This Week’s Top Three Tweet-Worthy Events From Jews Who Make News

1. Zuckerberg Takes Facebook Public

Traders can expect to see the ticker symbol “FB” on a major stock exchange soon.

Facebook, Inc. filed paperwork to go public last Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg, who was raised Jewish, founded Facebook in 2004. Since then, the company has grown tremendously, earning $1 billion in profits last year alone.

CNN reports that Zuckerberg will now officially become a billionaire on paper. On Wednesday, CNN’s Breaking News account Tweeted, “Facebook says stock worth $29.73 a share; Zuckerberg holds 534 million shares worth $16 billion.”

2. SJP Fills In For Demi Moore In An Emergency

Sarah Jessica Parker is taking over Demi Moore’s role as Gloria Steinem in the forthcoming Linda Lovelace biopic. Parker accepted the part just three days before she was asked to start filming. The actress, whose father is Jewish, is filling in for Demi Moore who dropped out of the film after being hospitalized last week.

US Weekly is already Tweeting new pics of SJP in a long blond wig for the Steinem role. On Thursday, the magazine Tweeted, “First pic of Sarah Jessica Parker as Gloria Steinem in Lovelace! http://bit.ly/z0qqht Is SJP a good replacement for Demi Moore?”

3. The Truth Behind “Online Sweetheart”

JDate’s newest Success Story has been getting plenty of attention on The Howard Stern Show. Elisa Jordana, the Jewish former keytartist for Cobra Starship, and Benjy Bronk, a Jewish comedian and writer on The Howard Stern Show, are not only a JDate Success Story, but are also behind the song, “Online Sweetheart.” The song, which can be viewed on YouTube, is an ode to the love Jordana and Bronk found on JDate.

Some HSS staffers and fans say Jordana and Bronk are exploiting their connection to the show and only wrote the song to further their careers and find greater fame. However, Jordana says their love is real and tells JMag she and Bronk only wrote the song to share a positive message about finding love.

Jordana Tweeted a grateful response to a fan who read the article on Thursday, “Thank u we appreciate that! RT @SkipStarcher: @bronk Okay I was a skeptic at 1st. I love ur Jdate interview. I DL’d the song on iTunes (2x).”

Even though I have never had a problem being Facebook friend with a woman while we were dating that doesn’t mean that there weren’t problem with us being Facebook Friends after we broke up…

The problem one faces when you seriously date someone you are Facebook friends with is that when you break up you are left with two, equally poor, options.

Option #1

You de-friend the person you were dating so that you don’t inadvertently learn any new information about them through the Facebook News Feed. Additionally de-friending them saves you in the event that you succumb to temptation, and view their page in order to see what they’ve recently posted or if they are dating someone new you, by giving you a fail safe which prevents you from the agony that inevitably results from such actions since you will no longer be able to view their page because you aren’t their Facebook friend any longer.

Drawback to Option #1

If you decide to de-friend the person you recently broke up with there is a strong possibility you will look like the smaller person in the situation and may receive flack about it from mutual friends. De-friending on the surface seems immature and might make it seem to the other person or people with knowledge or your break up that you aren’t handling it well.

Option #2

You remain friends with then and hope that you enter into a new relationship or post interesting information and pictures to your profile before they do, so you aren’t the one left feeling as though the other person is doing better without you, or doing better than you at that point in time.

Drawback to Option #2

You may inadvertently learn things about the person you broke up with you don’t want to know, which may lead you to feel bad about yourself or fixate on as a result. Information you may not want to know includes that they are dating someone knew, any information that makes it seem like they are doing better than you, or pictures that show them having fun, particularly with mutual friends or at places where you used to have fun together.

In the end there is really no good way to handle this situation, and to some the whole idea behind my past two blogs may seem ridiculous; but I was once in that camp and have through experience come to realize the potential unintentional psychological damage that being Facebook friends with your ex can inflict. Ultimately social media, and specifically Facebook, aren’t going anywhere, therefore we just going to have to adjust to this new aspect of dating, relationships and break ups, as well as the potential consequences or situations that they might present to us.

Social media and, for the purposes of this blog specifically Facebook, has transformed the way we access information about other people. Even though most of the information we are exposed to about people isn’t particularly relevant to our lives, or even information that we necessarily need to know, we are nonetheless inundated with it every time we access the Facebook site.

Personally, I assume everything I say, do or write is going to eventually be heard, seen or read by someone, somewhere, and therefore I try to limit engaging in activities I wouldn’t want people to see pictures of the next day, or write things on my blog about myself that I wouldn’t want other people outside of my close circle of friends and family to know about me.

