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Tag: Social media (page 3 of 8)

The Future of Technology, Facebook, and Relativity

The Future of Technology, Facebook, and Relativity | 40Tech

Do you remember when cell phones were for rich people? It’s only a short jump in my memory to the day when a homeless kid got angry at me when I told him I didn’t have any change; convinced I must be lying because I was carrying a mobile phone. You know, back when they still kind of looked like phones, and Nokia was king?  I felt bad for the guy, but I really was broke. I got the cell phone on credit, could barely pay for the bill, and was having many a fight with the company over false charges.

This ramble isn’t to point out that cell phone companies were crooks, even back then, and it’s not to talk about my questionable technology-money choices. The point is that this was only a few years back. I was in my early 20’s — I’m only in my mid-30’s now — and have gone from having no computer, an unused email address, and the blissful (and retrospective) peace of not knowing or caring where people were or what they were doing, to being a geek tech-blogger that makes his living in online marketing and communications. I own an iPhone, my hold-out wife has finally gotten an Android, and my three-year-old owns my iPad — and regularly sends me artwork via email.

 

Tech is Hungry

Technology is now in the palms of tiny little hands. It’s affordable, or at least readily available, to the majority of the planet, and it’s entire weight of purpose seems to be to interconnect everyone and everything as fast and as in depth as possible. The flow of information has reached truly epic proportions, as has the ability and desire to track that flow, along the habits of the people drowning in it.

The technology behind this phenomenon feeds upon itself, and in many cases, it exists only to further itself. Some of the biggest blogs out there are only so popular because people need a filter; a place to better understand, control, and find some sense of order in the massive technology machine — redundant as that phrase may seem. Smaller blogs exist for the same reason. It was likely part of why Evan started 40Tech, why I joined him, and why you are reading this post right now.

 

Facebook

Facebook is a prime example of the direction of technology. It’s sole purpose is to become familiar and intricately entwined with as much of your life as possible. It attempts to augment your life; make it easier, faster, more connected. It’s addictive. Facebook is so successful at this that it has become embedded in the general populace to the extent that it can almost be perceived in the same way as a governing body. It creates rules that dictate our way of life, is an easy target for privacy concerns and conspiracy theories, and the smallest changes can lead to virtual revolt and widespread public outcry. Facebook, much like many of the governments out there, projects an image of a body that wants to further mankind; make the world we live in a better place and all that. And like many governments, it’s more than a bit of a stretch for most people to really believe that’s true.

Facebook isn’t going anywhere, either — not without a scandal that shakes the entire foundation of their business to the core, or a hostile takeover by a frightened government or technological superpower. With some of the things in the media regarding questionable privacy practices and the rapid expansion of Google+, those things may not seem so far-fetched, but even if the big bad were to happen to the social media giant, it would probably just morph, as opposed to vanish.

Social connectivity is a way of life for us now; whether we like it or not, and no matter the anxiety, stress, or fun disorders it could cause or amplify. It appeals to the voyeur in us. It allows us to meet people we would otherwise never meet, and keep in touch with people to a degree that would be impossible without it. It is a part of work, school, play, business, entertainment, and everyday, mundane life. For Pete’s sake, your washing machine can already contact you to let you know your laundry is done, and there are tweeting dog collars, man!

 

Bring on the Microchips!

Over the next 10-20 years, unless the “social media bubble” or end of days people are right, we will likely find ourselves micro-chipped, QR-coded, and surfing the web while jogging with augmented reality sunglasses that also allow us to huddle with our families, friends, or business contacts on GoogleBook. Don’t ask me how they will take our video — somebody else will figure that out, I’m sure. That is, of course, unless we are all suffering from wifi, cellular, and bluetooth radiation poisoning, which could bring the world to a screeching and potentially catastrophic halt that would make Y2K fears look like a happy day at the park.

Or maybe we’ll be busy ripping the fabric of the universe apart with time machines. Did you hear that Albert Einstein may have been wrong? Some scientists at CERN, near Geneva, may have just recorded neutrinos that were travelling faster than the speed of light. That might disprove the Theory of Relativity and screw up one of the major fundamentals of modern physics. Learned that on Google+, I did… And I’ll be sharing it on Facebook, too.


Games in Google+ are Here – Once Again, Google Seems to Get It

Games in Google Plus are Here – Once Again, Google Seems to Get It | 40Tech

One of the biggest bitches for me when it comes to Facebook is the way it handles social gaming. Yes, social gaming can be fun, and the quest to get the most points, coin, trophies, et al has its satisfying moments — but the constant invitations, notifications, and culling of said items from my Facebook stream is annoying as hell. I know I’m not alone in that sentiment, either. Google+ is jumping in to the games space today, and I’m happy to report that they, once again, appear to have gotten it right.

