Evolving Web

I Spy With My Wry Little Eye

Today Facebook changed the status line so you can write whatever you want.  They have slackened the leash just a little bit, allowing us to be more than present tense.

No longer am I confined to the confining confines of "is".  Now, we can use words like "can" or "shall" or verbs like "hates", "loves" or "conjugates."

So, I'm more than a little worried that I noticed this and that I even care in the first place.

With this massive freedom, who knows what I will do?  And who knows what other bits of the party line Facebook is going to chip away with in their move towards democratization?

Technorati Tags: facebook, articles, verbs, freedom, democracy, chip

Twitter: Why We Should Love Muck and Feces

Today Jeremiah Owyang at Forrester threw down the gauntlet and dared people to be his friends on Twitter.  Soon he was racking up the friends on each screen refresh you can see his progress. 

His blog post gathered hundreds of comments which translated into about 100 new friends on Twitter.

Chris Webb talks about this, expanding on David Armano's assertion that Twitter is a conversation ecosystem.  Yes, an ecosystem can get mired down by ambient pollution - in this case "throwaway" tweets.  But he links to things like Tweet Scan to filter for you:

This is all true, to an extent.  I was an original Twitter detractor that now uses it rather extensively.

There are a few things about the "noise" on Twitter that have become clearer to me.

Number 1 - Noise = People.  People are social animals.  I love that I can crowdsource with Twitter, but you won't have a crowd if you are a free rider.  Joining in on the daily conversation and interaction on Twitter is important.  You have to be known to the group.  That's just how social circles work.  So the "what you have for lunch" tweet which people use to devalue Twitter is actually why it works.

Number 2 - Your Network Requires Familiarity.  Part of any real social network is that you have some things to bond on.  The twitter exchange below is me throwing out a fairly arbitrary public whine about Pogo, a comic strip long lost in the annals of popular culture, and receiving back social value from Brian Kerr - a guy I've never actually shaken hands with.

The noise we seek to filter is where the value actually lies.

Is Twitter a conversation ecosystem?  Yeah, probably.  Is a bar or a prison a conversation ecosystem.  Yes.

Being a conversation ecosystem is nothing special.  Understanding that the muck on the bottom feeds the fish - that's where we get into some real issues.

In actual ecology, things are messy.  Mud and feces are the building blocks of life.  Our throw away posts are what gives life to the conversation.

Jeremiah tossed out a post that will expand his ecosystem today.  Will he get a lot of polluting posts, a lot of trash tweets?  Oh yes.  Will he get more benefit from the Twitter party-line of communication?  Absolutely.

Indeed, in twitter, the mayhem is the message.

UPDATE: Here is some proof of the power of Jeremiah's twitter feed, which is up 5% on the day:

 

 

Technorati Tags: twitter, jeremiah owyang, brian kerr, laurel papworth, tweet scan, chris webb, david armano, feces, muck, ecosystem

Is That All?

Years ago, my collaborator Kevin Jahne and I wrote a screenplay which included a restaurant scene.  The waiter in this restaurant was singularly uninspired and only had one line which he repeated over and over again ... "Is that all?"

Today's LinkedIn improvements make that line echo in my brain.  I cannot believe that major corporations that works in social networking can consistently come out with such uninspired improvements. 

LinkedIn is sitting on the worlds largest database of professional relationships. Is that all the better they can do?  That is just plain depressing.

Here are the new features:

1. A widget-based front end with (count them) three widgets.  Three widgets is pretty much the modern equivalent of "any color so long as it's black."

2. Company News - LinkedIn will tap your network and tell you what people are reading ... as long as they are in your company and as long as the link is clicked from a LinkedIn data source.  In other words, it's a very thin data stream.

That's it.  The LinkedIn Blog touts some more, but the others are "new" in the sense that you can see them on this new page.  But not really new otherwise.

What Blows Me Away

I have nearly 4 million people in my LinkedIn network.  So, LinkedIn gives me this:

Start each work day by reading the most relevant news articles about your company, your industry, and your competitors  through a Company News feed ranked by relevance and popularity within your company network.

Also, the five most read news articles (or blog posts) show up on your homepage and you can click through to see more. You can also browse through the articles that have been read the most by your colleagues this past week or in the past 2 weeks thereby providing you a complete history of the hot business topics in your professional world.

Did I mention 4 million people in my network?!  The five most read articles by people in my industry or articles about my company doesn't help me much, if at all.

What would help me?

To be able to use my freaking network!

Why, oh why, can't I:

• Categorize people in my network?
• Rank people based on trust?
• Query subsegments of my network?
• Send messages to subsegments of my network?
• Form ad hoc teams based on my network?
• Invite subsegments of my network to specific events?
• Research the makeup of my network? (oh god! how I would love this!)
• See statistics on my network for deeper data than mere existence?
• Use LinkedIn to bridge to other applications like Facebook or Flickr?
• Conduct open source research?
• Connect directly to upcoming trade shows or conferences?
• and so on....

