Social Media
Identi.ca: Twitter Killer or a Distraction?
It really is a shame when you see a service like Twitter put one foot into the door of mainstream and then start foundering so colossally and publicly. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a company have problems so publicly and drop the ball this hard.
Well, it isn’t as if Twitter is going anywhere – at least yet. Twitter has a lot of inertia. We have communities built up on Twitter. The techies like myself who promote Twitter so much are drudgingly putting up with the downtime issues, but we’re not liking it. We’re frustrated. We’re just WAITING for somebody to swoop in and save the day. The simplicity of Twitter with the stability of FriendFeed.
Well, its possible one has emerged and it is called Identi.ca. You can follow me at http://identi.ca/davidrisley.
Yep, it is a Canadian domain. Don’t know if they are actually Canadian. Their WHOIS record indicates servers at Amazon in Seattle. Perhaps they’re using S3?
What I like about Identi.ca is the similarity to Twitter. Plurk, on the other hand, was so different than I actually found it hard to use. Plurk made the mistake of busting into the microblogging scene by changing the game too drastically. When it comes to microblogging, Twitter is the standard now.
Seeing as we’re in the first few days of Identi.ca’s existence, it is missing several important components such as the ability to easily reply to people (although there is a Greasemonkey script for that), the ability to search for people, URL shortening, etc. According to their FAQ, several enhancements are coming, including:
- SMS updates and notifications
- A Twitter-compatible API
- More AJAX-y interface
- Maps
- Cross-post to Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, etc.
- Pull messages from Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, etc.
- Facebook integration
- Hashtags
- Image, video, audio notices
- Automatic url-shortening
- Multilingual interface (using Gettext)
Some aren’t waiting around, and I am always impressed at the speed at which some early adopters find creative ways to make up for a service’s shortcomings.
- @geekygirldawn has made a Yahoo Pipe to track replies
- Greasemonkey script (mentioned above) for easy replies
- Ping.FM has already added Identi.ca integration
The thing that is really promising about Identi.ca is that it is based on open source. From their site:
The software also implements the OpenMicroBlogging protocol, meaning that you can have friends on other microblogging services that can receive your notices.
The goal here is autonomy — you deserve the right to manage your own on-line presence. If you don’t like how Identi.ca works, you can take your data and the source code and set up your own server (or move your account to another one).
Imagine being able to build a network on Identi.ca, cross network on other micro-blogging services (no need to re-connect on every network that comes down the pike), and take your contacts with you. That’s social media bliss! At least potentially. It depends on how it is executed.
The usual suspects of early adopters have all weighed in on the new microblogging platform:
- Corvida says this could blow away Twitter
- Sarah Perez has some tips for early adopters
- Dave Winer talks about some programmers trying to set up a network of clones using the open source software which powers Identi.ca, Laconi.ca.
- Mark Hopkins points out the shortcomings on Mashable
- Suw Charman more or less echos Mashable, saying Identi.ca need sto go further and it will take a lot more to dethrone Twitter.
Interestingly, Robert Scoble has been completely MIA on this one, apparently because somebody hi-jacked his usual Scobleizer handle. I guess this is one of those things where Scoble wasn’t quite as quick to the punch this time. I gotta admit, I get a chuckle at the quick thinking of whoever registered that handle. At the same time, though, it was a chicken shit thing to do. And what is a microblogging platform without Scoble to evangelize it?
I will withhold verdict on Identi.ca. I think it holds a lot of promise, and being based on open source could be cool. It is likely going to lead to a whole bunch of clones, all using the same open source base, with with added capabilities. If we can transfer our networks between them, then it might be a welcome development. Otherwise, it could be nothing but a huge distraction, making the centralization and large user base of Twitter seem like a welcome alternative.
Twitter hasn’t pissed us off enough yet to make us ditch them. Yes, it is annoying, but at the end of the day, wouldn’t we all just prefer that Twitter fix itself and remain top dog? I know I would.
So, no, I’m not leaving Twitter. But, I will definitely begin to use Identi.ca at the same time just in case it turns into something.