If you need a Google+ Invite, get it here.

The Facebook method of social gaming is actually very effective if your goal is to use social pressure and addiction propensity to keep people on your social network. Those things, in many ways, are the basis of how Facebook and its attached products work, and many people are tired of it. Google+ broke that model right from the start by removing any mention of “friends” and letting you decide how to label people in your social circles. Google+ games, which is rolling out today, keeps the low-pressure approach by keeping the crap out of your stream. As they say right in their blog post: ” Games in Google+ are there when you want them and gone when you don’t.”

Rejoice!

First of all, Games will have their own page that is accessible from the top of your stream. If you don’t see it yet, don’t fret, you know how Google loves a staggered rollout — just give it time. Once you’re on the page, you can see all of the latest updates from your circles, run through the invites you have (or ignore them entirely), and take a look at the games that other people you’re connected with have been playing. If you are the type that loves to broadcast your score and rub your awesomeness in the face of the masses, you can still do that — but the masses will be your circles, and they will only see your bragging and/or challenges when they feel like gaming themselves and can respond accordingly.

Better for everyone that way…

Google+ Games Homepage Screenshot

There are several games available already, such as Bejeweled Blitz, Bubble Island, and Diamond Dash for the Columns/Tetris style games lovers; Zynga makes an appearance with Zynga Poker, and there are also Sudoku, Dragons of Atlantis, Crime City, Zombie Lane, Dragon Age Legends (hell yeah!), and more. Angry Birds is in there too — but I don’t think I want to have to kill them again. The first time was difficult enough! I nearly had to call Mike Tyson to help me out…

Google+ Games at Launch

So far, the Google+ Games implementation doesn’t disappoint. Remember, though, as with everything else about Google’s new social network, it’s still only a preview. If you run into some problems, try not to hold it against them. Yet.

Let us know about your Google+ Games experience!

Image credits: The Official Google Blog


Summify Cuts Through the Chatter, Helps You Get The Real Goods From Your Social Streams

Summify Cuts through the Chatter, Helps You Get The Real Goods From Your Social Streams | 40Tech

Summify has been acquired by Twitter and will be shutting down. See this post for more detail.

I’d like to take a moment to step away from the general worship and awe of Google+, and circle back (hehe) to our old friend Twitter. Actually, I plan to talk about Summify, and how it can take the often-overwhelming amount of information that is travelling through your Twitter stream at any given time, and sort it into a “highlight reel” that can be shared as a whole and as individual posts. It’s easy, it’s effective, and maybe just a little bit brilliant — and I have no doubt it will save you time and make your online reading much less hectic.

Multiple Accounts

Summify isn’t just about Twitter, either. Sure, it can connect to as many Twitter accounts as you like, but it also connects with Facebook and Google Reader. In fact, the more accounts you add, the better your summary will be.

Control

You get to decide how often you get a summary, how many stories it contains, when it gets delivered to you, how it gets delivered, who gets to look at it, and whether or not it gets published to your accounts. For example: my Summify is set up to deliver a new summary of 10 stories, twice per day (at 8:30am and 8:30pm), to my email inbox. Others can view it, and I automatically publish a link to the summary on my main Twitter and Facebook accounts. I could have allowed Summify to send me a Twitter DM notification as well, but between email and the recently released iPhone app, I’m covered.

summify-1 Summify-2

summify-2a summify-3

When you select a link in Summify (from email or your main summary), the article opens up with a handy toolbar on top (which you can close, if you want) that allows you to share the post on one or all of your connected networks. You can also see the avatars of the people who shared the article with you in the centre of the toolbar, and hover over them to view the originating tweet and click through to their account.

summify-5

If you don’t like the article and think it shouldn’t have been in your summary, you can click the little thumbs-down button to add it to your Filters list. This is a nice and easy way to weed out spammers and other annoying sites that occasionally sneak through. In fact, when you are in the Summify web app, itself, you can thumb an offending article down right then and there, without ever opening it. You can also filter by contributor, allowing you to block specific people from contributing to your summary. All you have to do is hover over one of the avatars below any given article, and then move your mouse over the little “x” that appears in the top right, and click it. This, and the thumbs-down functionality aren’t available in the email, of course, but they are also missing from the iPhone app; something that I hope changes, soon. Thankfully, though, Summify is smart enough that it gets it right about 98% of the time. And the iPhone app is pretty, and so is easily forgiven.

summify-4

People-Friendly Messages

When Summify sends out a summary message it takes great care to do two things: 1) It mentions some of the people who provided you with the information in the first place; which makes for nice Twitter etiquette. 2) It varies the messages so they aren’t always the same boring words with a new link. As an example, take a look below at three recent tweets (not clickable) that Summify sent out on my behalf.

tweet1tweet2tweet3

It should also be noted that mentions are automatically included in share of single posts, as well, and that you can edit the content of single-post shares before posting.