The value add LinkedIn can give me is the ability to really make use of this network.  They have a given me access to millions of people, but it's like I can only shout at them over a wall.  Come on LinkedIn!  Go that extra step!  Make LinkedIn really useful!

Technorati Tags: linkedin, network theory, social networking, when will it really be useful?

Facebook Calmed Me Down

Today I came into the office and there was no power to any of the wall outlets.  The servers were down, the T1 was down, and my cell phone sat calmly on my bedside table at home.  No communications, no power, no nothing.

Calm and collected, I walked to the breaker box and flipped the appropriate switches.  The switches were unphased by my attempts to restore power through them.  I flipped them again and again, but they kept returning to their "no power, thank you" position.

So I became angry and said some things to the breaker box, which did not reply.  So I went off in search of building maintenance - always as elusive as the night.  I couldn't find them, so I went and borrowed a phone to call my business partner.

I then searched around more and more for maintenance, couldn't find them, kicked some things, swore a bit, and returned to my office.  I tried the breakers again, and they worked this time.  I assume it's because they start work at 8 am.

So I was at least with power, but still annoyed and hyped up.  Then, on Facebook, Herbie Hancock sends me a message.  Herbie is a few degrees removed from me, so I was surprised he'd send me a message.  But he sent me a song, which you see above.  It was 7 minutes and 39 seconds of calm.

And I'm calm now, and surprised that Facebook, of all things, provided the experience.  Now I just need 7 months or so of calm...

Technorati Tags: Herbie Hancock, Facebook, Grammy, River, calm, social media

Is Open Access Devaluing Open Source?

Through my business, I own a bunch of servers.  Some of them run various flavors of Linux, some of them run various flavors of Windows.  I don't own a Mac, yet, but likely will in about 6 months.

One of the rebroadcasts of my blog feed goes through the Beijing Linux User Group, with whom I am somewhat affiliated.  (Hello, Bluggers!)  Through them I received feedback that I was talking too much about Microsoft and not enough about Linux in my blog.

Which was funny because my cousin Robert was noting that I was too quick to criticize Microsoft.

But the Blugger's comments didn't care whether I criticized or loved Microsoft, merely that I was talking more about corporate (closed source) stuff and not so much about Open Source stuff.

My initial response was ... I write about social networking and social media.  But that wasn't good enough.

When you look at the earlier period of this blog, I talked a lot about Open Source issues but I've largely stopped.  Why?  Because I seem to be more articulate about social media.  But why not Open Source social media?

This made me take a look at what I'm using right now and why.  I came to the conclusion that there is both a perceptual and an actual channel of openness in software.  They look something like this:

Users value the freedom of mobility as very close to what coders value as the freedom of source code access.  The only reason there is a real gap here is that closed source systems, like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., don't actually allow you freedom of movement.  It merely feels like that because the application is free and, fiscally speaking, the barrier for entry or exit is zero.

Time investment is a very different story.  Users spend a great deal of time setting up their social networks in the applications and don't want to lose that investment (whether or not it is a sunk cost).  So the applications become sticky - even if they provide marginal value.

A major part of my writing has been to introduce more freedom of movement (an open source ideal) into the social networking sphere.  But Freedom of movement is a very tricky concept here, with a lot more than just giving people access to their buddy lists.  So many posts delve into how people relate, how we might use existing applications and where the shortfalls are.

Not knowing these things will make future improvements to social application development meaningless.

Technorati Tags: beijing, beijing linux user group, open source, open access, social networking, social media

The Slow Realization of Connectivity in Facebook

Today Michael Arrington tells us that Facebook now sends people the full text of messages received in the on-line application.  He says:

Before tonight, Facebook just sent an email saying that a new message was received, forcing me to click on the message and log into Facebook before I could actually read it.

Tonight Facebook changed that policy. Suddenly, Facebook messages are actually forwarded to my outside email address, letting me read it and decide if it’s important enough to click on to Facebook and respond.

This is great. It’s frickin wonderful, even. And Facebook clearly did this even though it reduces page views from people clicking on those messages just to see what they say.

What does this really represent, other than Michael Arrington is too lazy to click on a link?

Facebook is Maturing - Facebook is getting the message that the information on Facebook is someone else's property that they are entrusted with, in exchange for a $15B US valuation.  If Facebook continues to hoard our data, people will go elsewhere.

E-mail Does Not Want to Go On the Cart - yes, despite a bit of hubub a few months ago, E-mail is not dead.  Even if e-mail probably should die.  Facebook stands to be at the forefront of messaging systems that replace e-mail with the security of trusted networks.  Using e-mail may be the first step in that.

