Social Mashup

A review of cool and interesting things I discover on my daily sojourn across cyberspace. Stay tuned for the revelation that “Google Buzz is the Soylent Green of Social Media”…

I thought I would commence a regular feature describing some of the cool toys and apps that I’ve discovered over the past days/weeks along with some joyful resources be they blogs, podcasts, videos, or people. So here we go with the inaugural instalment – your report from the Cyberspace Sojourner #1.

iPhone Apps

1. Mobile Mind Maps – I’m loving the uber-new iMindMap application for the iPhone from MindMap aficionado Tony Buzan. It’s a tiny bit fiddly to get used to the interface (although I use a desktop version of the same app, and already had familiarity). I think the ‘same’ app on the iPad would be fantastic. There’s something that really works for me in terms of the touch screen interaction and MindMap creation. The tactile nature seems really intuitive, and I think it will be a very efficient mechanism. The key benefit of the iPhone app is the ability to create “MindMaps on the Move”, these can be saved and emailed so you can easily load them up on your desktop / laptop once you’ve arrived. Here’s a really simple example I made earlier (eyes right)… 
2. Corporate Yammering - I’m using the Yammer app a lot as well, I say more about this under “Corporate Stuff”. Essentially this is a microblogging app which connects to your Corporate (walled-garden) microblogging platform – provided by Yammer.
3. App potential for site promotion – I’m enjoying the apps from Mashable, ReadWriteWeb (in particular), the Telegraph and BuddyFeed. The three former are great for grabbing tech news stories, BuddyFeed hooks into FriendFeed which means I can keep an occasional eye on what’s happening there.
4. iPhone Web Cam, Geolocation, Pic sharing and Scrobbling – I’m sure I’m a latecomer to some of these apps, but I’m also enjoying Qik (a video sharing / streaming utility), TwitPic (well-known photo sharing app for Twitter), FourSquare (mobile / location app), and I’m having a look at AudioBoo which I’m sure has lots of potential. iScrobble Lite is a nice (and free) utility app which scrobbles (to Last.FM ‘in real time’) track plays from the iPod. The Last.FM app is also great if you want to stream Internet radio (but don’t ignore ooTunes). Qik was recently voted fourth in a list of top applications by the Gadget Show. If you’re into Video Blogging, also take a look at 12SecondsTV. It’s been around for ages, but it’s gathering some recent renewed interest.
5. Mobile WordPress Administration – I’ve also been looking at the WordPress app, handy for administering a WordPress blog ‘on the move’. I occasionally check comment moderation queues on this app, but I wouldn’t consider doing any significant updates without being behind my desktop machine.
6. Understanding trends – TwitScoop has been around for quite some time, and I’ve recently started using the iPhone App from Novo. I had a little issue authenticating with Twitter, but the app was very quickly updated to reflect a change in Twitter’s authentication interface. Top marks for being responsive and fixing the app very quickly once reported. TwitScoop is a kind of hypnotic view into trending topics on Twitter. If you want to see what’s trending, buzzing, emerging, and dying – glue your eyes to TwitScoop. With the iPhone app you can do this on the move, and also (with the paid version) Tweet direct from the app. 
7. Augmented Reality, but not yet for iPhone – It’s a real shame that Layar (augmented reality browser) isn’t available again on iPhone. For now you can check it out on Android. Keep an eye on the Layar site for changes, but I will also write a feature once I get to play with this on iPhone. Hopefully this will be soon!!!
8. Another burning topic for iPhone apps is their use (and usefulness) in terms of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I’m trying out a number of apps and intend to write a separate post on this niche topic, so “hit the subscribe” button if you want to come back and have a look at those thoughts and conclusions.
9. Bump, but don’t grind – Bump comes close to realising some of the predictions I made some time ago about blurring the edges between on and off-line networking. Simply Bump to share contact details quickly,  send updates into Facebook (optional) and explore mutual connections. It’s fine to feel excited, but before looking for someone to bump with, please read the rest of this post!

Books

1. #TwitterBook – I recently purchased the #TwitterBook written by Tim O’Reilly @timoreilly and Sarah Milstein @sarahm. It’s a very easy to read guide to using Twitter. I’ve been on Twitter for over 2 years, so certainly not a novice, but I genuinely found some great tips and ‘tricks’ which I was either unaware of, under-utilising or worse still using in an unproductive way. Even if you think you are a Twitter guru, I would say check out the book, it will fill in some gaps in almost everyone’s knowledge.
2. Blogging for serious dosh (I paraphrase) – I know it’s been out for ages, but I recently forked out for the ProBlogger book from Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. The problem with good advice isn’t understanding it, it’s following it – even when there seems to be an easier way. If you go to the trouble of buying and reading this book, at least try and put the advice into practice. This requires discipline and realism. I highly recommend it.

