We All Have Something Valuable to Say…
Sep 6, 2008 Technology
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I really believe that - that everyone has something valuable to say, and something to contribute on at least some topics. And I love how the web provides a means for us to be heard. Especially in recent times, it’s so easy to step up and have your say on any topic.
You can start a blog, or create a Squidoo lens, for example. You can edit Wikipedia. You can Twitter, or comment on blogs. It’s now so easy to make a contribution and have your voice heard online.
Now, thanks to a Help A Reporter (a free service by Peter Shankman), that ability to have your voice heard is stretching to print
The playing field is being leveled, and we’re all being given more and more opportunities to show our expertise, and let our voice be heard.
The platforms are there - and increasing. Are you making use of them?
Thanks to Seth Godin for pointing out the service.
Tags: be heard, blog, help a reporter, squidoo, twitter, voice, wikipedia
Why I like Identi.ca
Jul 10, 2008 Technology, blogging
There’s a lot of Twitter ‘clones’ and competitors coming to the fore lately. A few weeks ago, it was Plurk (which as you might know, I’m not really a fan of). Now, the biggest buzz is Identi.ca. And this time, I am a huge fan of it. It’s been around for a week or so, but I just haven’t had the time to write about it until now.
Why do I like Identi.ca? It’s not about the featueres, though that’s rapidly improving. I like the ideas and principles behind it. It’s a push for openness. We all know that free markets are better than closed ones. That holds true for the online world as well.
And that’s why I’m really in support of Identi.ca. I think the push for openness is really important, and the possibilities of openness - imagine a world where Twitter, Plurk, Pownce and Jaiku can work with each other - is something I look forward to.
So, you can find me on Identi.ca. As always, my username is derrickkwa. Feel free to connect with me over there.
[?]Tags: identi.ca, microblogging, openness, twitter
Why I’m Not Using Plurk
Jun 7, 2008 Uncategorized
I’ve got an account on Plurk, but after checking it out for a couple of days, I’m not really using it.
Daryl, who has become a huge proponent of Plurk, has been sharing some of his reasons for choosing Plurk over Twitter. His reason number 4: it provides closer/more intimate conversations. And in a way, I don’t disagree.
But that point is precisely why I’m not on Plurk. The downside of more intimate conversations is that there tends to be more “mindless chatter“, as Daryl put it - and as evidenced by this thread. Yes, it helps build closer relationships, but from an outsider - if I’m not following everyone in that conversation - it doesn’t add much value, just noise.
It’s sort of related to what Mitch Joel wrote about why he tends to reply using Direct Messages instead of @ replies on Twitter, and why I personally don’t write much about my personal life here.
Yes, there’s a place for Plurk, I’m not denying that. It’s just a completely different dynamic, and not one that’s suited to me. I’m looking not just for conversations, but for intellectual, stimulating discussions.
I try to keep my personal conversations private, for two reasons. firstly, to not add too much noise. And secondly, because in a mass conversation like that, chances are - for me personally - I would have trouble keeping up and giving due attention to everyone.
Sonny Gill wrote that “Twitter is the conference and Plurk is the party“. And personally, I’m just not much of a party person.
So yeah, if you’re looking for me on Plurk, chances are you’ll find my account, but not me. I’m not on it anymore. I’m waiting (and hoping) for Twitter to get back up.
[?]Wishlist: Twitter Notifications for @ Replies
May 3, 2008 Technology
Here’s a feature I’d want on Twitter, a way to turn on notifications only for @ replies. Twitter provides the ability to turn on notifications to either your whole timeline, or to DMs only. I’d like one for @ replies.
Why? Because sometimes I’m having conversations on Twitter, and I need to go offline. Or sometimes I Twitter from my phone, and would love to get notifications about people who reply to me. It’s more focused. Rather than a hundred SMSes a minute, it’d be much more useful to only get notified of conversations I’m involved in. Or to at least get the option.