After college I got my first job and during the time leading up to my first day I did my best to track down the pictures other people had posted of me that weren’t, shall we say, flattering. It was during this exercise when I began to realize the true extent of how much my, and pretty much everyone else from my generation’s life, was on Facebook for (depending on your privacy settings) everyone, or at least all of our Facebook friends, to see.

It wasn’t until my junior year of college when Facebook made its’ way to Indiana University. Yet, this still left me with plenty of time to fill my Facebook page, and many of my friends’ pages, with “interesting” pictures, comments and other information. Through the Facebook newsfeed I am inundated every time I log on to the site with information about what my Facebook friends are doing, where they are, and what information and pictures have recently been posted about them or they added to their profiles.

As a result of this newsfeed, and the access that my Facebook friends have to the information and pictures attached to my profile, I have definitely been more careful with who I accept to be my Facebook friend, which includes not only people I meet but also women who I’m seeing. Initially the thought of being Facebook friends with the woman I was dating seemed like a no-brainer since, after all, it was only Facebook; it wasn’t until after going through a break up that I realized being Facebook friends with your ex was a potentially complicated situation.

Even though I have never had a problem being Facebook friends with a woman while we were dating that doesn’t mean there weren’t problem with us being Facebook friends after we broke up…

A few years ago, I took Jared Fogle’s lead, whom according to jewornotjew.com, has a ninety percent chance of actually being Jewish, and decided to try to lose weight by eating nothing but Subway sandwiches and exercise (minus the exercise). It went okay, but after losing about twenty pounds, I somehow started gaining weight after I stopped eating Subway® subs and started eating steak. The steak diet’s patent is still pending, as there is no way that it can lead to any form of weight loss.

I eventually gained all of my weight back. Last night, I decided to re-try the Subway weight loss challenge. I am happy to report that I have not deviated from the diet yet have yet to lose any weight. This may partially be because the sandwich I ate today had bacon, avocado, roast beef, and ranch dressing. Perhaps the ingredients of the sandwich are more important than the fact that it is a sandwich. I suppose Jared Fogle didn’t lose weight by eating the Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich.

Okay! So my diet starts tomorrow. I am still trying to figure out how to build a healthy sandwich out of beef, bacon, and guacamole. When this happens, revolution will materialize as people recognize the futility of lettuce. If I went the rest of my life without lettuce of any kind, I think my life would be full and happy. My first report on the progression of my new Subway®  diet will be posted on Thursday. If you would like to join me, and are a girl, I would definitely be open to that.

I have arbitrarily decided that July 15 will be the first day that I will eat food that is not a Subway® turkey sandwich. I have already created an event on Facebook inviting women to a date with a skinny me on that evening. People have started to RSVP, but I’m pretty sure they did it as a joke. I don’t think anybody realizes how not much of a joke it is. I would really like to go out on a date as a thin person. I would like to cordially extend this exclusively Facebook invitation to JDate. If you will be in Houston on July 15, I am completely open to dating you. Also, I am open to dating you on any other date ever.

 In my previous blog entry I discussed how Facebook is becoming directly tied to online dating. Women will frequently want to check your Facebook to see if you are who you really say you are before providing a phone number.

Today I would like to talk about ways to make your Facebook account is worthy of those who check them. We want to update our profile with as many attraction builders as possible and avoid attraction killers at the same time. The following are a few suggestions for doing so:

1. Update your photo galleries. Infuse the pictures with attraction builders that create demand and high social value.

 2. Take down tagged photos that possess attraction killers. We don’t want any negative photos reducing attraction, showing us in a bad light, or making women think we are not exactly the most ideal candidates for a relationship.

3. Fix up that wall. If you have comments that show you in a bad light, take them down. On the flip side, keep comments that build value, especially ones from other women.

4. Don’t have too many messages from other women. Messages from multiple women show’s value (value is a key part of attraction building). Too many messages  will  make you look like a player and potentially have a negative effect.

Follow these guidelines and keep your Facebook profile in check.  These days this is more important than ever.

There is a new trend sweeping across the online dating world that is not going to slow down any time soon.

I refer to this as:  The Facebook identity check

The Facebook identity check is when a woman asks for your Facebook information prior to that final step of giving out her phone number.

The reason for this is she wants to ensure that you are who you really claim to be.  In addition, this will enable her to assess your personality, see what your interactions with friends are like, and judge who you truly are, as opposed to who you claim to be on dating sites.

