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2010 5 14 | 11:27

Diaspora Fever

via joindiaspora.com

These guys are hitting big in the geek world right now. They're attempting to build a new kind of social network that [allegedly] more accurately mimics real social behavior. They plan to provide a system that allows the sharing of content while maintaining privacy through the permission of the user. This feature will be inherent in the network, not a feature; an anti-Facebook, if you will.

They have a point. We don't toss up random tidbits of information and "status updates" onto the interwebs for our "friends" to see and call it a community. Although we've accepted Facebook's take on how social networks should operate, it certainly doesn't reflect reality. Outside of Facebook, we share [trade] information [experiences] on a more personal level in varying degrees of intimacy, slowly accumulating what was once known as "friends" - valuable people in our social lives in whom we can trust for various things.

And Diaspora couldn't have come at a more opportune time. The four-man underdog team of self-proclaimed nerds from New York have well-surpassed their $10,000 [they're on the north side of 100K last time I checked] goal for seed funding at Kickstarter and are spending the summer in "programmer mode". The announcement comes while Facebook is under fire for its confusing privacy settings and some statements made by its young CEO when Facebook was in its infancy. Amidst the media smoke and the labyrinth of the new Facebook privacy settings, Diaspora is an attractive alternative for weary photo-sharers and friend-connectors.

I'm not holding my breath, but if these guys have the chops, I do think they have a viable social networking model. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were bought out sometime in the near future. Facebook isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but if these guys can execute, I'd be highly interested in their work.

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Filed under  //  diaspora   Facebook   social media  

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2010 5 13 | 7:31

NYTimes Lays Out Facebook Privacy Options [Infographic]

via nytimes.com

Useful to know. Maybe it's ridiculous that I need a cheat sheet to adjust the privacy settings on a social network in which I willingly participate?

Maybe the infographic is grossly exaggerating? Maybe after seeing it and knowing just how much personal information Facebook controls, people will still leave their online social networking habits unchanged?

Maybe.

Update: Why doesn't Facebook provide a visual map like this for its users to navigate the privacy labyrinth? Something like this would be easier to navigate and highlighted blocks or other visual cues could provide feedback to the user to show what's actually being changed.

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Filed under  //  Facebook   information   privacy   [infographic]  

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2010 5 5 | 10:54

Broken Social Media Feedback

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This post is for mah nerds.

Twitter wants me to Tweet It. Google wants me to Buzz It. Facebook wants me to Like It. I have my own blog [welcome] and I enjoy comments on it. I used to have Google Reader, but Buzz and Reader don't sync very well so I Dropped It. I can comment on anything. I can provide feedback for anyone. I can Like, Tweet, and Buzz all day, not to mention comment on any article on any website I frequent.

I can write something here and it'll post to a number of sites I enjoy [thanks Posterous]. What's great is that I can get feedback on it from multiple sources at any time. And feedback is important. It's commonly held that discussion, sharing opinions, and constructive criticism contribute to a better community by improving the qualities of the individual.

But social media feedback is broken. Each unique social ecosystem has its own feedback method that never returns to the source - it stays in its own system. For instance, this blog post will appear to people [who care] in a number of ways:
  • This will pop up in someone's Twitter feed.
  • This will show up in Facebook [I think]. Or, at least people can "Like It".
  • People following this RSS will see it in Google Reader or in any number of RSS compilers.
  • Those subscribed to this Posterous may see it in their subscriptions.
  • This should show up in Buzz, too.
Each one of the mentioned social networks has its own feedback system. You can respond to a tweet. You can like and comment on a post in Facebook. You can comment and share it in Reader and Buzz [they don't sync too well so I count them as unique]. And, you can just comment on the post itself in Posterous. I can think of two ways to view all the feedback.
  • Go through each system uniquely and check for updates [this is just stupid].
  • Apply an email notification system [most systems offer this feature] to alert you of any feedback.
I'm not a fan. I get enough email as it is. And even if the email alert notifications were efficient and quick, they wouldn't address the issue: each feedback loop is housed in its own system, eliminating discussion and all the other good things we established as benefits of social networks, in general.

