want our moms to see

Just because you can reach me 24/7, doesn't mean you should!

As a Sociology student I have done a lot of personal research on the impacts of technology and media on society. I have found people far away are like things that we don't have, while people closer to us are like things we do have. It's very normal for us to want what we don't have. Through the use of cell phones, we try to maintain conversations with those far away that go on for days or weeks(texting), but it can be strenuous for us... Danz0314's thoughts on being constantly connected

Guilty as charged. I've been programmed to pick up my phone when I see a new notifications, so much so I find myself doing it even while I'm out with friends/family. Alex_Hong's thoughts on being constantly connected

Day Four Winning Comment!

Wait, what were we talking about? I just had a tweet notification. Look, I work freelance and many of my closest friends don't live where I current am. Having this thing on my person 24/7 can be a necessity. BenRoethig's thoughts on being constantly connected

Day 5: Pushing buttons vs. Tapping pixels: The Great Keyboard Debate

Virtual, predictive keyboard is my preference. Has to be good prediction, though--likely, contextual choices, not just what was typed last or most frequently starting with those letters. Having no prediction is too tedious. k8bushlover's thoughts on the great keyboard debate

I've used both physical and virtual keyboards, and although virtual keyboards have come a long way, there's still something special about a well designed physical keyboard that makes detailed communication so much easier. rthonpm's thoughts on the great keyboard debate

Day Five Winning Comment!

If they'd build a high-end phone (with an OS I like) with a physical keyboard, I'd buy it. Since when did pushing buttons become a bad thing? QMaverick's thoughts on the great keyboard debate

Conclusion and what's next!

Social networking and instant messaging have opened up a wide new frontier of communication. Never before have we been so connected to people around the globe. But yet we're also isolated, more and more interacting with people through a keyboard and a sheet of glass, and letting the lights and sounds that sheet of glass makes interrupt and redirect our lives.

We're in the early years of this online social networking. We have to learn how best to utilize it so it's not just a time sink, and how best to manage it so even when we're using it right it doesn't consume our lives. It's a fine line, balancing our real and online lives. And is there a point where online life will become as real as "in real life"? Social week might be wrapped up, but the discussion doesn't have to and shouldn't stop.

Next week on Talk Mobile 2013 we'll be tackling platforms. And this isn't going to be a discussion of how one platform is better than another. We're stepping above that fray, remember? No, we'll be talking about managing your personal and device security, software and services and software as services, ecosystems and much more. It's a whole new conversation, and we'll be starting it right here on Talk Mobile!

Now it's your turn again -- what did you think of Talk Mobile Social and Communications week? Tell us what you loved, what you hated, what you'd like to see more of, what you'd like to see changed, and what you're looking forward to next! The comments are yours!