22 Apr 10 A False Farewell

My initial thought was that the email had been sent to the wrong address.  The sender is, by his own admission, feeling quite old, with his daughter turning 18.

Still I wrote back, asking what was all this about? Why was he going to miss my posts, but hoped I still kept in touch, and attended a few things.

He replied that he’d read my Swan Song to Social Media.

OK, it’s not hard to baffle me, but I was, completely.

I wrote back again, asking him where he’d seen this ‘Swan Song’.

“It’s in your Google Buzz, or it’s someone pretending to be you”.

Had my Google account been hacked? I don’t go into Google Buzz very often – I’m still firmly in the  Twitter and Friendfeed camp. Still I went to my own Buzz, to see what I could find out.

OK, there it was in black and white.  I know I didn’t write it. OK,  I have arguments with my wife from time to time (who doesn’t), but I wasn’t carrying on some web affair or whatever. Life’s busy and complicated enough as it is, and anyway, I am a terrible liar. Heck, I even look guilty, when I haven’t done something!

The header told me that it came from a blog on which I guest write. I went over to said blog. Perhaps someone had falsified my name there somehow. Then again, it’s a blogger blog, and so would need my Google log-in.

Then I found it.

On the sidebar of this other blog, is a widget that pulls in the posts of the guest writers.  That’s fairly common, and gives the guest writers at least another chance that a visitor will click on the links and go to their blog too.

In this widget I found the article that had been attributed to me.

Another guest writer had written his ‘Swan Song to Social Media’ and Google Buzz was feeding not only the blog contents to my Google Buzz, but the articles in the widget feed too, and attributing them to me.

So, OK Google, lets get our act together here. It’s kind of amusing in a way, but it could have had serious consequences, if it were a rant about something that I had opposing views on, and people that follow me had read, and taken offense to.

Moreover, if my wife had read it first, she might have wanted to know what the heck I was up to!

Anyway, I’d like to thank those of you that took the time and trouble to write or tweet and inquire about my well-being, and offer help or condolences. It’s kinda nice to know that I would actually be missed by a few folks if I did quit.

However, it’s ain’t likely folks. I won’t go without kicking and screaming. I’ve been online now, in one place or another for a quarter of a century next year, so it’s pretty much a way of life for me now.

Oh, finally, does that make me feel old? Nope, old is not in my vocabulary, and anyway, I’m still only just getting started.

My initial thought was that the email had been sent to the wrong address.  The sender is, by his own admission, feeling quite old, with his daughter turning 18. Still...

Tags: admission, black and white, blog, google buzz, guest writers, opposing views, rant, swan, swan song, whatever life, widget, wrong address