Category: Social

Categories
Social

Google+, losing to Facebook

AHHHHHH!Robert Scoble (on Google+, not his weblog, like it should be): “So, why do I keep posting on Google+ and not on my blog? Well, I like the competition between Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.”

I skip 99.999% of Robert’s posts these days, because he uses Google+. It’s a philosophical thing. This content should be posted to his weblog.

Anyway, this is one of those rare occasions when I actually clicked on the link. I think it’s a great piece. He points out some glaring holes in Google+.

Oh, and Robert, start using your weblog again. Why give your content to Google? It just doesn’t make sense.

Categories
Social Weblogging

Twitter Eats Posterous

Twitter LogoPosterous Blog: “Posterous Spaces will remain up and running without disruption. We’ll give users ample notice if we make any changes to the service. For users who would like to back up their content or move to another service, we’ll share clear instructions for doing so in the coming weeks.”

Twitter Blog: “Posterous Spaces will remain up and running without disruption. We’ll give users ample notice if we make any changes to the service. For users who would like to back up their content or move to another service, we’ll share clear instructions for doing so in the coming weeks.”

What to make of this? Twitter bought development talent, not a web logging platform. My guess is they’ll mothball Posterous. Look at the language in the two posts above. Words like “We’ll give you notice” and “For users who would like to back up their content or move to another service” don’t give me much faith in the continued operation of Posterous as a platform.

I could be wrong? Maybe Twitter will move their weblogs to Posterous and continue building the service as a competitor to Tumblr, maybe the service will be shuttered?

Categories
Social

Facebook hates the open web

AHHHHHH!Yep, that’s right, Facebook hates the open web. A few weeks back I deleted my Facebook account and I haven’t missed it. On occasion I do visit Facebook because so many people and companies use it you can’t ignore it. Recently I wanted to do something with an RSS feed through ifttt and using the pages URL didn’t resolve to its’ RSS feed. Now, the same URL worked in my feed reader, but ifttt didn’t like it. I thought I’d found a bug so I contacted ifttt and they informed me the URL I was providing wasn’t the path to the RSS feed. Here’s a bit from the support email.

The URL you shared https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eureka-Burger-SLO/234741763243928 is not a Feed URL at all. Instead, look to the left column of that page and you will see a button for: “GET UPDATES VIA RSS”

Notice the bold text. I thought maybe I was blind, I couldn’t find a link that mentioned anything about RSS. Why? It’s not actually on the page, unless you have a Facebook account and are logged in. I was able to confirm this with my wife. She was able to see the link, along with a few others that don’t show up.

Here’s what I saw when I visited the page.

Facebook is a walled garden. In the end, it’s bad for an open web.

UPDATE: A big thanks to Prasenjeet Dutta for pointing me to this piece by Anil Dash called FACEBOOK IS GASLIGHTING THE WEB. WE CAN FIX IT.

Categories
Social

Backing up Twitter

I’ve wanted a way to get my entire stream of updates out of Twitter for a very long time. I’ve been using Backupify, which is ok. A friend just pointed me to The Exporter, which will email you an XML backup of your stream. It’s really nice, but not quite what I’m after.

Dave Winer has been working on his Scripting 2 system, which I think may have this capability, but I’m not sure.

I’m of two minds on the subject.

The Easy Version

I’d love to find a service that would allow me to specify an FTP, a backup strategy, an archive layout, and have it push HTML or XML to the my site. This way I could have something like fahrni.ws/twitter/archive/YYYY/MM/DD as the home of my Twitter stream. I’d have an index at the root of fahrni.ws/twitter that would have a week, or two, of tweets and a link at the bottom of the page that would allow me to navigate backward and forward through a week at a time. Sounds simple, but I’m sure it would take a bit of time to create it.

The Difficult Version

I say difficult because I think it would be awesome to define an open REST interface that could be used as a backup mechanism for anything. Once the interface is defined the tough work would begin. It would need to have implementations that are then hooked up to services that can communicate with them.

For instance, let’s say you implement this new REST interface on your server, who in the world is going to make calls to it? Someone else? Maybe. It could be you implement both sides of the equation.

Come to think of it this could be implemented using an RSS feed out of Twitter and some code on a server somewhere that knows how to pull the RSS from the server. That would be pretty slick.

It needs to be simple

In the end I want something so simple I can set it and let it go. I also REALLY want to capture every tweet I’ve ever posted. That, is the biggest deal to me. I want the entire stream.

The conversation that sparked this post

This post came out of a conversation started where? On Twitter, of course.