Scoble is Wrong About Blog Comments Being Dead
I think Robert Scoble suffers from the disease of early adopter-itis. What does that mean? Well, like many tech bloggers (including myself), Scoble is an early adopter. This means he tries new things way ahead of most of the people on the Internet. When you’re way out ahead, the problem is that you forget that 95% of the people on the Internet are still playing catch-up.
Such is the case when Scoble declared that blog comments are dead. Um, no. You realize, Robert, that much of the Internet is only now catching up with blogging. Blogging is reaching mainstream and I’m now seeing people of all stripes running blogs. You simply can’t call something dead when most of the Internet is now using it. Simply put, most of the Internet is NOT on FriendFeed and Twitter.
The reason you get more comments on FriendFeed is because the commentary is now detached from the post and is taking place somewhere where a lot of people hang out. But, this doesn’t mean the blog comment is dead.
A blog comment adds to the content of your post. Commentary adds value to the post itself. There is value to the comments being tied to the post itself. A discussion on FriendFeed is great for conversation, but being removed from the post limits the future value of that commentary for future readers.
Calling blog comments dead would be like calling the editorial page in the newspaper dead simply because people gather around the water cooler and talk about the content IN the newspaper. Not so.
Scoble’s post is generating discussion on FriendFeed…more than on the post itself on his blog. Does this prove Scoble’s point? No. The blog post which generated this discussion was written ONLY to spur conversation. It has no content. No value. If it did contain something useful, the comments on this blog would certainly be more valuable than those on FriendFeed because those on his blog would help drive traffic to his blog. They would be forever tied to that post so that it can be viewed later. In contrast, the FriendFeed discussion will die off tomorrow and would forever be lost if Scoble had not manually linked to it.
Looks like Louis Gray also sees that blog comments are not dead.
This debate will rage for awhile longer. Comment fragmentation is an issue every blogger ends up deciding on at some point.
So, does being an early adopter mean you’re out of touch?
Twellow Helps You Find Fellow Twitterers
As Cordiva would call this, this is "awesomesauce". It is called Twellow.
Twellow is a new site which serves as a directory of Twitter users. A who’s who kind of thing. Various Twitter people are organized into categories and you can then better find them. If you are looking for other bloggers, for example, check out the category on blogging. Scoble tops the list, as usual.
As of now, the site has indexed 331,000+ people. It places people into categories based on the information they put into their Twitter bio. Another reason why that Twitter bio is so important, folks. If you’re not one of the people they’ve indexed yet, you can add yourself.
This is the kind of site which makes Twitter so cool. It allows you to use Twitter to proactively find people rather than either getting lucky and finding them or auto-following people to follow you. This along with Summize makes Twitter even cooler.
All we need to do is have Twitter handle their uptime issues and we’ll be golden.
Plurk API Could Change The Race
A few days ago, my response to Plurk was: BORING! I don’t like the interface and I think it is too hard to track down and add friends. I’m sure they thought the horizontal timeline was a novel concept, but I personally find it to be incredibly frustrating.
Today’s news: Plurk is set to release an API.
This could change the scene and make Plurk a more reasonable alternative to Twitter. Depending on the flexibility the API allows, this could lead to Plurk clients that actually turn Plurk into a much more usable service. I am an avid Twhirl user when it comes to Twitter. If something like this came out that made Plurk look the same way, I would be much more excited about Plurk.
What do you think? Do you think a Plurk API could be just the ticket to making the site the apple of the geek’s eye?
Bring On The Competition
One thing is clear, though. Regardless of how well Plurk does in the end, the emergence of the site is clear sign to Twitter that they are not the only way. Some strong competition to Twitter might have the effect of splintering off some groups onto the different networks, but it will help Twitter to be better (hopefully). Twitter is already paying more attention and being more open about their downtime issues. Perhaps Plurk breathing down their neck will serve as some additional motivation.
Plurk is only breathing because of Twitter’s downtime. If Twitter fixes that issue, say goodbye to Plurk.