I’ve got a rough idea of a possible way it can be implemented as a 3rd party. Twitter provides notifications for DMs. So I’m thinking, would it be possible to create a bot account to do something like this. You follow it, it auto-follows you back. Then it monitors the @replies RSS pipe (created by Andrea Vascellari, referencing TweetScan) and just duplicates the RSS updates as DM to you. That’s just one possibility, and it should be highly possible to create, right?
What do you guys think? Am I the only one who wants this feature? And anyone want to help create something like this (because I don’t have much experience with scripting)?
[?]Tags: Conversation, replies, scripts, twitter, wish
Feedback Loops
Apr 25, 2008 Analogies, Technology, blogging
Image via WikipediaWe’ve all heard the high pitched squeal that results from feedback from speakers. And I’m pretty sure most of you would agree that it’s annoying. It’s not something you want to hear.
Feedback occurs when a microphone picks up it’s own sound from the speaker. The sound gets trapped in a loop (microphone picks it up from the speaker, amplifies it and sends it to the speaker, where it gets sent back to the microphone, etc), which causes that annoying whine that we all know (and most hate).
The thing is, with the power of Web 2.0, it’s very easy to get trapped in our own ‘feedback loop’. The web allows you to amplify your voice. With blogs, podcasting, Twitter and all the other Web 2.0 tools, you can speak and be heard.
But social media is a conversation. It’s not a one way broadcast. Yes, the tools help to amplify what you have to say, but if you’re just trying to build yourself up, it’s not going to work. You’ll just get annoying.
Companies which blog and only plug their products aren’t going to get much value from social media. Companies which blog and listen to what their customers say back will.
Same for individuals. You’re more likely to gain from social media if you’re listening to what others say, and feeding off each other, inspiring each other. If you’re just amplifying yourself over and over, you won’t gain value, and you won’t be adding value either. You’ll just be making noise.
How do you keep yourself from getting trap in a ‘feedback loop’?
Tags: feedback, listening, social media, twitter, web 2.0
Don’t get caught in the middle
Apr 23, 2008 Technology
Twitter’s been having problems over the last couple of days. It’s led Robert Scoble to declare that Twitter has given Friendfeed a major gift. The problems caused Daryl Tay to go off Twitter for a while. And lots of people have been asking questions about what’s going on.
For me, that’s the biggest issue. Yes, it’s not good that Twitter is broken. But the biggest problem is that it’s not obvious that it’s broken. If it’s broken and the site is down and there’s an error page, yes, it’s annoying, but at least people know what they are going to get. When they try to access Twitter, they know it’s down.
But that’s not what happened. The service was accessible. But it didn’t work how it was expected to. Because of that, people were left guessing about what’s going on. And people often don’t bother to take the time to guess.
If you’re going to go down, go down. But don’t leave people hanging. The middle ground is the worst place to be.
At least that’s my opinion. What do you think?
[?]Tags: expectation, middle ground, twitter
Does Twitter Spam Really Matter?
Apr 18, 2008 Technology
There’s been a lot of commotion over Twitter spam lately, with Mashable’s Adam Ostrow writing that Twitter Spam has spiralled out of control. Adam goes on to suggest that “the time has arrived for Twitter to require a CAPTCHA with every new follow you want to make”.
Personally, I never really liked CAPTCHAs because of the negative impact on usability. But that’s a post for another day, I guess (Wired’s Paul Adams asked the question of whether Captcha’s moment is passing, and you can see the discussion there if you’re interested.)
The question I want to ask here is the question in the post title. Does Twitter spam really matter? Yes, it’s slightly annoying getting the random email notifications of being followed. But other than the email notifications, I personally don’t see the big deal about Twitter spam.
Twitter, by its nature, is inherently permission based, isn’t it? You choose who to follow. So how does Twitter spam fit in? Users can just choose not to follow the spammers, and that’s done, isn’t it? And based on Andre Nantel’s study, users are more or less intelligent enough to choose who to follow.
When the user controls what messages he receives, can spam really be that big an issue? Can it even be considered spam in the first place?
The second question, I don’t have a fixed answer to. But for the first question, I don’t see how spam can be such a big isssue.
What do you think? Is there something I’m missing from all of this??
[?]Tags: captcha, permission, social media, spam, twitter