Twitter Backup Conversation.

Categories
Social

Social Overload

AHHHHHH!Like a lot of folks I’ve been suffering from Social Overload, or SO for short. With the introduction of Stamped, Arrived, and Path it got even crazier for about a week. After using, or considering some of these newcomers I made some decisions.

My Favorite

Path, without a doubt is my new favorite Social Network. It’s what Facebook could have been if it had been carefully designed, as Path was. If I were a mobile developer at Facebook I’d be jealous of the job the fine folks at Path have done. It’s beautifully designed, contrary to what some designers think. The timeline was beautifully executed and I love the little touches like Covers, which amount to nothing more than a wallpaper for your path. It’s a tiny thing but it really makes the app feel like it’s yours. After spending a few days with Path I started thinking to myself “Where does this leave Gowalla in my mix of apps?”, but we’ll get to that later.

Path is a really nice mix of check-in based apps, like Gowalla and Foursquare, and social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. It fits right in that sweet spot for me. Twitter is minimal, which I love, and Facebook is overbearing and ugly.

Bottom line, I love Path.

The Non Starter

I jumped on Arrived when I heard about it, but I never really got into it. I think it required my phone number to sign up, which I didn’t want to give out. It also has links to Facebook, which is a turnoff. I don’t remember if it requires the use of a Facebook account? Maybe someone can clarify that for me?

I like the look of the UI. It looks leathery, with stitches. I’m sure some designers will love it, others will hate it.

Stamped

I love the look of this application and it’s super simple. With Stamped you stamp things you like. What could be easier? I think I’ll keep this one around for a while and give it a fair chance. It came out just before Path 2.0, which is unfortunate. Path just stole my attention.

Goodbye, Facebook

I’ve been struggling with the idea of closing down my Facebook account for a while now and with the introduction of Path I just don’t need it anymore. If family and friends need to get in touch with me there’s always the phone, my web home, email, Twitter, and Path. Many, many, ways to get in touch.

A few nights ago I deleted my Facebook account and I haven’t missed it.

Gowalla, Bummer

I say bummer because I actually liked Gowalla, and used it more than Foursquare. I was pulling for the little guy and I liked the company.

Gowalla is no more. It’s now a Facebook property and I have no idea what that means for the service. I suppose it will be lost somewhere in the bowels of Facebook, just more plumbing. I’d love to see how that integration works. How will the folks from Austin, Texas, gel with folks in California? I suppose we’ll see. I hope it works well for them.

Another question, how long with that Tumblr based Gowalla weblog exist? The links above may suffer from link rot in a few years, who knows?

Gowalla had some fine folks working on it and they’re fleeing like rats from a sinking ship, not that I blame them. I’m not sure I’d like to work for Facebook myself.

Tim Van Damme is moving on to Instagram, which is kind of weird given this post, and quote.

In 10 years we’ll look back at apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic and chuckle. “What were we thinking?”

Then again, maybe that’s why Instagram hired him. Maybe he has a way to fix the problems he sees with the service?

Another Gowalla’ite, Phillip McAllister is also joining Instagram.

But, I digress. It definitely made me feel even better about using Path. The Gowalla team is no more, Gowalla the app, and service, are no more. Makes deleting the application from my phone a no brainer.

In and Out

In – Path and Stamped.
Out – Facebook and Gowalla.

Categories
Social Weblogging

It’s Your Identity, DUH!

ReadWriteWeb: “Not only is Facebook becoming too central to our online discourse – it’s becoming too crapified to even be useful. We have a social media problem, and the time to turn back is now. And the answer isn’t regulating Facebook.”

Some folks will never understand the importance of their brand. Using Facebook as your primary platform is a huge mistake. You need to drive people to your website, and your branding, not to Facebook’s pre-selected blue and their crowded layout and takes the attention.

If your brand is important to you invest the time and money to create your own presence on the web. It’s every bit as important as any activity you’ll do to build a successful business.

Use Facebook and Twitter as connectors, nothing more.

Categories
Life Social

Do you Facebook?

Gizmodo: “I will grant you this: Facebook, much like Twitter, has a lot that sucks about it. A tremendous amount. You’re exposed to inane human behavior on a scope and volume unprecedented in the history of mankind. And yes, there are privacy eyebrow-raises that are warranted—it’s a little weird that people I barely know anymore see where I work, where I live, and who I’m talking to. And there’s plenty of crap. Pokes from creepy people. Photos of idiots. Moronic comments. Racism. All the worst parts about our species, sandwiched between poorly-targeted banner ads.”

