Yes, we’ve been very busy.

Here’s a complete redesign of the Mutt Media design includes portfolio and links to great resources. Check it out and please share if you like with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and wherever else you like to hang out on the web.

If you are interested in custom graphics for any project, please get in touch.

Mutt Media on cyber bullying

You can’t pick up the newspaper (or, if you prefer to read online, peruse the headlines) lately without coming across one story or another where the phenomenon of cyber-bullying isn’t discussed. The effects of this online form of bullying can be severely traumatizing for the victims and can lead to isolation, depression and suicide.

Children have always been bullied, whether in the playground, in school or on the very blocks that they live and play. It remains a disturbing part of growing up; a seemingly random assignment of torment to particular kids, sometimes with provocation and more often, without any. Bullying today has been taken to new heights with the emergence of social networking and the ability of our children to be constantly “plugged in” whether via their computers or cell phones.

What was once limited to the time kids spent in and around the school or playground has now infiltrated our homes on a 24 hour rotation without end. Kids are not only using Facebook, but text messaging, AIM Instant Messaging, YouTube and video chats. The ability to virally reach an infinite audience – even those we don’t know personally, has given new meaning to the word torment. There is, quite literally – NO ESCAPE.

What can we do to stop this? In a word? PARTICIPATION. If that word is not enough, then here’s another. WATCH (closely!). TALK is a good one, too. As parents, we have got to step up and engage with our children. Find out what they are doing online, and just as you would correct their manners at the dinner table, do so with their behavior in this forum.

Don’t even get me started on monitoring your children’s “harmless” photos that they post and tag for all to see. That’s a topic for another post.

For now, I will leave you with this thought. It is much easier to post your feelings, thoughts, etc (both naughty and nice) on a screen of some sort. Let’s try to encourage real, LIVE interaction whenever possible. So much gets lost or misinterpreted via emails, texting and the like. What ever happened to actually picking up the phone?

I will post instructions on how to limit your children’s computer time, which programs they use and for how long in a future post, but for now – dialogue!

I, for one, would hate to think that one of my kids could be participating in cyber-bullying a classmate or friend – or worse – to be on the receiving end of this awful behavior and taunting.

Here are links to just a few of the articles of interest on this subject.

Rachel Neblett, Cyber bully victim

Click here if you’d like to read the official press release announcing Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper’s co-sponsorship of an important bill that will criminalize cyber-bullying against minors.

Some cyber-bullying resources and sites of interest:

• Stop Cyber Bullying Now
• Cyber Bullying Research Center
• Real life Stories
• Alexis Pilkington (Local Long Island Girl posthumous Facebook Page)
• the story of Rachel Neblett (another girl who committed suicide)

Here’s a true gift given in the spirit of the season….How to remove those annoying Facebook notifications that alert you every time one of your “friends” makes a move using Farmville, Mafia Wars, Yoville or one of the umpteen others.

We have all experienced the constant stream of notifications that have become part of the daily experience if you are a Facebook user. And lets face it, who isn’t using Facebook at this point?

Applications on Facebook, in my opinion, have become nothing short of noise that completely clutters my News & Live Feeds. I have eliminated having notifications sent to my phone which was a big improvement but I am finding that even when I visit the site (having mentally prepared myself for the inevitable onslaught), the updates have become intrusive and ridiculous. I have taken action and so can you.

I asked myself what kind of gift could I give my readers in the spirit of the holiday season that will adequately say a genuine “Thank you” for your comments and encouragement during my first six months. I think this fits the bill. So without further adieu, here you go.

Go into your Live Feed or your News Feed and find the notification that really annoys you most…..there are a million to choose from. Here’s a partial list:

Some Facebook Apps

Once you are in your Live or News Feed, let your mouse hover over one of your notifications. If you pull your mouse to the right, you will see a button that says “Hide”.

Click on it!!!

Mutt Media on how to hide annoying Facebook App notifications

You will then see a pop up window dialogue box, similar to the one below. Simply click on the button that says, “Hide ______________” and voila – you are done!

Mutt Media on hiding your Facebook App notifications

Please give this a try and let me know when you’ve found Facebook bliss. No – that’s not another App, it’s a state of being.

Happy Holidays, everyone!!

Rodney Bradford is a Brooklyn teen who was accused of a robbery that took place on October 17 and was held on Riker’s Island for 12 days!!!

Turns out that Bradley had been wrongly identified at the scene by a “witness” who claimed to see him there. In fact, he was at his father’s home in Harlem – nowhere near where the robbery took place in the Farragut section of Brooklyn. Even other, multiple witnesses coming forward to say they saw Rodney at his father’s wasn’t enough to clear him from being a suspect.