Why Plurk Is Unexciting And Boring
This last week, we saw Plurk enter into our mindset. I first found out about it on FriendFeed and, of course, all the tech bloggers and early adopters on that site went and signed up for Plurk immediately. As did I.
Now, Plurk is basically a Twitter wannabe. The concept is the same, but they use a very different interface. In fact, Plurk isn’t really a microblog because all your “plurks” are organized into conversations and placed onto a horizontal time line. I guess I can see some usefulness to that layout, but at the same time I find it overly limiting.
When all is said and done, though, Plurk is thoroughly unexciting and boring. As much as Twitter goes down and is frustrating everybody these days, the structure of Twitter makes OH so much more sense than Plurk. One BIG thing that I cannot find on Plurk is a simple way to search for Plurk users. The only options I have is to tap into my email accounts or IM accounts and use my existing contact lists to see who is on Plurk. That sucks because now you cannot easily use Plurk to form NEW relationships. I have looked for this search and I cannot find it. It seems like such an obvious thing that I almost feel as if I’m just being completely and utterly blind not to see it. Of course, you can manually view and add people’s profiles. But, you cannot find them unless you have them on your email or IM contact list.
The other reason Plurk is boring is this: how many of these social networks do we need?
Basically, we see the same cliques of people follow each other from site to site, network to network. And, due to the HUGE limitations of Plurk, people are (most ironically) left to OTHER networks like Twitter and FriendFeed to promote themselves or find their friends!
Plurk is not exciting. Its just another website trying to capitalize on the social web. It is way too limiting to be much fun. It is yet another website I would have to monitor separately to talk to the same people I can already chat with on FriendFeed or Twitter. So, why bother? Twitter, despite the server issues, makes it much easier to find people of interest. It is easier to keep track of.
The only reason Plurk is getting the attention it is is because of Twitter downtime. Otherwise, the cool factor of Plurk will be over as fast as it began.
Twitter Spammers, Who Are They?
Those of us who use Twitter a lot know that Twitter is out of the early adopters phase. Twitter is practically becoming a standard bearer for micro-blogging (which of course is sad when you consider how often Twitter crashes).
It is only a matter of time before spammers take on new mediums and start using them to sell their crap. OF course, what they’re going to run up against is something they’ve not dealt with before. This is the world of SOCIAL media. Social is all about people. And in this new era of social media, people have control over what they’re going to assume. And there is nothing that pisses people off more online than unsolicted marketing BS. Especially when they’re trying to chat it up with friends and colleagues.
Twitter is already having server problems. A bunch of spammers trying to mass-tweet credit card offers, porn or mortgage deals is surely not going to help. The StopTwitterSpam blog posts this from /dev/null/Kevin:
Twitter’s scale problems stem from the fact that the workload increases geometrically as every message people send is forwarded to each follower. The more followers people have, the slower twitter is. The follow-spammers just increase that load. Some of these spammers follow 25,000 people. That’s 25,000 extra message each time any of those 25,000 tweet. There are hundreds of follow-spammers, so that’s hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of extra tweets.
The Twitter API opened up Twitter to all kinds of load issues. You have people using auto-follow scripts (Scoble among them unless he turned it off), for example. This takes all the human judgement out of the following process and means that if a spammer follows you, you’re opening yourself up to it. The API also leads to mass-follow programs like TwitterAdder and Twitter Friend Adder. These asinine efforts to gain as many friends as possible leads to the unintended consequence of the spammers having a frickin’ field day!
So, yes, Twitter DOES have a spam problem.
I personally do not use an auto-follow script on my Twitter account. I think it is a stupid, bonehead move to use one of those things. It just opens you wide up to spammers. Anybody on Twitter who has several thousand people they are following and perhaps only a few hundred following them – HUGE red flag. Also, by actually looking at their tweets, I can tell whether this is a real person who contributes to the conversation or another damn spammer.