Data is Used by People with Preferences - Regardless of e-mail's failings and all-too-loud death rattle, people use information in applications that they are used to and find value in.  Arrington's demand for Facebook to send the actual message and not just the link was a cry saying "I don't get value from your bloody link!" 

Pageviews aren't the Grail -  Even though Facebook's revenue model is advertising generated, forced pageviews do not necessarily equate to more pageviews.  Membership will drive pageviews much more than forcing people to come look at the message page.  So, I offer this bit of correction to Michael's last paragraph up there.  Happy users beget more users.  More users mean more pageviews.

Technorati Tags: facebook, michael arrington, e-mail, pageviews

Watching the Migration of a Popular Post

I wrote a few days ago about how my Edible Wikipedia post was making its way through the halls of Internet popularity.  It has been interesting to watch it move from Kottke to Waxy to Japundit to Boing Boing and so forth. 

What is more interesting is what I've not seen.  Facebook.  I've seen a lot of LiveJournal.  LiveJournal has consistently been providing hits for the post every day of this particular run.  Not an overwhelming number, but maybe 30 to 100 every day.

In contrast, Facebook has provided maybe 2 or 3 hits every day.  I think part of the reason is that LiveJournal does community better than Facebook.  Facebook is pretty good at person to person relationships, but lousy for groups.  That's showing here. 

When I look at the LiveJournal hits, we can see the link naturally meandering through a series of social networks.  One person posts it, his network sees it, some people re-post it, and it really does wander around.

Facebook, by contrast, doesn't seem to exploit this viral meme migration.  I have a few guesses as to why this might be:

1. Overload - There's so much stuff that flies by in your Facebook feed, that it's hard to prioritize it.

2. Devaluization - The value of a particular piece of information in your Facebook feed has very little value, because it feels like mass broadcast - as opposed to something being thoughtfully shared

3. Defocused Networks - Your Facebook Network is huge and unfocused.  You start to lose the intent and intensity that you feel in a more focused group like LiveJournal promotes.

I'd like it if some of my LiveJournal users (Andrew?) could comment on the differences you see between the two platforms.

Technorati Tags: livejournal, facebook, overload, boing boing, japundit, kottke, waxy, network theory, social media, social networking

After a Ton of Rain, Flooding, Mudslides, and Fallen Trees - We Get a Little Gift!

In Seattle, we've been experiencing some pretty fierce weather over the last few days.  Just at the point where it seemed it would never end, we were treated to a double rainbow right outside the office.  The rainbow appeared to touch down right on Allan's boat.   The pictures below show the brightness and intensity of the double rainbow.  Right before this it was pouring buckets.

 

Technorati Tags: rainbows, gray hill solutions, jim benson, rain, photography, buckets, pots of gold

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They're Caned

Advertisers are mad at Facebook and their much-maligned Beacon application.  The users of Facebook have been up in arms.  It seems all people can talk about.

So, as Henry Blodget says:

it's no wonder that, in the face of ongoing brand-damaging stubbornness, Facebook observers are beginning to call for CEO Mark Zuckerberg's head. 

This is after he says:

...after applauding Facebook for acknowledging user complaints and changing Beacon, commentators are starting to notice that the system still isn't "opt-in" (or even permanently opt-out). Why it isn't is no mystery: The vast majority of Facebook users would never use it, making it difficult for Facebook to support its assertion that Beacon et al are the most important media and advertising developments in the past hundred years.

You know, Beacon is over-reaching, but ... "The vast majority of Facebook users would never use it?"  I've got to pull back from that a bit.

A very large number of users already had widgets that provided many of the Beacon features.  I can't see how they'd never use Beacon if it were opt-in, unless it was opt in for everything in the world.  It seems pretty likely that if Facebook allowed the same initial configuration of Beacon that Plaxo allows for Pulse - there would be no problems here.  The current configuration almost gives you this.

The other issues about secrecy at Facebook simply come from being a large company.  It's clear that Facebook is now a large company.  Along with their size, comes the desire to grow ever-bigger and hoard ever-more information.  When they were a small company and 50% growth meant hoarding 50% more information - that's okay.  But now they are huge and to grow they need to hoard ever larger chunks of data and attention. 

Like Microsoft and Google before them, so goeth Facebook. 

Welcome to the party Mark!

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Microsoft, Google, size matters, Plaxo, Pulse, Beacon, Henry Blodget, Silicon Valley Insider

I Hate My Friends

There's nothing like a good social networking site to make you feel like you absolutely hate all your friends.  Today I crushed the hopes and dreams of many of my dear friends by not wanting to overload my Facebook page.

Rather than "opting out" or "deciding not to" do certain things, Facebook lets me know that I have callously chosen to ignore them. 

Somehow I think that almost anything would have made me feel better than the word ignore.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, hatred, hate crimes, social media, social networking, ignoring, i hate all my friends as proven by Facebook