Blogs and Resources

1. Catching back chat – I’ve recently added ChatCatcher to this blog. It watches Twitter, Friendfeed etc. for mentions of my articles (looking for backlinks). It is clever enough to unravel link shortening, and it posts back any mentions it finds as trackbacks. This (as the name implies) catches article mentions (chat) on other Social Media sites and funnels the comment back to this blog. Neat!
2. You may also like – LinkWithin which is a service I first spotted on Neville Hobson’s blog. Very simple to install as a WordPress plug-in, it provides “you might also like” links at the bottom of blog posts. This is a great way to cross-promote onsite blog content.
3. Screen new Followers – TwiMailer is a utility worth looking at. I was getting rather tired of the vanilla “person x is following you” on Twitter. TwiMailer pushes out an enriched notification message containing the new followers “following and follower count”, bio and last 10 tweets. The email has a “Follow Back”, or “Block” link which means it’s much easier to screen new followers and decide whether to follow back, ignore or report for spamming. I used my Google Mail account for this, I suggest you look at TwiMailer, but also read this article on how to use TwiMailer securely.
4. Save for later – This is as old as the web browser and bookmarking, but Instapaper and Read it Later are worth looking at. I see a lot of iPhone apps now providing seamless integration (particularly with Instapaper), which is handy for filtering and saving news on the move.

Folks

1. Escaped feline – I let the cat out of the bag in the last section, but take a look at what Neville Hobson is Tweeting, and also check out his blog. The podcasts and content on there is very interesting, as is the use of some interesting widgets. I recommend regularly checking out new and interesting blogs and looking not only at the words, but also how they are presented and using what technical add-ons. Neville’s blog is a great exemplar of what I mean.
2. Fizz and Ginger – Suw (@Suw) Charman-Anderson has brought what I described as needed “fizz and ginger” to Computer Weekly’s blog offerings. She writes The Social Enterprise blog, and other blogs of her own. I like her style, she knows ‘what’s what’ and isn’t afraid to say it (so take care with comments .
3. Warren is more than #DADM – I have to apologise to Warren Whitlock for mentioning, but his #DADM hashtag is hilarious. Warren posts the “Dumbest Auto DM” message he receives on Twitter. For newbies, an auto-DM is spam, pure and simple. If you’re using it, turn it off immediately. If you must DM on making a new connection, make it personal and don’t include a link (especially a “read my blog” or “get rich quick” link). This looks and is anti-social and desperate. I would “forgive” an auto-DM from a charity or philanthropic organisation promoting something of true pro-Social value.
4. The Digital Dutchman – Make sure and look in on Paul Albada Jelgersma a colleague in the Netherlands. Paul was recently kind to mention an article I had written about Social Graph Gaming, he also pointed out the ‘bizarre’ Web 2.0 Suicide Machine – which is quirky, and unsettling but perhaps in a year or two – essential. It reminded me of my 2007 prediction of a “Web Reformation” where digital atonement would be necessary to remove the “sins of old posts”. Paul’s a chap to follow, so check out his musings…
5. Twitter know how with Sarah Milstein – SarahM is a must follow on Twitter. Sarah co-authored #TwitterBook, and you can pick up great ideas from her posts.
6. Balf, the 2012 guy – Alex Balfour (aka @Balf) is in charge of New Media for London 2012. Watching the speed of change of smartphone technologies and availability of new and innovative apps, coupled with the continued explosion of Social Computing, Context Awareness, Augmented Reality and of course end-user expectations make Alex’s challenge immediate and significant. Tune in for his vision of where we will be by London 2012.

