Social Site Aggregators - Useful?

Ever take a break at work to check your friends' blogs? Then take another minute to see if any of those new MySpace comments are real? Then another five minutes to upload a few photos of your weekend to Flickr...and before you know it you've forgotten whether your password on Twitter is hotdog1 or 1hotdog and you realize you really should get back to work. Does this happen to you?

I don't have the solution...and perhaps just more to add to the problem. But how can we begin to catalog the multiple profiles, tag collections, photos, podcasts, etc that we all love to consume into one place? And how can we start to realistically digest the media jumbles our friends create?

Well, there are some new options to try. Each has some strengths and some wussiness too. My friend Lauren from Object Adjective (they designed the Sex::Tech website for us) recently reviewed Plaxo Pulse.

Some others are Flock, FriendFeed, ProfileLinker, Fuser, Spokeo and MyLifeBrand.

Flock seems promising. You can access and update many social sites (the usual suspects plus Piczo, del.icio.us, Twitter, etc.). Flock even supports massive (up to 1000) picture uploads. One major downfall is that you have to download it. Alas.

What does this have to do with ISIS and sex you ask? Well, I'm not entirely sure, however, we have this contest called Fresh Focus. To promote the contest we have MySpace pages, a Flickr account, a couple of blogs, friends and colleagues that blog about us, press releases, emails coming in, emails going out, podcast promos, youtube videos...you get the idea. How can we manage all this stuff, even with a stellar cast of 6? We're working on finding the best way.

Happy Turkey everyone, if you do that sort of thing.

Pick your pleasure, the Sex::Tech Program is up!

You've all been waiting, and I'm happy to be able to say that the Sex::Tech program has been posted!

We are thrilled to be offering attendees two full days of diverse expert presenters ready to share their projects and ideas!

View Day 1 - January 22nd
It's going to be a tough call between panels, but you have to choose! We had so many amazing submissions that we had to stack them up pretty tight.

View Day 2 - January 23rd
Our keynote on the second day will be a discussion with Anastasia Goodstein of YPulse and a yet to be announced technology guest, moderated by technology writer Janet Kornblum of USA Today!


Two important reminders:

1. Book your hotel room at the JW Marriott for January 21st and 22nd. We cannot accommodate everyone. The government rate will vanish in to thin air December 31st.

2. Sign up for Sex::Tech updates on Twitter. Find us here. During the actual conference we may use Twitter as crowd control so don't be left out!

Fresh Focus buzz ... controversy and excitement!

The Fresh Focus Sex Ed Video Contest, a joint effort between ISIS and RH Reality Check, is making some waves...and we don't expect things to calm down before the videos premier at Sex::Tech!

Andy Carvin, internet activist, education technology expert and host of Learning.now, highlighted us in his article titled Social Media vs. Social Diseases. He brings up some very interesting issues and elaborates on one of our main goals, which is to let the young people who have the greatest need for frank sex education tell us exactly what they need:

"I’m so intrigued by this project, because it’s basically accepting the premise that students will likely participate on their own time, far away from the classroom, since that’s the only way for them to be frank and open about the issues. They want students to talk about a particular curriculum, but do an end-run around the entire educational system, using the Internet to engage students without interference by teachers or administrators."

Andy also reviews some of our current submissions (which you can watch here).

In related news, our Sex::Tech keynote hosts, creators of the Midwest Teen Sex Show, were just featured in the Wall Street Journal in an awesome article by Andrew LaVallee. The article discusses the satirical nature vs. educational value of the show, two things that aren't necessarily in opposition to each other. Ultimately a great article!

The podcast is No.7 in the Health category on iTunes with 50,000 subscribers. Way to go MTSS!

"Excuse me, did you just grope me?"

A Japanese cell phone application released in 2005 to help women fend off gropers on trains has risen to the No. 7 spot on phone application lists.

I can't seem to find any images of what the messages look like, but it goes like this:
1. You're being groped on a crowded train and you can't move.
2. You show the person grabbing you the first message in the series which reads "excuse me, did you just grope me?"
3. If they continue you can press the "anger" button and your phone ramps up the message to "Groping is a crime." The last message is "Shall we head to the police."

This comment thread is interesting/infuriating/funny.


I read about it in the SF Chronicle. The author is Hiroko Tabuchi.

Nikol and Britney will be at Sex::Tech!

Check the promo video from Midwest Teen Sex Show. Nikol and Britney will be at Sex::Tech in January to present the finalists and winners of the Fresh Focus Sex Ed Video Contest.



We have gotten several video submissions already...check them out and plan your own!

Blogger sex ??

So, a great blog I just found is Boinkology, edited by Lux Nightmare who offers "the sex ed you never got in school." Several clicks in I found this clip about "blogger sex." No, this is not about commenting back and forth or cybersex...the question is, if you are a blogger, do you blog about your first date with someone (or the first time you do it with them)? ...and the converse, if you are dating a blogger, should you worry that the word is already on the street?

Just some Friday fun. Scroll down to "blogger sex" and enjoy.



My thought is, if really like your new person, and you really can't resist, you'll write something very nice that you actually want them to find. If you don't like them, just remember the golden rule?

Youth Radio covers sexual health issues

Youth Radio offers media training to youth ages 14-17 to promote young people's intellectual and creative growth. Involved youth have access to industry professionals and get to participate in the production of award winning programming.

Youth Radio programming covers just about everything of interest to young adults. Here is a small taste of some of their STD, HIV and Sex Ed programming.

Get Tested

Shooting Down HPV

Latinos and AIDS

Changing the Course of Sex Education

To get involved as a youth check out these options.
To learn about supporting Youth Radio and their new expanded offices check out the Support Us page. A $200 donation provides field staff with recording equipment, and $50 provides teachers with supplies for after school tutoring.

Stay tuned to find out how Youth Radio may work with ISIS to report on the Sex::Tech conference.

Deb rocks on Real Life Real Talk radio

Deb Levine, ISIS Executive Director and founder, joined Real Life Real Talk yesterday for a radio interview. Check out Deb as she talks about ISIS' growth, inSPOT expansion, issues with verifying sex information online, and about the upcoming Sex::Tech conference and Fresh Focus Video Contest.

Check it out here. Go Deb!