It is very easy for people to be deceptive through online dating sites and trick potential daters.

On the flip side, it is very hard to be deceptive on Facebook unless you religiously monitor what is being tagged, commented, etc.

So guys, get your Facebook in check because this can make or break you.  Especially if your pick up comes during an instant messaging conversation.

All you males out there should also incorporate all the critical online dating tips of building attraction through your Facebook profiles (as we discussed how to do in previous blogs). Doing this is will not only prevent a last second fumble, but will take attraction to new levels.

Over the weekend I saw “Catfish,” an intriguing film dealing with the nature of love over the Internet. Don’t worry,I won’t do any spoiling, as unsolicited spoiling is a pet peeve of mine. The film focuses its attention on Yaniv Schulman, a New York City photographer involved in an online correspondence with a family in Michigan. While it serves as a cautionary tale to anyone engaged in virtual courtship, these true events transpired three years ago! Three years in Internet time is like 50 in regular time. Think of the changes. Three years ago, only pioneering parents were on our social networking sites. Now everyone has a parent on Facebook^®. Three years ago I naively gave all my friends precisely the same access to my profile and photos, which I guess was okay then since I only had a few hundred of them then. The point is, we are all exponentially savvier at the start of this second 21st century decade. How we conduct ourselves online, how we trust, who we trust, and how others perceive and relate our online selves to our real selves are factors constantly in flux. See the film and let it do its cautioning, but keep on doing what you’re doing. I’m willing to bet in 2010, you’ve got it under control.

How many times have you checked his or her Facebook? JDate Profile? Twitter? In today’s world it is incredibly easy to keep tabs on someone. Is there a benefit to doing this? Do the rewards outweigh the consequences? I have received countless emails on this very subject. I realize how tempting it can be to “spy”, but is it really worth it? Can it give us answers or set us up for suspicion and mistrust? The next time you find yourself tempted to look at someone’s cyber activity ask yourself the reasoning behind your behavior. Are you merely interested in updates or are you looking to catch the person doing something you believe they should not be doing? The cyber world is a great way to stay connected, but the pitfalls come into play when we use this means of communication as a launching pad for stalking-like behavior.

Dear Gems from Jen,

I was chatting with a guy online for at least a couple of hours the other night, and we decided to meet up the next night. The next evening we spoke about where we were going to meet. After his shower he called back only to say he had to cancel due to a family dinner. I said that was fine, things like this happen. I was just slightly disappointed, but definitely wanted to see him another time. He called back three minutes later and said he could get out of the dinner if I still wanted to go out, I felt bad and guilty at that point so I said not to worry about it. Then I get this long text explaining the situation, which I already understood. The next morning I found I had been de-friended by him on Facebook. Why go through all of the effort? Did my not wanting to go out after he said he could cancel, deter him? I mean he had to have known I was going to be upset that he was canceling, right? I’m confused. Did I give off the wrong vibe after the cancellation? Should I call or text him to see what was up? Could he just not be interested, even after all of the effort?

Dear Cancelled Date,

It sounds to me as if he is confused, not you. He made a date with you, cancelled the date, tried to get the date going again, texted you to further explain his situation, and then de-friended you on Facebook. I believe you were reasonable, especially after he cancelled the date, only to reschedule it three minutes later.  I’m not sure why you would even question if he was interested. It sounds as if you need to become disinterested in this guy. He would in all probability make you nuts. Can you imagine what it would be like a few months down the line if he treated you in this manner before your first date? My suggestion would be to not have any further contact with him, don’t call him, text, write, friend request, etc.  There are so many great guys on JDate waiting for someone like you; understanding and patient. Make time for these guys and forget about the ones that keep you on the roller coaster!

Signed,
Gems from Jen

A guy friend, who is a dating coach out in L.A., recently made a presentation at a dating conference.  As I curiously watched his clip posted on Facebook, I thought he hit his most salient advice to date:  Girls, don’t do a thing!  Hmmm…The beauty in its simplicity. You don’t have to do a thing besides look great, be friendly and some subtle flirting never hurt anyone.  A little frustrating, but true.  Think about it, how many times have you cared less about a potential prospect and despite your lack of attention that guy came on stronger and with more resolve.  And then, the times you sat there and analyzed, planned, gave hints, maneuvered, nudged…and got nowhere besides being frustrated.

Bottom line: If the man is interested, I agree with my male friend’s opinion…they will surely let you know.