Another effort to curb Twitter spam (and a case of Twitter fans taking matters into their own hands) is Twitter Blacklist. The site lists known spammers on Twitter. And they very astutely lay out the problem on their about page:
Spam on Twitter has reached the point that it did for email in the late 1990s and blogs and wikis in the early 2000s, with unscrupulous scumbags producing software that allows them to produce giant waves of fake identities which can be used to pump out unsolicited messages, or links to fake websites that ultimately attempt to get them money via numerous forms of trickery.
There are two kinds of commercial Twitter spam that we’ve identified so far: the kind that follow lots of people, and the “stealth” type that set up interlocking networks of fake accounts. You can see these on the list with a “follow factor” of zero.
The homepage of Twitter Blacklist lists known spammers and gives them a rating.
Twitter is using it’s own blacklist as well, but they do not make it public knowledge. With the relative silence of Twitter in the face of these hurdles they face, I almost trust a third-party user of Twitter to better tackle this issue than Twitter themselves. Twitter seems to have a reaction time of at least a year to anything that happens to them. Twitter spam certainly isn’t a new problem.
My advice? Stop seeing your follower count as some kind of status symbol. If you’re using mass friend adder programs or auto-follow, you should knock if off. Not only does it defeat the point of Twitter, but it is like broadcasting your email address openly to every spam list on the planet. Early adopter or not, practice some common sense.
If Twitter Were An Airline…
This would be the pre-flight safety speech:
When the “something is technically wrong” sign illuminates, you must fasten your seat belt. Insert the metal fittings one into the other, and tighten by pulling on the loose end of the strap. To release your seat belt, lift the upper portion of the buckle. We suggest that you keep your seat belt fastened throughout the experience, as we will most definitely experience downtime.
There are several emergency exits on this website. Please take a few moments now to locate your nearest exit. And keep in mind, your nearest exit may be FriendFeed. When we need to evacuate Twitter.com, tweet-level lighting will guide you towards FriendFeed. Doors can be opened by moving the mouse in the direction of the double F. Each door is equipped with a shiny icon which can also be detached and used as a blogger life line.
Server load and the databases are always being monitored. In the event of another massive failure, an oxygen mask will automatically drop from a screen on your desk. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask towards you. Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, secure the elastic band behind your head, and bitch uncontrollably. If you are conversing with another Twitter-addicted noise generator, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other tweeter. Keep your mask on until ISTwitterDown.com has a big “NO” on the screen.
In the event of a Twitter outage, please assume the bracing position.
Another social network is located in a bookmark under your menu or between the mouse buttons. This is how you use it. Gently take your fingers and type “w-w-w.f-r-i-e-n-d-f-e-e-d-.-c-o-m” into your web browser. If you need to get the attention of the other passengers (bloggers), blow into your blog. Use the “like” and “comment” buttons to attract attention. Also, your blog can be used as an ego flotation device.
The following electronic devices (computers, mobile phones, laptop computers) may be used when the downtime sign is off. Once the downtime sign has illuminated, all Twitter-enabled devices must be turned off and stowed away otherwise we’ll never get our servers back up again.
You will find this but very little other downtime information in the browser located in the screen in front of you. We’re too busy keeping our servers up to bother informing our passengers of every outage. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask one of the other passengers. We wish you all a twit-tastic experience and, with any luck, your tweet will arrive at its destination on time.”
And despite all the crashes, all the bloggers would keep getting on the plane.
What’s So Great About Toluu?
Warning: The following post will be seen as some as a party foul. 
Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if geek bloggers just get excited about everything that comes down the pike or do they really look to see what the value is first. Case in point: Toluu.com.
Now let me be clear: I’m not going to come out and bash Toluu. All I’m saying is that I don’t really see what the excitement is about.
So, Toluu is basically an RSS feed storage site mixed with some social networking. You can upload your OPML file to Toluu and store all the RSS feeds you subscribe to. In my case, I exported everything from Google Reader and uploaded it to Toluu. Then the next facet is the social media portion of it. Toluu will match you up with other Toluu users based on the feeds they subscribe to. It is like a geek version of Eharmony.com, just using RSS feeds rather than a big questionaire to find your matches. So, I suppose the idea is that I can create new contacts and discover new RSS feeds.