Is there a way to do the following?
  1. Provide original content.
  2. Open it for feedback to multiple social media networks.
  3. Standardize the commenting so that a response on Twitter and a comment on Facebook can show up in my Posterous.
  4. Then, when I comment on their feedback [enter discussion] in Posterous, it reflects back to the respective social networks, including people from other systems in the discussion.

Probably not.

By the way, my solution in the meantime is to force* the audience into my ecosystem, which will be this Posterous. *By force, I intend to comment only on this post.

Silly, I know.
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Filed under  //  Facebook   improve   joku   Posterous   social media   Twitter  

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2009 7 27 | 22:56

Refresh


[via: thecybersource.com]

Reboot. Refresh. Restart.

However you want to call it, I think it's good to have one of these every once in a while. I'm officially going on a Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader hiatus for one month, starting tomorrow, July 28, until August 29.

This summer has been a unique one with many transitions and strong convictions. WIth the onslaught of the information age literally a tweet [officially] away combined with many changes occurring in my life, I think it's best for me to abandon the 1-headline-a-second twitteration of my brain and retreat back to some deeper thinking and reflection, Jack Handy style.

I'm personally excited, yet challenged. To be honest, I think I am a borderline internet addict. I love information, particularly regarding the things and people I love. Updates on personal blogs, next generation technology, Apple and Google, automobile culture, designing for social impact, and transformation in people through Christ motivate and excite me. Even thinking now, the sheer amount of information that passes through my head is dizzying. From Twitter to Google Reader, I can catch up on people and subject matter in an instant, for all instants. This is no original realization, but I'm beginning to wonder if I haven't yet grasped the principles of moderation, self control, and discipline. Sometimes, I feel I am one tweet away from the BSOD.

I'm looking forward to reading more books, investing in some more personal relationships with the people around me, developing my corporate-working game, and focusing on my continuing studies for my GMATs.

And so the training begins. I have to admit that I will probably miss Google Reader the most. I'm passionate about news and information. How am I going to know when Apple's new tablet comes out? What if I miss out on some crazy awesome deal that can only be obtained by reading the Google Blogs? And now that Google Reader allows its users much easier options to share and discuss information, this could be rough. And that's why I have you, friends. Update me with something sweet and I'll appreciate it. As a parting gesture, here is a selection of sick sites from which I glean my vast amount of [at times, meaningless] information.

  1. Jalopnik - Oh man, I love you. All things cars.
  2. Core77 - Industrial design site with updated prototypes.
  3. The Big Picture - Quasi-frequently-updated photo-article site on international news.
  4. Yanko Design - Another ID site with legit goings on.
  5. Frog Design Mind - Another ID site, but I like them because they generally post more about design for social impact and advanced thinking.
  6. Seth Godin - The man is social marketing amazing. His breakdown of human nature exposed to media, leadership, and business influences is bewildering.
  7. The Placebo Effect - I'm not going to lie, I love these guys and I read their daily updates. Sometimes, the little things just pick me up, and TPB is a great fix.
  8. Pastor Seth - How else am I going to get my Indo fixings?
  9. Desiring God - Piper style. It's easy to read and refreshing.
  10. Lifehacker - Hack it out. This site is for all hacks, for all aspects of life. Read it and learn that piece.
  11. Ars Technica - These guys aren't the fastest, but I like their reviews and some of their science articles pique my brain.
  12. TechCrunch - These guys are fast, unashamed, and quick with the information. I like their balance of techy, social media, and news.
  13. Engadget - I get the core of my gadget information from these guys. They're thorough and quick with it.
  14. Mashable! - These guys are really quick and they provide most of my breaking information on new social media.
As you can see, I read a lot. Especially since these guys update quite often. I didn't include NYTimes and BBC, but I figured most people would already be subscribed to them.

Enjoy. See you in a month. I'll update on the flip. [I just started enjoying Posterous, too...]

Peace.

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Filed under  //  Facebook   Google Reader   joku   Posterous   Refresh   Twitter  

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