It was only thanks to a status update on Facebook, “Where my IHOP?” that they were able to trace Bradley’s electronic “fingerprint” back to his dad’s computer back in Harlem.

The family is taking the position that Facebook saved Rodney. Pretty scary. Robert Reuland, Bradford’s attorney said it well…”It reflects the pervasiveness that Web sites and social networking has on our lives.”

You can read the story in its entirety as it appeared in the New York post by clicking here.

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Top web site visit as of 7AM according To Alexa.com

When I went to sleep last night I plugged my phone into the charger and did a last check of my emails.

I saw a flurry of Facebook updates from friends who suddenly seemed really angry at Kanye West. No, I mean really angry. People calling him names and expressing their disbelief at his actions at the VMA’s (Video Music Awards).

I had spent the day working and the night watching True Blood, Hung and Entourage so I had no idea what the %$#%^&* was going on. So I did what any curious/lazy person would do at that moment. I updated my Facebook status to read, “what happened today? fill me in on the Kanye thing” (or words to that affect. Within minutes a friend sent me a YouTube clip. [Thank you ].

This is amazing to me. Amazing that Kanye was so rude and amazing that this was like the shot heard ’round the world.

I had the clip up here on this post but it’s been removed from YouTube by Viacom and AP.

Here’s the link to the most popular site according to the Alexa toolbar. He has subsequently apologized.

Have a nice day

US Open Officials say no to Twitter

Serena & Venus Williams each have one. So do Andy Murray and Andy Roddick. I am speaking today of Twitter and the warning from US Open officials about reckless tweeting by the players.

Ostensibly, their concern is the dissemination of “inside” information from the Courts and it’s effect on the game and illegal wagering. Judging from recent tweets from the players (click on their names above to go right to their Twitter page), this doesn’t seem to be a real issue.

Serena is busy plugging her new book, Venus is exciting about ringing the closing bell on the stock exchange and Federer keeps us plugged in on some pretty mundane goings-on such as checking his email and going to sleep. Roddick seems to enjoy his tweets and really engages. Here, he comments on the US Open “No Tweet” rule (10:28 PM Aug 28th from web):

i definitely respect the rule about inside info and on court, but u would seriously have to be a moron to send “inside info” through a tweet

But the US Open is actually being pretty proactive, given the online climate and the lack of forethought that is rampant in our online behavior. I know I sound preachy, but I cannot stress this enough, especially to my younger readers…be mindful of what you post online! At least make some small effort to think a little down the road. Do you want that angry post “out there” in perpetuity? I’ve seen the t-shirts that admonish, “Don’t drink & text”, which I think is both hilarious and great advice. The same rules apply to your photos and to your Tweets.

One of my Facebook “friends” recently made a really angry post about a family member that made everyone who read it really uncomfortable because there were clearly serious issues that needed to be discussed “offline” and not aired on the wall for all to see.

Open season on your life and every whim? Think before you press those keys and hit the “post” button.

There were screams of caution during this process as Facebook warned you to choose your name wisely and carefully, as you would be stuck with it forever.

Well, forever is sooner than we all thought. You are now able to change your facebook username if you did not choose wisely and carefully. This is great news if you selected that you find unbearable and cannot live with. The not-so-great news is that there is, as time goes on, less and less of a selection to choose from.

Tip: Pick a name that you don’t have to spell out for everyone, that is easy to remember and that reflects you or your business in some way and above all, will stand the test of time.

Caution: Facebook now claims that you will only be able to change your name once. I wouldn’t bet on that seeing as they reversed this policy so quickly after the launch of this new program, but in the interest of full disclosure, I thought I should mention it.

MySpace, in case you use it, also has this feature. It really does make it easy to have people who are looking find you.

So go forth and claim your (new) URL Just login to your account. Go to settings, then your account and click on change next to where it says “User Name”

You can find us at

facebook.com/muttmedia

myspace.com/muttmediany

disclaimer…these figures are taken from a 3rd party site (alexa.com).

I’ve compiled some data I thought was interesting. Here you’ll find the top 10 social networking sites (according to Alexa.com) as of mid-month. As you would expect, Facebook, MySpace & Twitter round out the top 3 but there are some others on this list you may have never given a glance or heard of.

Please bear in mind that these are domestic figures so they do not account for overseas data, which is also available. If you haven’t heard of some of these, go check them out and let me know what you think.