Easy, Good Looking, and Smart

Take the section-title anyway you like, but understand that it’s true, and it’s awesome! The apps (and even the emails) are easy on the eyes and easier to work with, and the service is smart enough to not only consistently deliver articles that you like, but it also will list out several other stories from websites that post multiple posts. This makes sure that you get all the highlights from Mashable and other large sites without having to visit them directly or open up another app.

I’ve been using Summify for a month or two now, and I’ve lost count of the number of hours I’ve saved by not scanning through the muck that is sometimes Twitter, and by not chasing down every shiny post in my 49 or so RSS feeds. Summify helps keep things clear and easy to manage, and has even kept me relevant on Twitter while I play with Google +. Speaking of Google +, I’m hoping that we’ll see it integrated into Summify soon (they already have the +1 button). Even better, Summify should be integrated into the Sparks feature! Now, that would be sweet! * pokes Google *

Note: For those interested, Summify is located right here in my (rarely) sunny home-city of Vancouver, and they have had the benefit of advising from the CEO of another little local social app called HootSuite. Maybe you’ve heard of it? :D

Give Summify a try and tell us what you think!

UPDATE: Summify has recently updated its look (pretty much the day after this post went up). It was pretty before, but now it’s awesome! It also includes Instapaper integration.

Summify-new.


You’ve Heard the Hype, Now You’ve Tried it for Yourself – Tell Us How You Really Feel About Google+

You’ve Heard the Hype, Now You’ve Tried it for Yourself – Tell Us How You Really Feel About Google+ | 40Tech

Google+ is sexy. People have been raving about it for a month now. A whole entire month! That’s like… years in today’s tech world. Time-on-planet notwithstanding, over 25 million users have signed up, with no real signs of slowing, and the more people who jump in, the more you hear about how cool Google+ is, how Google got it right (finally!), and how people — even high-profile types — are intent on abandoning Facebook and Twitter.

While it is a little early, in my opinion, to make such brash and sweeping movements in the ever-tenuous social media space, Google+ appears to address many frustrations held by users of the current major social networks. This is the same thing that happened when Facebook slapped around and eventually sat on MySpace and Friendster. The main difference here is, due to the widespread adoption of social media into every day life (thanks to Facebook and Twitter), it’s all happening at lightning speed.

But is it real? Is it sustainable? What do you think about it?

Me? I’m definitely enjoying Google+. I like the feel of it. I like the ease in which I can decide who to communicate with, and how easy it is to find new information that I enjoy reading about. Mostly, though, I like that the users are, as a whole, so much more engaged. I don’t know if it is the way Google+ doesn’t force false friendships down your throat, or if it’s because you can actually express yourself without space limitations. Maybe it’s just because Google+ is new and shiny. Either way, I find myself talking with old contacts and meeting new people who ask me questions, answer questions, and otherwise generally converse in a way that feels much closer to blog or forum conversations. It’s nice.

It’s also worth noting that both Facebook and Twitter felt like that for me, once upon a time, before I was inundated by games requests or forced to sift through real people vs those who only viewed me as another leg up in the follow-game. Google+, as it grows, will probably experience similar challenges, which may lead me to once again consider only communicating by phone, in person, via email, blog comments, or (heaven forbid!) snail mail.

What about you? Now that you’ve had a chance to try out Google+, what do you like about it? How do you feel it compares to Facebook and Twitter — does it make you think of dropping them or campaigning to get your family and close friends on board with the new and shiny? Maybe you think that it’s all a bunch of over-inflated hype… just one more example of the media-fed bubbles that have a habit of unexpectedly bursting?

Whichever way you’re leaning, let us know in the comments.


Another (Better?) Google+ Search Tool

Google Plus Search

No sooner did I write about a service yesterday to find people on Google+, than mentions of another service started popping up in my Google+ stream. This one might be even better, especially if you want to search by city or topic.

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