Behind the Firewall

1. If I had a Yammer, I’d Yammer in the morning… – I’m a recent convert to Yammer, deriving most utility from it by connecting my Twitter account, and sending targeted updates into the Corporate Yammer microblog using the #yam hashtag from Twitter. If you want an easy jumping in point for corporate microblogging, this is one to look at.
2. Say hello over on CIO – I’m going to give a shameless plug to some corporate blogs, namely the Atos Origin CIO / CTO blog (in the UK) and the Atos Origin Blog in North America. Rachel Macik is doing great work on the latter as well as on Twitter and other Social Media platforms. I’m getting more heavily involved in writing for and technically developing the UK blog, so please drop by and say hello there as well.
3. Spigit Collaboration – I’ve been involved with internal pilot evaluation of Spigit’s ideas sharing and corporate collaboration tool. This is a really intuitive, dare we say ‘fun’ application that facilitates simple capturing of ideas. These can be reviewed, voted up an down, connected to points earnings, leader boards, and even speculation markets. I’ve been impressed with Spigit, an “alternative” (although you lose some control of data management) is Google Wave. Would be nice to see an iPhone app for Spigit, but corporate integration with smartphones isn’t always easy.

Boo and Thumbs Down

Let’s have a little grumpy counterpoint…

1. Mavens and stay home Muppets – I’m desperately tired of Twitter spammers. #DADM is keeping me occasionally sane, but I have thought of spearheading an Unfollow Friday campaign #unfollowfriday. Perhaps some clever person will invent “Fly Swat” for Twitter so we can keep these nuisances from stomping around in our sugar bowl. If you are being pestered by Auto DM spammers, reply suggesting they join a CrisisCamp through CrisisCommons.org – get them to do something purposeful!
2. Web 2.0 Suicide and Burglary – I think the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine is quirky but also disturbing. They’ve had a “cease and desist” notice from Facebook who don’t seem overly enamoured with the ‘service’. PleaseRobMe is also a ‘weird’ discovery of the week. The makers say they are lampooning location based services to highlight the risk of location and privacy. They post “Please Rob Me” (or opportunity) updates indicating that people aren’t home. An odd thing to create, but perhaps not entirely silly given speculation that insurance premiums could be on the rise for Social Media libertines. Both have originated in Holland, original home of Big Brother and Endemol! Um…
3. Google Buzz = Soylent Green (or FriendlyFire) – I had intended to write some kind of defence of Google Buzz, it seems though that well-founded concerns over privacy and Google’s own admission that change was required makes this practically untenable. I quite like the lifestreaming quality of Google Buzz, it immediately struck me as a Friendfeed competitor. Robert Scoble provided an interesting treatise on why he feels Buzz implemented Friendfeed’s worst features. I think the release / hype we have been through in the past month though needs to be quelled. The iPad was interesting, but when it turned out not to also be a hover-board people sulked with surprising acidity. Google Buzz was over-buzzed. “It’s a thing that does some things that other things do better” is my erudite review. Buzz should be rebranded as “FriendlyFire”, and perhaps a “Buzz This” chicklet would be more popular if it were labelled “Buzz off” or “Buzz kill”. Our friends at Web 2.0 Suicide Machine must be analysing Buzz to see if it could be re-engineered into a fully fledged friend shredder. Let’s put it back on the shelf and classify version 1 as the “Soylent Green of Social Media”. A class action complaint provides great Social Networking potential for the dissatisfied legions. Will Buzz give birth to “Social Based Litigation?” – and is there “an app for that?”

One to Watch

I wasn’t at MWC (Mobile World Congress in Barcelona) 2010, so I’m not going to write with too much excitement about new HTC or Windows Phone 7 Series.

The Israeli designed Else is one to watch, the principle being single click access to “all” features on the device. Watch a demo video. I think this is really interesting!

And finally – something gratuitously weird

I wouldn’t entirely like to admit how I discovered this iPhone app. Weighing in at a snip (merely 59 of the Queen’s new pence), you can amuse and amaze your friend(s) by superimposing their eyes over burkhas or visage over hijabs. You might wonder – why? I also wonder why…

To refrains of a singing fat lady…

Well, that’s about it for this instalment. If there’s something out there on which I should focus my “Social-Eyes” please let me know. If I like it I will feature it in a future post. Post up any comments, or drop by and say hello on Twitter. For now I remain yours, the Social-eye-ser…

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The “Elemental Web” was a connection of machines, then a connection of sites, now it is a complex amalgam awash with traditional links and millions of ‘inter-personal’ connections defined by the Social Graph. But what exactly is the Social Graph, is it open to manipulation and how might this affect experimentation in Social Search? How shall we seek to vanquish the Social Chimera?…

Read the full article on the Atos Origin CIO / CTO Blog…

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Star gazing with a Social Nostradamus

I was thinking this week about Social Networks and how I saw their potential development over the next few years. As wonderful as they are, we must remember that sites such as Facebook are only really 5 years old, and they have had to spend time defining a business model, growing awareness and user bases and of course dealing with horrible scalability issues (when a site has 200 million users the industrialisation and volumetric management becomes a ‘tad tricky’).