I have Facebook for one reason. My family is on Facebook. I’ve taken to posting links to political commentary, that should chase a few folks off, but by and large I use it to push links to with weblog. My weblog is where my real online identity lies and it’s where I write. Facebook is just another distribution mechanism for me.

Categories
Indie Social UX

Why I prefer Twitterrific

I’ve wanted to post why I prefer Twitterrific as my Twitter client of choice for quite a while now. Here it is, in all its glory. No, I don’t work for Iconfactory, and I wasn’t paid to write this. I’m just a fan of The Iconfactory and their work.

Simplicity

It all comes down to simplicity. You can tell the Designers and Developers at The Iconfactory spent a lot of time keeping Twitterrific simple. It has a thoughtful, very simple, yet very powerful interface. First off they chose a different navigation method than most Twitter clients. They use nested table views to get guide you to your Twitter Timeline. At first blush some may think it’s too many steps, but it’s not at all. Sure the first time to move through it it takes a few taps but once you’re to your timeline you don’t go back much, at least I don’t.


Figure #1: Tap on the account name to begin navigating.

Figure #2: Tap on the Timeline you’d like to view

The Timeline

One you arrive at your timeline in Twitterrific there are a few really nice features. First, since they used a different navigation scheme you’re not presented with an ugly tab bar at the bottom that takes you between timeline views. Yes, I consider that a feature. It’s a simple refresh button and a button to launch the post editor. Simple, right?


Figure #3 Light and Dark Timelines

The other thing I’d like to point out is the color coding of tweets. I have a couple of images above for you to consider. The one on the left is using the Light Theme, the one on the right is using the Dark Theme.

Notice the different colors? Replies, to and from, are a different color than standard tweets in your timeline. Colors are also different if you’re mentioned in a tweet but not being replied to directly. You can see that in the dark timeline on the right, the bottom tweet. It’s a lighter brown color than a direct reply in the dark theme. I really like this. If I’m trying to catch up with tweets I scan scroll through them quickly and stop right on replies. I don’t show it here but Direct Replies are also shown in a different color making them super easy to find in your timeline.

Inline Images

Another really nice feature is Inline Images. When you tap on a tweet you’re taken to a view of it that isolates it and if it contains a link to an image, it supports lots of services, you’ll see the image show up right below the tweet. This is another really nice touch and more proof Iconfactory paid close attention to the Design and UX.


Figure #4: Dark and Light Tweet Details with Inline Images.

The Post Editor

The Twitterrific post editor has a nice little touch I haven’t seen in other Twitter clients, at least not presented like this. When you go to reply to a tweet you can see the person’s tweet right below the editor, and it shows you the name of the person you’re replying to. This is really nice just in case you want to refer back to the tweet while replying. It keeps you in the editor, no need to cancel back to your timeline. I also really like seeing my avatar right in the editor, just in case I’ve replied to someone from the wrong account. Hey, it could happen!


Figure #5: Reply Editor with tweet preview.

Overall Twitterrific fits my use of Twitter perfectly. That may not be the case for everyone, but I certainly like it.

Categories
Social

Twitterrific for iPhone Tips

I’m an Apple fanboy and I’m a fan of Iconfactory Apps. I use Twitterrific for iOS and Mac so I thought I’d share some tips with my fellow Twitterrific for iPhone users.

Two of the things I love about Twitterrific are the nice shortcuts from the timeline view.

Tip #1: Double Tap

No, not rule #2 from the Zombieland Rules List.

While viewing your timeline you can double tap on an item and up pops a shortcut menu. This is super handy for replying and retweeting. I use it all the time. Here’s what it looks like.

Tip #2: Tap and Hold

The second feature I really appreciate, and use all the time, is tap and hold. This works from the timeline and from the tweet detail views. Simply tap and hold a link to see the shortcut menu. Great stuff. Here’s what it looks like.

I use the Send to Instapaper and Copy Link options all the time. Notice they’re placed toward the bottom of the menu. I’m pretty sure the fine folks at the Iconfactory did this intentionally since they’re the options people will probably use the most.

Hopefully you find these tips useful.

Categories
Social

Twitter’s Data Center Nightmare

Reuters: “A new, custom-built facility in Utah meant to house computers that power the popular messaging service by the end of 2010 has been plagued with everything from leaky roofs to insufficient power capacity, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.”

It’s tough when a third-party can’t deliver and makes you look like a jerk. Stuff happens.