Clearly, the literal answer to the titular question is no.

Unless you’re reading this in an RSS reader or some such, you’ve probably noticed that things look a little different around here.

The new theme is called i3Theme, by Mango Orange. It’s a variation of a sleek (but two-column) theme called iTheme by N.Design Studio.

Not only is it inspired by Mac OS (which in and of itself makes it worthy, in my books), it has some really cool features.

• Dislike the way in which I’ve arranged my sidebar widgets? Click and drag, baby. Move them around for yourself.
• Hate one of my widgets entirely? Click the green dot and watch it disappear.

I’ve also taken the time to install some new plugins – namely “Sociable” so you can share any of the content you find here and “Chat Catcher” so I can track any comments on posts that end up on Twitter or somesuch place (’cept I think I borked it on install).

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think. I’m hoping to keep this theme for a little longer than the last one.

But I’m seeing some trends and habits forming online that rub me the wrong way and I’m in the mood to call them out. If you see yourself in any of the below I hope you don’t take it personally; I’m just trying to get people to think critically about the way they work online. And I’m sure I’m guilty of doing some of these too so if you do take it personally, feel free to scroll back in the archives and call me on my shit.

So, without further ado, things that really grind my gears.

• Crowdsourcing entire projects – I like crowdsourcing. I think it’s a cool idea and it’s something I’ve done on many occasions. Like many others in my circle, I’ve cultivated a diverse professional network and, when the opportunity presents itself, I tap the knowledge in that network. All of that being said, though, I think we’ve all probably seen the people on Twitter that take it a bit far.One minute they’re “getting started on presentation on web trends for new non-profit client.” Then, a few minutes later, they’re “looking for stats on latest web trends.” Followed quickly by “looking for case studies of non-profits using new web tools,” “looking for aggregate data on web trends for non-profits,” and “wondering if anyone has a good graphic representing non-profits online.” Next thing you know they’re “finished that presentation – thanks all!”At what point does tapping into your knowledge network become faking your way through a client presentation

• Popularity contests – I follow a lot of agency-side communications and PR types. The vast majority of them have, at some point, vented about the challenge in convincing clients that traditional metrics don’t work when measuring the efficacy of online outreach. “It’s not about how many hits they get, it’s about building relationships with their customers! Why can’t they see that?”A valid, valid argument. Weakened only by the surprising number of these very same people who wig out when their Technorati rank drops, stress about their Twitter Grade and panic when Feedburner miscounts their RSS subscribers. Rightly or wrongly, it makes it sound like they don’t practice what they preach.

This post is getting long (and after only two entries) so perhaps I’ll sign off and save some for a future post. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment and tell me what grinds your gears.

Rather than recap the most recent Social Media Breakfast Ottawa from memory, I will just point you to Mel Gallant’s great post and stick instead with my take-away thoughts based on what was discussed.

I think the key theme of the day, the one that will be the most interesting to watch in 2009, is the breaking down of walls between the social media realm and the loosely-defined rest of the world.

I forget who it was who first cracked it on Twitter but someone echoed the notion that the public discovered comments on CBC news articles after the whole proroguing / coalition debate. I think this ties nicely with Joe Thornley and Ira Basen’s debate arising from the Canadian Institute Conference on Social Media.

For the longest time we would talk about new converts to the social media realm as though they’d crossed to our side – as though we were a closed society wherein the elders wore silken robes and each tweetup was started with a secret handshake and Stonecutters-esque drinking shanty.

This isn’t the case anymore. Social media is getting more mainstream. And I think we are quickly reaching a tipping point related to credibility.

Read past the rhetoric and bluster in Ira Basen’s email to Joe and you find many of the perfectly legitimate concerns of people who just aren’t that familiar with, well, Twitter in this case, but the same can be said for many of the media we love so much.

The instinct for a lot of us is to get a bit smug about their ignorance. As though we are somehow smarter and more evolved because we know how to livetweet. Self righteousness is a real problem in our communities but it’s more of a collective self righteousness so we’re rarely called on it.

I saw one comment on Twitter today that referred to this morning’s gathering as a lovefest and that’s absolutely true. Get a whack of us in one room, fill us with coffee and we can solve all the world’s problems with 20 characters to spare.

But if we continue to close ranks, to see ourselves as above the skeptics and late adopters, we’re going to shoot ourselves in the foot.

Had Joe ended things with his twitstream, or fired off an email reply full of the same sort of bravado that too often dominates internal discussions about ‘us vs. them,’ he would have reinforced Ira’s preconceived notions.

Instead he opened the discussion. He reached out, in a way, to a skeptic and tried to show Ira how the discussion can be improved with social tools, rather than just tell. Did it work? Hard to say. But huzzah for the attempt.

This isn’t to say I fully agree with Joe; that’s not the issue. I could write another post taking umbrage with what he had to say but the point is he didn’t close ranks. He invited Ira into the debate in an open forum and a good conversation was the result.

This is going to sound patronizing, I realize, but we have to be patient with those who aren’t as familiar with the tools we use every day. We all know people who are instantly skeptical of any new web tool (I blame MySpace, the bad backgrounds and shitty midi music can turn anyone off all things social); many of them have eventually come to be bigger advocates than we are.

As social media advocates it is incumbent upon us to, well, advocate. Show the benefits. Follow Joe’s example and reach out to people who don’t necessarily see the value of the tools we love. Will it work every time? Of course not. Not everyone will want to use Twitter and, frankly, not everyone should.

But, at the very least, maybe we can spread some understanding rather than gyrate to the soothing sounds of the echo chamber.

Fate. What are you gonna do?

But exciting things lay ahead. I’ve put the wraps on the first draft of a really fun freelance piece on the future of the mainstream press and the website project at work should be wrapping up in the next few weeks.

So stay tuned. I promise, I’ll try to update more for you soon.