But, I’m lost on one thing. Most bloggers are using FriendFeed. People are sharing links and sharing stories from their feed readers all the time at FriendFeed. AND you can comment on it (which you cannot currently do on Toluu). I find that FriendFeed is a much better option for discovering new sites and you have all the social proof you need to determine if it is good or not.
At this point, Toluu seems to me to be a stripped down version of FriendFeed mixed with a stripped down version of Google Reader.
So, my question, again, is: what’s so great about it?
I guess it adds a layer to Google Reader, allowing me to subscribe to a feed through Toluu and automatically into Reader. This will add a bit more social component to my act of subscribing to an RSS feed rather than just sharing the specific stories I like.
At the end of the day, Toluu seems like yet another social site to get some bloggers buzzing, but at the end of the day doesn’t really change the world. It is another tool in the belt of a person who is trying to lifestream every single move they ever make online.
If you use Toluu, what was your reason for signing up? For me, it was just to see what the excitement was about. I was underimpressed.
Perhaps that will change. All sites evolve and I expect Toluu will not be an exception.
Twitter Is Killing Itself, Slowly but Surely
OK, Twitter. It is time to get your act together. FriendFeed is abuzz with talk of Twitter outages. Bloggers are even staging Twit-Out, where they will, for a day, boycott Twitter and use FriendFeed exclusively. Bwana may have started the idea, but it spread quickly because bloggers talk and bloggers dig Twitter.
Twit-Out is today (May 21st), BTW, which is why I won’t be Twittering anything today. I might as well help the cause, you know.
Twitter acknowledged publicly the most recent outage (yesterday). And the comic is classic. But, this type of public acknowledgment is rare. Usually, all we get is silence while Twitter dies repeatedly.
Twitter, though, is killing itself. The outages are occurring so often that it gives rise to sites with the only purpose being to show if Twitter is down or not. IsTwitterDown is my personal favorite. Twitter is a communication medium and one that is particularly attractive to bloggers. Bloggers talk and talk loud and spread news like crazy. So, the nature of Twitter’s audience means every outage is like playing with fire. Every outage makes waves across the net in mere seconds. After awhile, it builds into a reputation. And that reputation isn’t getting any better.
Twit-Out is just more evidence of this.
Perhaps some additional funding will fix this problem. But, they need a business plan desperately. And they need to go back to basics on their infrastructure. Twitter obviously didn’t predict the rapid growth and rabid following. They got caught with their pants down and if they don’t get with the program, sites like FriendFeed are going to take over where Twitter failed.
People ditch Windows and go to OS X because of crashes and annoyances. Windows is still the big dog in the field, but frustration is growing and it is leading to leakage to other platforms. Many who use Windows today do so because they have to. Is Twitter mirroring Microsoft in this regard? Is FriendFeed the Apple of micro-blogging?
Top 10: Signs You’re Addicted to Twitter and/or FriendFeed
- You’re on the FriendFeed website and find yourself refreshing the page rather than waiting for the auto-refresh. F5 is worn out.
- You realize you need to turn off Twitter or FriendFeed to get any work done. Problem is, you “realized” that an hour ago, too.
- You get overly excited when you get a new follower.
- You find yourself typing “@” to reply to people, even if its in an email.
- You are bored and confused whenever there is another Twitter outage.
- You have Twhirl or Alert Thingy set to start automatically on boot up.
- Your blog hasn’t been updated in awhile, but you’ve been Twittering like crazy.
- You feel the strong need to check up on FriendFeed or Twitter before going to bed at night. Or perhaps on your laptop IN bed.
- First thing you do when you get home from date night with the wife is check Twitter or FriendFeed.
- You put your Twitter handle on your business card.
Bonus:
- You seriously discuss the nationalization of Twitter.
I'm David Risley. I've been making my living as a blogger for over a decade. Blogging is my business and how I support my family. With this blog, I'm just gettin' REAL and telling you how this business works. 