So let’s assume the last 5 years have been all about understanding the market, users and fundamental sizing problems. What will (or should) the next 5 years deliver?

I see this question in the context of some interesting statistics:

1. The amount of time people are spending on Social Networks has trebled

2. Revenue from online advertising now outstrips offline

3. The rise of the smartphone, advances in mobile networks, and importantly price reduction in handsets and mobile Internet usage opens up some really exciting new potential

So let’s get to some predictions… ..Continue reading..

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A bear with a sore head!

I’ve been using and very much enjoying LastFM for just over a year. Recently I noticed play back cutting out after an hour or so, and this silly graphic appearing to punctuate the irritating silence.

I thought the designers had gone insane, radio is generally a passively consumed media so the idea of wandering off, and LastFM demanding some kind of ongoing attention seemed incredibly poorly though out (dare I say vacuous).

Now take a look at that “Subscribe” link. Well, I thought I was a subscriber, perhaps not a paying subscriber, but certainly a loyal site member and consumer none the less.

Follow that link, we arrive at the page below and the “real intention is revealed”. Uninterrupted radio now costs three quid (vernacular for Pounds Sterling) a month. So, look again at the picture above. Are people concerned that I’ve been eaten by said famed bear, am listening to Internet radio whilst dusting the cat, or in reality are the site providers using “nuisance tactics” to drive fee paying subscriptions?

It makes me think seriously about purchasing one of the many dedicated Internet radio appliances (from about 40 manufactures last time I counted). Some even integrate playback with Pandora, so I could easily retain the ‘played track history’ elsewhere, all with no interruption and no recurring fees (beyond the initial outlay on the physical device itself).

I think it’s really interesting that LastFM are broadcasting over CBS networks in New York, San Francisco, LA and Chicago (as announced earlier in the week). That’s great, a fascinating ‘cross over’ story from Internet radio to traditional broadcasting (of course CBS own LastFM). However, I’m ‘dismayed’ at the decision to implement interruptive ‘tactics’ that make no sense in such a delivery model on the Web. And seriously guys, when did a certain type of icon become prestigious (bullet 4 below)?

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What’s important, and where are your spending time?

I’ve written in the past about the dangers of outposts in terms of wasting effort and creating endless repetitive noise. I recently watched this nice little video from Darren Rowse over at Problogger and I want to highlight a very key observation “people sometimes give up on their Home Base and spend all of their time on outposts”. Don’t let that apply to you! ..Continue reading..

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When people talk about LinkedIn they usually cover topics such as:

1. Building the network before you need it
2. LinkedIn for Social Networking and Business Opportunities
3. Finding a job using LinkedIn

The Traditional Problem

A feature of the site that I have found very useful (and wished existed years ago) is the ability to find ‘virtual mentors’ and subsequently source new ideas for career and personal development. About 7 or 8 years ago I spent a lot of time thinking ‘where next’ and ‘how’ in terms of building a highly credible technical (and to an extent public) profile. The issue in 2001 / 2002 was the distinct lack of Web2 / Social Networking sites, and therefore a pretty tough time finding exemplar CVs and information about successful people that I would ‘like to mirror’. My solution at the time (which still seems reasonable) was to plough through lots of public academic profiles (mostly staff lists on university web sites). Draw backs with this approach were: ..Continue reading..

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An intriguing title and it is important to first define terms. Out posting is the practice of operating satellite web presences, I think of this as a hub and spoke model with spokes operating as the outposts. With the proliferation of social networks and other web2 sites, it becomes extremely easy to operate dozens of these and they are quite commonly used by bloggers, marketers et. al. to ‘deliver their message’ to multiple audiences. A good way to think of an outpost is as a channel. The hub could be an aggregator service such as ping.fm. This facilitates a broadcast ‘model’ – i.e. from ping.fm you can push in a single update the same message to multiple web2 outposts.

Sounds great so far! A simple way to hook up tonnes of web2 presences and push updates to multiple audiences. You could also say it sounds a bit untargeted and even ‘spammy’, so what are the potential drawbacks? ..Continue reading..

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