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Whether you're starting a worldwide revolution or checking into Jimmy's Sloppy Sandwich Bonanza, I'm going to know all about it. 

And therein lies the existential crisis I have regarding Twitter, Facebook, and many other social media platforms. At what levels are they valuable? Are they really valuable at all? Do you really need to be browsing through the pictures, musical interests, and musings of tangential acquaintances? How important is it that you let everyone know how your work elevator smelled today?

Although the above is a fairly safe stereotype regarding the mainstream's use of social media, dismissing the phenomenon of social media altogether would be borderline ludicrous. Social media websites, particularly Twitter, have been at the forefront of mass social change within the last year and show no signs of slowing down. News and movements such as the death of Osama bin Laden, the Arab Spring uprisings of The Middle East and Africa, and the Occupy movement of America have all jumped into the collective consciousness pool only after dipping their toes in Twitter first. Facebook regularly serves as a platform for the organization and planning of large gatherings and events, facilitating everything from parties to protests to +3,000 person flash mob library raves, and it's now possible to apply, interview, and be hired for a job without ever leaving your room. The top social media sites pull in billions of dollars a year and employ thousands of people. Dang.

Indeed, the age of insular hypersocialability is at hand. People are sharing a lifetime of experiences without ever meeting face-to-face...now it's more Facetime to Facetime, less real-life personal interaction and more realtime software interfaces. More efficient processes for mass communication are putting more and more means of information access at our fingertips on a daily basis at a nearly overwhelming rate -- a near whitewash of information. Our innate desire for dopamine, one of the "happiness chemicals" in your brain which is released by unique situations and by solving problems, pushes us deeper into the foray of social media. Social media websites are constantly improving their effectiveness in catering to our instinctual desire for new information. In fact, more than one study is now suggesting major social media websites may be as addicting as drugs, creating a regular desire for the stimulation necessary to maintain your daily social media fix.

The opportunity provided by these relatively unregulated and new media platforms should not be understated. They are a means of direct, personal communication which is paradoxically derived from communications neither direct nor personal. Social media marketing is an exceptionally great way for a business to deliver advertisements, coupons, announcements, and more, and the success of these are mainly dependent on the social "stickiness" of these posts. Social media strategy can be a double-edged sword - bad moves and publicity can lead to social media meltdowns such as the ongoing Susan G Komen For The Cure Planned Parenthood debacle, but a socially sticky and exciting campaign has the potential to create amazing results. Small, thoughtful updates are good to make often - little giveaways, surveys about a relevant topic, and unique information are all promotional gold and relatively easy to maintain for nearly any business owner/manager with a few minutes to spare. However, campaign management and professional social media services provide successful assistance beyond the scope of the average Twitterer or Facebook-lover. Professional services such as extended link distribution, market demographics analysis, consistent social branding, public persona management, and measurable ways to track the ROI (Return On Investment) on your social media efforts help you improve and refine your social media strategy. Having a talented social media strategist looking after your business' social media presence is useful, and it can bring in an unprecedented amount of revenue.

At the risk of tooting my (our?) own horn(horns?), BlueTone Media knows a thing or two (or hundred?) about social media management. We regularly write Twitter and Facebook updates to generate organic interest and referral traffic for our clients, and our blog post subscription packages can boost your website's SEO (search engine optimization) enormously by providing a source of regular, unique, and interesting text content for your website. We can even build a totally custom Facebook app for your business, exactly to your specifications. We'll make it easy-to-update too, and like always, once we build it, you own it. Completely. We can also help you integrate social media into your site, and our social media options run from simple links to dynamically-creating "like" and "share" buttons for different pages and parts of your site. BlueTone Media not only offers some of the most killer web design Wilmington NC has to offer - as a full service web company, we keep up-to date on everything we possibly can, and as the market shifts towards social media conscious advertising we make sure to stay on top of the heap and ahead of the curve. Contact us to describe your social media needs - together we can craft the perfect social media package to help you grow your business.

Oh, and also. Please. Never name your child Facebook. That's just messed up, man.

Relevant Links and Further Reading

• Salon: The Best and Worst Tweets of 2011
• Why Some People Seek Dopamine So Strongly
• Social Media: Addictive, or Super Addictive?

Saying a rebuilt transmission can't be better than a new transmission is like saying The Terminator is better than Terminator 2. 

I mean, seriously, That's an open-and-shut case right there, so please don't waste any more of my time debating this. The Terminator, better than T2: Judgment Day? Are you insane? Don't get me wrong, both movies are fantastic - and while there's plenty of explosions and chasing and Ahhhnold-isms to be had in both The Terminator and T2, you'd have to be absolutely bonkers to not understand the beauty of T2. There's a pure cinematic thrall in watching Schwarzenegger on a motorcycle getting chased in a trench by an unstoppable liquid-metal death machine with a shotgun driving an 18-wheeler, and that "nuclear holocaust" dream of Sarah Connor's still gives me nightmares. Was that too long-winded for you? Let me summarize: liquid-metal death machine, shotgun, motorcycle, nuclear holocaust. Case closed.

The only argument I've heard to the contrary which carries any weight at all is that there couldn't be a T2 without a T1. Fair enough, I suppose, but that's like saying we should've stopped when we first invented the wheel...humbug to these newfangled rubber tires, perfectly circular shapes, and so on. Heck, Star Wars started at Episode IV and only got infinitely worse when they went back to square 1. Maybe all action/adventure movies should just pre-empt themselves by starting with a sequel.

Rebuilt transmissions work much in the same way - a good used transmission (good movie) is disassembled, repaired, and rebuilt with parts that are better than the original pieces (updated with more chase scenes and explosions). Each vehicle's transmission is unique, but there are various design flaws (the romantic plot of the first Terminator) which, over time, contribute to the majority of transmission problems and failures (not winning any Oscars, wasting time that could be better-spent on blowing things up). By observing and understanding these weak points, the certified technicians (James Cameron) at Willow Creek Transmissions can easily make a transmission better than new by first fixing its problems (removing any romantic, slow-moving crap), then upgrading any weak spots in the transmission with newer parts (the T-1000, bigger explosions, Sarah Connor becoming a ripped judo master) that have been better-made to withstand the wear and tear of a transmission system. This is quite similar to the way in which the T-1000 of Terminator 2 was built, and the end result is a stronger, better, more efficient machine. The only difference is Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't around to beat, shoot, assault, mangle, and explode the crap out of your new transmission...and I think we can all agree that's a good thing.

The new Willow Creek Transmissions website features an online store, a simple contact form for getting accurate cost estimates and information, and an in-depth and interactive FAQ that can help put your mind to rest. Check it out!

Of course I trust you honey...but do I Coastal Land Trust you?  

I think not. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for everything. I appreciate your honesty, loyalty, faithful dedication, and there's no way I will ever replicate the deliciousness of your cooking. I'll probably miss that the very most...yum.

But what are your homemade soufflés and shepherd's pies in comparison to the sanctity of our diminishing natural resources? Especially our coastal lands and waters...these need serious protection from the environmental hazards, industrial prospectors, and dangerous atmosphere which threaten their existence daily. It only stands to reason, then, that I would pick Coastal Land Trust over you. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is.

Yeah yeah, wedding ring schmedding ring. I know I made a vow that day, and I know I said they would last forever. But the average American lives for what, like 78 years right? These coastal lands will be the property of our children, grandchildren, and represent our heritage into the unforeseen future. Pretty cool right? And while our wedding vows will last only 78 - our age years, the environmentally crucial coastal lands of North Carolina, which constantly balance on the brink of destruction, will last 78 + eons of years if we treat them well. 78 - your age years is much smaller than 78 + eons darling, it's simple math. You should try it sometime.

No, of course I don't like making you cry. But don't make me the bad guy here. Want to know the bad guy? You should read up on how Coastal Land and Water Access affects human populations, or at least check out the state of North Carolina's coastal land resources. The perpetrators of these crises are pretty clear once you know a little bit about our environment, and if you hadn't shied away from these issues we might not be at this point. And maybe if you had stopped throwing those plastic 6-pack rings out of our car window while yelling "Death to the turtles and fishies of our world!" I would reconsider, but it's too late now.

Look, you have to stop it. I'm not changing my mind. It's not like I don't care about you...it's just that I've changed. You've changed. The rates of sedimentation in our coastal deltas have changed, and not for the better. There's work to be done, land to be acquired and maintained, and a public awareness of the challenges which the Coastal Land Trust faces to cultivate. You're better off this way, I promise. Maybe you can start back at that solo synchronized swimming routine you were working on before we met. I have faith in you! We can do this healthily and happily. A divorce doesn't have to be painful - after all, the only thing in America eroding faster than our coastlines is the percentage of successful marriages. Let's cash in on that while we still can.

Donating to the Coastal Land Trust, whether with money or land, is a surefire way to guarantee the survival of valuable and rare natural resources in our state. To learn more, visit the new Coastal Land Trust website here and see how BlueTone Media has done their part to help out.

 Don't read this if you're hungry.

 Ok, I've warned you once, but I'll warn you again: reading anything about Marsilio's Kitchen while feeling peckish could easily end in disaster. I made that very mistake earlier today, and now we're minus one intern. Oh well.  Now that the cops are gone and the mess has been dealt with, I'm a little more comfortable about going into detail about what happened, so I'll try to divulge.

The problem is simple: The new website for Marsilio's Kitchen looks delicious. I want to eat every page one by one, like a delicious ten-course meal of savory programming, marinated in fresh design practices and topped with a healthy portion of useability. I want to devour their new contact form in one giant bite, wash it down with some well-presented menus and then head over to their Facebook page for a gargantuan, social-media-minded desert. I can almost feel the "likes" trickling down into my belly.

And as if this extended food metaphor wasn't weird enough, Marsilio's Kitchen is determined to make their affordable, delicious modern Italian cuisine available for all. Between being able to book a table online and purchase a gift card, it seems almost unreasonable to not eat there. Us native Wilmingtonians will have to wait, as Marsilio's Kitchen is up in New Jersey, but looking at this slideshow of delicious options is making me think the drive wouldn't be so bad after all. Check out their website here to experience the delicious design firsthand. Just remember my warning, and please make sure there are no valuable items, pets, or small children nearby while browsing.

One Wilmington eatery is being heralded as one of the best restaurants in the country, according to a popular online reservation site.

The Little Dipper, located at 138 N. Front St. in downtown Wilmington, was one of several North Carolina restaurants to be included on OpenTable Diner's top 100 restaurants for 2011.

San Francisco-based OpenTable, Inc. — a provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners, and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants — publishes the list annually.

North Carolina tied California with 10 restaurants in OpenTable's top 100 best restaurants. Other Tar Heel cities with restaurant mentions include: Cary, Raleigh, Pittsboro, Tarboro, Kinston, Banner Elk, Hayesville, Asheville and Boone.

The Little Dipper specializes in fondue cooking, and offers an array of southern cuisine.

To read the original article and view the full list of winners, head over to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal.