We have received numerous reports of excessive FriendFeed posts showing up in Facebook this evening. While we are not 100% sure, it appears to be an issue on Facebook's end due to ignoring application settings. We have disabled all FriendFeed updates to Facebook until we are sure the problem is resolved.
See http://www.techcrunch.com/2009... for more information - it seems to also have impacted Twitter's Facebook app. Again, we are not sure if it is a problem on our end or not, but we are investigating now.
- Bret Taylor
Thanks Bret! FWIW when I checked the FF app settings in FB they were not the same options as I saw when I first set the app up.
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
my freindfeed application is not working on facebook, and fr rest of..
- Madhav Tripathi
Click. Flip a switch and that's it. You guys rule.
- Pete Delucchi
Thanks, Bret. I've disabled it on my FB page and hope that cures what ails me. Appreciate the FF peeps being on top of it.
- Derrick
Yet another reason I'm happy I don't have a FaceBook. :P
- Trey Crossan
Good thing I only posted once to Twitter tonight. The duplication only happened once. Thanks for letting me know.
- Louis Gray
No problem, if I knew it was on your end, I wouldn't have cared, but thanks for letting me know about the situation. I was confused because it happened right as I was trying out a new twitter game. This was compounded by the fact that the game has no controls for turning off public messages. I'll bet they plan to add them later, but right now they want everyone to hear about it. It’s a...
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- Michael Fidler
So, is it fixed?Every tweet, every everything is showing up as individual news feed posts for all my friends, this is too much and I'm likely to piss them all off. Options ... 1.Stop tweeting etc. 2.Ditch the FF Facebook application. Hmmm, it's a no brainer. Anyone got any updates on this?
- Michael M Bailey
Wins Fern - thank you! I was able to successfully log into Cliqset as 'susanbeebe' - cool :)
- Susan Beebe
spammers must be having a field day with all these folks sending their personal email addresses as a public tweet. within 2 mins of tweeting that I got my invite, I got 6 tweets with email addresses begging for an invite.
- James Williams
James: make it seven. could you please send me an invite plz email saysunnykapoor at gmail...much appreciated
- Sunny (The Geek Lord)
James - I was thinking the same exact thing earlier tonight... what a feast eh?! LOL
- Susan Beebe
Earlier this morning I mentioned how Google Wave utilizes gmail accounts and boom TONS of DMs with gmail addresses wow!
- Susan Beebe
Susan - too bad they aren't even true invites but nominations. There aren't any guarantees on when the nominees will get accounts.
- James Williams
Nominations are exactly like invites except Google is controlling their release based on server load.
- Johnny Worthington
from iPhone
Doh, so much for begging i will wait till wave will be public for everyone. Wots the use of invite anyway first beg for it and then hunt for the people who got it so that you can test or play with it..nah not worth my time anymore..
- Sunny (The Geek Lord)
Welcome Baby Ryan!!! My baby Ryan (17 years!) and I are honored to welcome another superstar to our planet! Love, hugs, and lots of kisses to Baby Ryan, Mommy Maryam, Dad Robert and big brothers Milan & Patrick and of course Grandma!!! My guess on Ryan's arrival (predication) was only 23 hours off. I thought he would arrive on Friday, Sept. 18th at 11:45 pm. Love to all, Kelly & Ryan Kim
- Kelly S. Kim
What a moment, eh? I remember when my daughter came into this world, it was so exciting there were no words for it. Congrats on your wonderful baby boy!
- Michael J. Carrasquillo
Congratulations! Welcome to the world, Ryan. :-)
- Yvette Ferry
Congratulations Robert and Maryam! And welcome Ryan. If I was having a baby today, I'd begin a blog for him/her straight away as an online diary they could look back on when grown up.
- Sandra Large
الهــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــی چقده ناز نازیه.اینو فارسی نوشتم مریم جان بخونن ....راستی به باباش که نرفته:)) خوشگلتره:)) پس به شما رفته
- joupy
I was a c-section six week preemie in an era when that was seriously life-threatening, they didn't know if I would make for the first week. It always gets me a see a c-section / preemie come howling into the world. Welcome, little guy!
- Bob Morris (polizeros)
from iPhone
Beautiful baby! Congratulations daddy man :)
- Gary
:) Congrats Robert... best wishes to your family! Get her name in twitter and ff!
- Business Blogger【ツ】™
Right ON! I am so happy for you. I have 4 kids of my own and they are my greatest joys. Take care and I hope all goes so smooth for him and mom.
- Robert Anderson
Congrats! I wish a long and healthy life.
- Muammer Okumuş
Robert, you newest addition is too freaking adorable. I hope you and Maryam are doing well. Congratulations! Here's to a long, prosperous future!
- Mike Nayyar
As am I! My major concern re: ALL social media apps: How do you MONETIZE it? Whoever buys it is going to have a heck of a time recuperating the investment, imho. Unless he's got a brilliant, innovative strategy beyond the white-labeling that Coimbra suggested in our interview.
- Jolie O'Dell
PollDaddy's making good money off premium offerings. I don't think it would be that hard for them. The main problem is they're dependent solely on Twitter though. SocialToo's Surveys offer more, and span across multiple networks. Then again, I'm biased. :-)
- Jesse Stay
We're also curious in whose hands these apps land.
- Ben Parr
I've used TwtPoll and TwtVite many times for the tweetups in my local area. I'd hate to see these apps go. Twtvite especially. It provides a great central hub for all things pertaining to that event. I think these apps could do well with an advertising model similar to the ads seen in mapquest. I think the asking price of $500K is a little too steep though.
- Bryan Lee
@Ben - Oh crap. Is this going to be a race to break the news if/when it happens? =p
- Jolie O'Dell
from email
*Considers putting on Louis Gray themed cheerleader outfit*............................. * Decides against it for the benefit of all man kind*
- Johnny Worthington
WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?
- WorldofHiglet
(and we know you weren't really asleep)
- WorldofHiglet
This policy is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! Just one more example of an outdated media business model trying to make up new ruled and laws to protect their monopoly.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Still trying to dig up details, but not sure I'll get any until tomorrow.
- Ben Parr
Lol, still remember the day this was announced at eBay when I worked there and we all stared at each other and said WTF? Knew it would end...badly.
- Todd Pringle
As a former eBay seller, I could have told them we didn't really want to *talk* to our customers... email was so much more efficient! :o)
- Ken Morley
Oh sure, pretend you're in it for Anne when I know you're all about the clothes ;-)
- Tony Del Porto
that happens sometimes. you love a movie the first time you watch it and then when you see it for the second time you ask that question to yourself. same thing happened to me when I watched Swordfish for the second time.
- AyDi şeker
I think this is happening for a number of reasons..
- Jason Pollock
1. Those 3 sites, altho not the biggest on the net, have incorporated twitter into their programs the best.
- Jason Pollock
2. Audiences at larger sites are not as twitter savy so even if there is a tweetmeme button on larger sites its being clicked much less because most people dont know what it is yet.
- Jason Pollock
3. Maybe the most twitter savy users are on mashable, techcrunch, twitpic the most and its reflected in the stats on tweetmeme.
- Jason Pollock
Let me know your thoughts people! Is anyone here anymore?
- Jason Pollock
Gee, I was just under the impression Mashable was the best online new source around. ;-)
- Ben Parr
well of course that is another great reason!
- Jason Pollock
ben: u r right tho in saying that u guys have a great resource and its dominating the twitterverse. I think that Mashable is killing TechCrunch right now.
- Jason Pollock
Mashable articles are so massively distributed sometime its AMAZING!
- Jason Pollock
those 3 are so huge, nothing else can compete! and yes, they've mastered Twitter as a tool for getting eyeballs on their content
- Susan Beebe
from BuddyFeed
Jason - happy to chat with you guys here :) Mashable is definitely the King of the Retweet!
- Susan Beebe
from BuddyFeed
Susan: I agree. Mashable is the biggest blog in social media right now and one of the most powerful news sources on the web.. its amazing to watch them grow at such a staggering pace!
- Jason Pollock
yep, a well deserved spot! Kudos to Pete Cashmore and all the smart folks on the Mashable team like Ben Parr! :)
- Susan Beebe
from BuddyFeed
Too...much...love...in...one...place...praise...overload...not...that...I...mind...
- Ben Parr
All true, but I'd say no.3 night be the main reason.
- Danica Radisic
Never made Eagle scout but as a former scout I must say I'm still very impressed by the achievement. Jesse you and Kevin just went up a notch in my book.
- Keith - @tsudo
We don't have such ranking in the French movement, which is quite complex (take a look at http://www.latoilescoute.net/IMG...). I've been in the S.U.F (louveteau and éclaireur) and in the Scouts et Guides de France (pionner and compagnon). By the way, I think Alex is wrong, the Eagle Scout medal doesn't feature a French flag - it would be blue, white and red from left to right.
- Jérôme Flipo
Mona, because the Eagle is something that says they persevered. It's not easy to get, and especially in a time growing up where you're made fun of for such things, you're taught preparedness, integrity, charity, environmental protection, team work, survival, and many, many more things. Most people give up on their way to Eagle, if they even join Scouts at all. It's a badge of honor that...
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- Jesse Stay
What's even more impressive is that Kevin *not only* got his Eagle Scout, but he went on and got 2 palms afterwards. It means he didn't give up after that, and stayed true to what made him an Eagle Scout at an age where many boys are focused on girls and school and other things. That tells me a lot about who he really is if you ask me.
- Jesse Stay
I work with Scouts locally where I live and it's very rare to see a boy that age stay focused to get his Eagle, and even more rare to see them continue on to get a Palm or even two! The boys that earn it are some of the finest boys I've ever met.
- Jesse Stay
Ooooh that explains a lot. He didn't get a chance to let go and let loose when he was younger so he's making up for it now. :)
- Mona Nomura
Actually, where I grew up (San Mateo, CA - technically Hillsborough) most of the boys were Eagle Scouts and the girls started as Brownies and went up to Girl Scouts. We were even over achievers in sports - a lot of people made it to national peewee leagues...
- Mona Nomura
Mona, maybe, but I still see someone with strong roots. I think he's definitely experimenting some, but he still seems pretty strong in who he is and what he wants. That said, I've never met him and I don't know what his real persona in real life is.
- Jesse Stay
Pocket Universe will overlay constellations over a live view of the night sky; that sounds like "augmented reality" to me, and that application has been out for a while. I don't know why people keep claiming that the Yelp thing is the first.
- Glen Campbell, B.A.
I've got Poket Universe, and love it. But it's not a live video overlay, it's just a bitmap of the sky. Which makes a lot of sense when you're out using it in the dark.
- Steve Feinstein
I thought there was one of the planetarium apps that had a live video overlay—they were discussing it at #gnomedex
- Glen Campbell, B.A.
Download the new Yelp app (came out yesterday). So you shake your iPhone 3 times. That activates a feature called Monocle. A message should come up if you activated it. A blue box will come up saying "the Monocle has been activated." It will create a button in the top right corner. Now you should be able to look at the bars, restaurants, etc. Only works on iPhone 3GS.
- Robert Scoble
You point it at businesses, or down the city block. I'll try it right now.
- Robert Scoble
Yep! Works. Took a few tries to get it to activate. Some of the places it shows me have been closed for ages though, guess I need to update Yelp for the area.
- Otto
That sounds so cool. Would love to see a video demo of it Robert!
- Alex Calic
I wonder why it's an easter egg. That sounds great.
- Daniel Ha
I just did it. Very cool. I hear this feature was added for me. I really love it!
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Daniel: probably to get it through the iPhone store approval process faster.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Raises the question of whether they would have rejected it if they'd known about it. Or did Yelp tell the reviewers about it?
- Jan Dawson
Very, very cool! Just tried it out. There's not a lot on Yelp near by work (kind of an industrial area), but I did get it to find the nearest restaurant. So cool! :-)
- Josh Bancroft
Nice idea but in my case the locations seem to be about 180 degrees off - i.e. showing behind me instead of in front - but may be down to a fuzzy GPS location or something - will have to keep trying
- Jan Dawson
I wonder why it was "secret", ... undocumented API usage or just to create marketing buzz ?
- Kooleido
I hate that the iPhone 3G can handle all this new stuff, but Apple insists that you need the 3Gs. Qik on the jailbroken 3G has been awesome!
- Elijah Nicolas
@Elijah Nicolas The 3Gs is for the built in compass that is required for augmented reality to work.
- JP Holecka - Jaypiddy
lol if it was added for you Robert it would show the cutest girls in the area instead
- Sherry Reynolds
Didn't I hear that Apple had an embargo on AR apps til next month?
- Brian O'Connell
Very cool, thanks for the info. It appears you have to be logged into Yelp though the app before the monocle option will appear.
- Patrick Looney
1st sentence typo in your post Marshall ;o)
- Alex Calic
Couldn't get it to work by "shaking it" but I got it to work by moving my iPhone up and down 3 times in a vertical motion. Pretty damn cool.
- Doug Rice
Marshall, how do you get that camera view? I can't seem to get mine to work. I've shaken and shaken
- Stephen Pickering
Stephen, you should probably just keep shaking. In publish, with lots of people around. :) No, I don't know. I don't have a 3Gs so I don't have a compass so I don't have the Yelp AR.
- Marshall Kirkpatrick
Unreal... landscape and portrait works.
- Drew Lucas
Yeah this is very cool. Don't know if I want to be the guy standing in the middle of the street downtown using it, but I can see some very practical applications.
- Trevor Childs
I got it to work and man, is it sweet! So smart.
- Leslie Fishlock
Shake the darn thing 3 times :)- they say that break dancin was learnt , robbing hubcaps of a movin car in NYC.. so lets so what the new thing will be by the time th iphone has all the motion sickness activiated apps !!
- Peter Dawson
I already had 2.0.2, but I'm downloading 3.0 now. I'm not thinking it's going to work in my office, but we'll see.
- RobinDotNet
Ok, that's really cool. It even works sitting here in my office at home.
- RobinDotNet
Downloading now. I am absolutely fascinated by the idea of augmented reality!
- Victoria Harres Akers
This is pretty cool but the shake 3 times thing doesn't work too well
- Jason Wehmhoener
from iPhone
This is fantastic, just activated Monocle. For those having trouble, its best to move/raise and lower the iPhone 3 times vertically instead of just shaking it. I was shaking mine like a madman until I tried the vertical move.
- Bryan
very cool - I can't believe stuff actually shows up near my house on the bay - sweet :)
- Susan Beebe
Damn, guess I'll have to upgrade to the 3GS now.
- Damon Cortesi
I am using the app in Indianapolis to find a restauant. As I guessed the augmented reality is cool but not very useful. Other than to help figure out which direction to walk in.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Argh. I wish I had wifi here so I could download it. A trip to Starbucks might be in order.
- Ha3rvey (not Akiva)
It's innovative and that's awesome, but I think this type of interface will be a passing gimmick until more advanced image processing is built into the mobile device. My thoughts on what does matter about it here - http://bit.ly/12wtcY My $0.02.
- Alex Hawkinson
shake your iPhone 6 times, that activates GoogleVoice
- HansVanRock
I just got this going on my friend's 3Gs. I don't even know what to say. That is freaking incredible! Makes me want a 3Gs *just* for that feature!
- Michael Lynton
Just tried this. Awesome! Too bad I'm in a po' dunk town with nothing to do. :)
- Bryan Lee
Amazing, how on earth did you find it! It's still 6:00 am, perhaps I'll Yelp for breakfast
- Nalin Perera
Wow, I'll have to say this is phenomenal. Wish I'd had this on my trip to D.C. a couple weeks ago. Yelp just made an incredibly useful app even more useful. I've seen a lot of developers working on this technology lately but it looks like they beat everyone to the punch.
- Mike Elliott
very cool....it took me a few times to get the blue box, but then it worked. thanks
- Pam Negoro
I just got the yelp AR to work, and I am staying tonight in a hotel, so I went to my window, and held the camera to the window and it was able to show me reviews of the businesses right across the street from me! I am in love with yelp all over again!
- Colide81 (James)
Can't get it to work! Shook long and hard!
- Islandwoo
from iPhone
This youtube video should help you learn how to get it Islandwoo, I think its in how you shake it, I tryed several ways but after I watched this video I did it like the guy in the video and it worked. http://www.youtube.com/watch...
- Colide81 (James)
Yeah, you've got to learn to shake it just right! :-)
- Nalin Perera
I wish Twitter would sell to Google so it would die like Jaiku and Dodgeball. But I won't post this over on Twitter. I really don't have much love for the service, even though I know I'll be stuck using it for the indefinite future. Jesse Stay has it figured out. It's a horrid place to try to communicate anything other than a bit of self pimping.
Here I can write the equivilent of an entire blog post. And even make changes. And even have a conversation. And use it as many times an hour as I want (Twitter rate limits my apps after a while cause I'm too heavy of a user).
- Robert Scoble
I can sense already that FriendFeed is slowing down now that it is joining Facebook, while Twitter still has the best flow (and best system for following people and best mobile clients). So, we're stuck with Twitter, which is too bad, because the technology here is a ton better.
- Robert Scoble
Twitter is a piece of crap - BUT it's where the audience is (currently).
- Jim Connolly
Now it is starting to feel like FF again with you bigging it up again Robert ;)
- Travis Koger
Maybe google wave will change the way we use twitter, etc. again. Haven't tried it yet, but it might succeed where friendfeed "failed" - getting enough people to use it.
- Frank S.
Travis: I had to go and clean out my Twitter and Facebook accounts and spread out my usage.
- Robert Scoble
Agreed! - Friendfeed is so much better (for as long as it really lasts in Facebook world...)
- Matthew Blaisdell
from iPhone
Robert: I'm thinking of setting up a facebook account for my Marketing blog - what do you think?
- Jim Connolly
@Scobleizer I don't think Friendfeed would be quite so popular if it weren't for twitter
- Prolific Programmer
from IM
Twitter is the new Myspace - HAHA - this quote made my day. For me it is just becoming a multiplicator for my friendfeed but it is important for that!
- Sascha Pallenberg
Prolific: I'm not so sure. Blogs made Twitter. So, what if there were no Twitter? We would still talk up something else. But maybe FriendFeed wouldn't have thrived anyway. Twitter hit a sweet spot with its easy to program API, it's easy to use interface, and its cute name and branding.
- Robert Scoble
Twitter works extremely well on mobile devices. I constantly see people tweeting whereas it's more difficult to do with FriendFeed's interface for a typical user.
- imabonehead
Really think that Twitter is annoying it's users too much. There's some problems out there that are really being ignored. Here's an example of a problem that could be solved very simply, but no action is being taken (if it was solved it'd create a lot of goodwill) http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter...
- Edd McArdle
Robert, now that FriendFeed's people are working for Facebook, and since Facebook has already been making changes to make it more "open socially", do you think eventually that Facebook will become the best place to have serious conversations?
- Carlton Hackett
I've been thinking so too. Although, I wonder how the non-Soc/net junkies will respond to that?
- Carlton Hackett
Robert, two thoughts. #1 - do you think Google really would let it die? Acquiring Twitter would be more like its YouTube acquisition than Jaiku (in terms of price and # of users). Secondly, what would Twitter have to change for you to change your opinion?
- Ben Parr
I really, really, really want Twitter to work out is the thing. It's just a pain in the neck to communicate without either losing the conversation or spamming useless banter over multiple Tweets because you can't fit it in 140 characters. That's just my experience. Those still spending most their time there don't mind it I guess.
- Jesse Stay
I like Twitter. The conversation flows pretty well for me, and to be fair, I get more @replies there than I get replies here to my posts.
- Chris Nixon
I think a combination of the Retweet API and a true threaded replies architecture and UI could change some of my opinion on that though if they do it.
- Jesse Stay
Jesse: It's NOT just your experience. Twitter is getting less valuable the bigger it gets. The spam / porn / bots issue is insane and ruining the experience.
- Jim Connolly
Chris: I have a twitter account with over 20,000 followers and get ten times as many replies here as I get there. Here I only have a small following. The calibre of people I connect with here is better too.
- Jim Connolly
Jesse, have Twitter improved their communication with developers since you wrote about it in April?
- Edd McArdle
Edd, over the last week I have noticed a difference, yes, but it's hard to tell if it will remain that way. They now seem to have a project manager over the API dev team (Ryan Sarver). He seems to be putting a filter on some things and keeping devs updated elsewhere. They're still learning though, much slower than FB or FriendFeed.
- Jesse Stay
agree on spam and bots, but it still is a nice little thing, if it remains what it was made for! marketing and reviewing thing isn't/shouldn't be there, true friendfeed is more effective as a tool for sending your message across, it is simple and strong
- testbeta
Jim, Jesse, Robert: Value varies. For me, Twitter value continues to increase. I use it to find out what's happening, meet up with people, get random insights into how people are doing, find new people. It all works well. There are many different use cases and one tool does not have to do them all.
- Rachel Clarke
Rachel: "It all works well"? Really? Twitter?
- Jim Connolly
Rachel, I agree with you. I just don't think Twitter works well for conversations, that's all. I use FriendFeed and Facebook for that. I use Twitter for different purposes, and I agree it does still have value.
- Jesse Stay
sometimes i think of Automattic's intense debate, but well friendfeed is intense debate, such a experience was never had on blogs, the commenting, liking, and so fast it propagates, even disqus commenting systems can't achieve what we have here on friendfeed, but i can't just throw away twitter, twitter still is good, true for the serious types it's word limit, reply system is a bit of...
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- testbeta
I would love to have FriendFeed as the commenting system on my blog.
- Chris Nixon
Chris, there are a few plugins that do that. I haven't tried them though.
- Jesse Stay
Chris: Check out what Scoble's doing with FF on building43.com
- Jim Connolly
Jim: yes. It works well for what I want it to do (I'm ignoring the ongoing issues with the DDOS). It's a free tool that adds far more value than it costs me to wait for odd outage.
- Rachel Clarke
Just checked your Twitter account and now understand exactly what you are saying.
- Jim Connolly
Jesse: agree, I use Facebook, Friendfeed, blogs, comments etc, all for different things. I even use the phone as a phone occasionally to talk with people ;-) But the assumption that one tool/service can do everything - and should do everything - is something I have a problem with. If something does not work for a person, don't use it.
- Rachel Clarke
The twitter ecoverse is cool, can do Psychological Profiles, can do Social Network Analysis. All those services that spawned as a result are amazing. I am also amazed at how dense Asians Languages are on Twitter, think about it they get about 60% more per tweet.
- Robert Higgins
Ben: at this point I am not sure what Twitter could do to win back my love. I will use it just like I use AT&T and United Airlines. I have very little love for those even though I use them frequently. Twitter wins because it is simple and flat and has great clients. I wouldn't cry if it disappeared, though.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
You are a hypocrite! I remember you use to sing the praises of Twitter all the time. Another toy comes along and you start bashing it. If I was Friendfeed management I would cancel your account now before you start bashing them. Robert Scoble is nothing but a follower of crowds anyway.
- Paul L. McCord Jr.
You want it to die? Such an odd statement. I have met so many great people through Twitter, and the news information I can find through search or news agencies or even people who are newshounds are amazing. I know it's not perfect and the last few weeks have definately proved that, and the spam is just awful. But to want to kill it, what a strong statement.
- PC Easy
from twhirl
Twitter is not abot writing blog posts or having conversations, its about small pieces of information being communicated to anyone who wants to listen. You do not have to listen, if you want a conversation use a forum or FriendFeed, use WordPress for blog posts. Stop trying to make Twitter into something it is not designed to be.
- Darren Rollett
I really used to like Twitter, still do sometimes. What I don't like is the Twitter hype. I don't seem able to turn on any media channel these days without reading/hearing or watching about it. Even the BBC reported that Twitter was under attack recently on the main BBC news. FFS come on, there must be more happening in the world than a micro blogging site with a few million users...
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- Nick Bristow
If you owned twitter would you sell to google?
- cheapsuits
from iPhone
Robert, Atleast something positive could come out of it. If Twitter sells to Google they might(though its not guaranteed) make it opensource and then a federation of twitter server(ala wave servers) can co-exist happily and that way we'll own our stuff(as Anil Dash and other points out). Or they might integrate it in Wave framework. Not that people are not gonna complain about it but thats a different topic.
- Abhishek
Surely an improvement in the service would be a more positive wish?
- Chris Nixon
Say what you want but something with the architecture of friendfeed is far more conversational then twitter could ever be.
- cheapsuits
I don't know why people think Twitter is the place to converse. It's really not built for that. I find myself enjoying the flow of conversations more on Facebook and FriendFeed.
- Naomi Williams
Self pimping? Hmmm... Perhaps not for all of us. And besides, self-pimping isn't limited to twitter.
- @JonAston
PS - Maybe it's just me, but you seem bitter lately. Hope you turn that around for yourself.
- @JonAston
Jon: You are right. People pimp on FriendFeed too; as I say in my new book.... :-)
- Jim Connolly
@jim, they will do anywhere, this is human nature, they do even in real life, so why not in virtual one?
- abdellah
"(Twitter) It's a horrid place to try to communicate anything other than a bit of self pimping." AMEN
- Alejandro
Personally I wish Google would buy both Facebook and Twitter so they could both die.
- Brian Sullivan
@brian, hey where could I read to you then?!!
- abdellah
@Frank S. Google Wave will only be valid if you actually have other friends/collegues who use Google Wave. Otherwise you'll be using it with the *crickets*
- Naomi Williams
Oh yeah -- forgot that due to circumstances beyond our control FF is now Facebook. ;-)
- Brian Sullivan
oh yeah , they share the same vision, they got the same perception...
- abdellah
It's the ff interface (developers) that make it great, but it's really you guys and gals, the people friendfeed attracted that make it valuable to me. Let's consider a real migration to a more reliable long term social media. It has to be open (data portable, unsellable) to get my trust
- Mark Essel
from iPhone
I hope the FaceBook people will take comments like these to heart. I do like twitter but the functionality FriendFeed brought was the next generation in stream notification.
- Chris Jackson
Ohh time to pimp Jim's new book on Twitter ;)
- Mark Essel
from iPhone
Mark: Yeah - all I need is a title. Oh, and a book....and the time to write one....then I will be pimping like a pro!
- Jim Connolly
Wow Robert, I was thinking this the past few days and could never bring it to words...well done
- Braden Douglass
Jim: I'm time bankrupt but love sharing and collaborating. Let's hire a ghostwriter to capture our best ideas in an intelligible manner :). Joking of course, there's no easy way to spread our thoughts but doing it ourselves
- Mark Essel
from iPhone
I was gonna call the Funky Phantom. (That really dates me.)
- Jim Connolly
Robert, I challenge you to stop using Twitter for a month and then blog about the experience. And that includes hiding all Tweets in FF.
- Mike Doeff
from iPhone
Lets face it, Twitter was built as an update service - a big Internet megaphone. The natural transition has been from update service to marketing service. Big Internet Megaphone. It's good at that, but it's not at conversations nor at discovery. The larger problem is people still approach Twitter like a true social engagement tool - and it's simply not. The disconnect between perception and reality results in the poor adoption numbers and other soft metrics.
- AJ Kohn
twitter is noise. filter it and you can find some gold. imho, that's beyond mere self-pimpage
- Rob Schieber
Agreed Rob. I'd prefer semantic algorithms applied to all tweets. I'm interested in real time search and datamining. And semantic extraction on all status would allow for real time "sorting"
- Mark Essel
from iPhone
i'd love to meetup with fellows and see what api scraping is going on - know where threads are for that?
- Rob Schieber
Idk, This seems so much better then twitter.
- SeanParnell
It does have a lot of noise, granted - but if it went away now, I'm not sure where everyone would run to. Facebook is too silly, Linkedin is too stolid, and everything else is too fractured for me to communicate with all the people I want to in a single shot. Guess I'd end up doing everything through ping.fm after all.
- Ciaoenrico
Wow, Isn't online chit-chat such a fuss? :)
- SeanParnell
Robert, just a week or two you were saying that Twitter is beating FriendFeed because of scanability http://friendfeed.com/scoblei.... And you had lots of complaints about the FriendFeed user interface. You also talked about how Twitter was much better after you un-followed everyone and hand picked who you're following. I have to ask, what has changed in the past few days to make you say that the service should die? Feels like you're flip flopping.
- Mike Doeff
I noticed that in the past two weeks, the tweet intensity has greatly decreased from all my follows in Twitter. Granted, I'm not following too many, but the ones I do follow have traditionally tweeted a lot each day. Is this a trend (has Twitter become a has been) or is this simply a coincidental anomaly?
- Jeff Sayre
Robert I find myself on friendfeed more these days
- (jeff)isageek
@brian would you consider myspace if both facebook and twitter die?!!(ps: sorry I forget the LOL)
- abdellah
Myspace -- don't know. I haven't really tried or paid attention to it. But probably not -- isn't it Facebook like? Maybe usenet? ;-)
- Brian Sullivan
brian, let forget all those techie and go irc :)
- abdellah
IMO, people who don't like the limitations of Twitter and whine about it hampering them are using it wrong. Twitter is not a place to pimp your blog or drive traffic to your site. It is not an SEO tool. It's not a place for you to compete in order to get more 'followers'. If you've ever tried to do any of these things, or if you ever followed more than a few hundred people, then yes, no...
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- Otto
Jesse Stay: you should stop complaining so much about twitter when you build an entire business based on their lack of functionality and other issues.
- Mihai Secasiu
Mihai, I'm not complaining - they can do what they want. As I said I really want them to succeed. It's a matter of fact that they do have their flaws - I'm hoping to help them fix those, assuming they're listening at all. What are you doing to help Twitter get better?
- Jesse Stay
it is like twitter if for what,where, when and friendfeed is for why, how
- testbeta
Mike: just because I use a service doesn't mean I love it. I use ATT and United all the time and they suck too.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
And yes Twitter has some good things about it. Doesn't mean it is all good. Personally it is overused and overhyped and YES I am partially responsible.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Apostol I get value out of Twitter. You aren't listening. I get value out of AT&T too but it COULD be so much more. Chris I tried to be positive but Twitter just doesn't respond to positivity. Plus they are cynical AT BEST about their users. Read the Twittergate documents to see just how cynical they are.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Twitter was just there at the right time. It's not the best solution to the problem (microblogging), but it's good ~enough~.
- Trent Hamm
You seriously think Twitter will die once it gets bought by a 'bigger' company?
- Mike Shields
Mike: do you use Dodgeball? It was bought by Google. So was Jaiku.
- Robert Scoble
Trent: did you just call Twitter the Microsoft of microblogging? Yeah, that's sorta what I was trying to say too! ;-)
- Robert Scoble
I just find it amazing that all the early adopters get really snobby about Twitter now it is getting more mainstream. There is something snobby about people's attitude to Facebook as well. I'm not a fan of Facebook but I know more people who use Facebook than use Twitter or Friendfeed combined. Even my mum has a Facebook account but she'd never be on Twitter or Friendfeed. Twitter...
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- Paul Nash
I liked Pownce. I wonder what SixApart has cooking up for them. So there's really no chance for Plurk to make a comeback and take back the community? With all the outage problems Twitter has, I would think Plurk would try to capitalize on that. Guess not.
- John Wang
now if the Google Reader team could just get their new commenting system streamlined and real-time ... :)
- Peter du Toit (S.Africa)
Paul: it's not hard to understand if you are in our shoes. Here's why. When a company is young and struggling to get noticed, they love having early adopters. After all, that's the ONLY WAY a company gets to the next stage. I've never seen a company go straight to Oprah stage without getting early adopters excited. Then once the company gets enough traction they usually start mistreating the early adopters. In this case Twitter stabbed them in the back. Leo Laporte, for instance ...
- Robert Scoble
...got me excited about Twitter and was THE REASON it was the big huge deal at that 2007 SXSW. He had more followers than Mashable last year. But did he get put on the Suggested User List? No. So now Mashable has more than a million and Leo has a knife in his back. And you think it's amazing that early adopters turn their backs on Twitter? Really now.
- Robert Scoble
I don't see how Leo has a knife in his back. There was no preconceived notion that anyone would be added to that list. Who cares? He was fine before that list was created, and he can be just as fine now, and just as engaging.
- Andru Edwards
Andru: when he was hyping up the service and telling his users to use it, he was getting something in return: being at the top of the follower lists. When Twitter artificially put its own people at the top of the follower lists, and handed out grants of followers (worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars, by the way -- Mashable has changed its entire business to be Twitter centric) they specifically dissed Leo and many others. Most of whom won't point it out in public.
- Robert Scoble
Sadly true. I'm in much the same boat -- Twitter is a necessity for professionals and bloggers to stay on top of things, but other socialnets like Brightkite and FF are light years beyond it, which doesn't look to be changing any time soon. Don't even get me started on the spammers and the get-rich-quick'ers.
- Ryan Meader
But before the SUL was released, didn't Leo abandon Twitter in favor of Jaiku, due to Twitter having "Twit" as part of its name? Just saying, if I owned a list that I had complete control over, and someone showed that behavior towards me (whether it was right or wrong, I am not judging), I would think twice before putting them on a list that will result in many people seeing they they...
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- Andru Edwards
I can't agree with you more, Robert.
- Jon Ursenbach
Scobe: I very much disagree that it is about self pimping. Perhaps your senses are mush because you follow too many? I absolutely love getting that link to a new article or research, or to get a tweet from that celeb that makes me think and provides insight into a new world. I also use it as a research tool, for exploratory purposes. Twitter, as you know very well, is about what you make it, and that is a tenuous notion that really is influenced by who you follow.
- Chad Gesser
Andru: again, the list did NOT exist in the days when we were hyping up Twitter. So, there was a "promise" to early adopters that if they invested time in the service they could be at the top of the follower lists. Sort of how PlayFoursquare is today promising users that they can become mayors of places they frequent more than anyone else. What Twitter did was the equivilent of PlayFoursquare telling everyone that their "mayorship" doesn't matter anymore and that Oprah is now mayor of everywhere.
- Robert Scoble
Chad: one thing you have to remember about me is that I see that Twitter has 1,001 uses. Stop seeing the world as black and white. This is one post I'm making about Twitter among thousands. Translation: I already agreed with you. But you have to admit that many people use Twitter for self promotion.
- Robert Scoble
Andru: and anyway, the SUL is hardly the only reason to diss Twitter. Twitter still goes down all the time, it still has stupid rate limits. It still can't block spam effectively. It still has no friend management. It still has no features that didn't exist a year ago. And it is, in many respects, behaving worse. I'm hearing from developers that Twitter is becoming more closed, not more open (to monetize) and we're seeing them pick winners before the marketplace is done (bit.ly anyone?)
- Robert Scoble
The nice thing about Twitter is that it keeps your message short and to the point. Friendfeed is great but it doesn't lend itself well to an external app out of the browser. Also FriendFeed and any of these services you don't own your content
- Seth Goldstein
Seth: bing! So, back to the blog we will go. Except, why are we still here? ;-)
- Robert Scoble
I like friendfeed because of its realtimeyness, but I like twitter because it requires you to be concise. I have seen some brilliant tweets done in 140 characters or less. I think that's always been the allure of twitter, its sheer simplicity. How many features can you add to twitter without actually changing the core of what twitter is?
- Tomy Thomson
Robert: But what do you want from these companies ? Chaps like you give them the oxygen of publicity they need and they court you and then when they become successful you suddenly start to criticise them. Friendfeed has become successful (in great part to your endless plugging of it) and the founders will now go on to make money through their company being taken over by Facebook. You,...
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- Paul Nash
Scoble: no doubt....I can deal with the self promotion, the e marketing and spam garbage though to me is what has gooootttt to go
- Chad Gesser
Paul: my role in life is to use what will be, not what is. I don't turn on many companies, but Twitter isn't one that dealt with early adopters on good faith.
- Robert Scoble
Is there a "social media" company that has dealt with early adopters in "good faith"? Facebook, FriendFeed, Flickr I suspect don't qualify ? Any that do?
- Brian Sullivan
all platforms seem to have self pimpering styles, why so passionate against twitter? Objectional question, not one of rhetoric.
- nick tadd
Brian: I didn't know that any of those have actively dissed their best early adopters. Facebook kicked me off, but only because I broke the TOS. It's always been straight up with me. Same with Flickr, although I do watch Thomas Hawk's talk about their censorship.
- Robert Scoble
none as brian says, they all deal with them, and "the earlier adopter" contribute to their evolution until they sell (sorry)
- abdellah
nick: because it's so prevalent there. "Look at my blog post about xxx" is almost a staple on Twitter. It's a new RSS reader. Which is fine, I use it too for that! :-)
- Robert Scoble
Robert, I think you may have the makings for one of your future blogs here. Perhaps you do it for that reason? ;) The thing about Twitter is always going to be its LBE. It's a mainstream LBE to Social Media. For that very reason its perfect for business, government, and non profit to take public temperature and promote. The other "noise" is the "MV", the "mainstream voice". The conversation is 4 way.(and yes sometimes only 1 way) but there it is and its not going to go away any time soon.
- Melanie Reed
Yes, indeed, Twitter is the Microsoft of microblogging. It's good enough, but not the best - but it has the huge advantage that everyone is using it, so you have to use it for compatibility reasons.
- Trent Hamm
I still use Twitter for more than just updates. I converse, I crowdsource, and I read through to see what other people are thinking and talking about. FriendFeed is the one that I have a difficult time finding use for, but I'm trying.
- Dave Huston
DAMN Robert I HATE that you are right on this one!!!!!
- Arleen Anderson
Hopefully you use it for positive self pimping and not for negative pimping... which is inevitable
- Kevin Burrell
If FF would have taken mobile seriously, the game might look different right now
- Alex C. Williams
Alex, they are taking mobile seriously - they sold to Facebook. :-)
- Jesse Stay
I can't see how Twitter can survive Facebook now. FB will bring Twitter down, the only chance they got is to sell to Google.
- Patrik Johansson
What makes people think Facebook or Twitter is all-conquering? There's a new generation coming through, and they aren't using these services. It's very important not to get sucked in by the hype of a service you use. Fanboys will talk up the positives and ignore the negatives, giving you a skewed message. The truth is somewhere in the massive grey area in between.
- Chris Nixon
The new generation uses Facebook a lot, but not Twitter.
- Steph (sh_skew)
from email
Let me say that it is not twitter per se. It is the population of twitter to make it the place it is at the moment. Whenever there is a (free entrance) place crowded of people, there will be spambots to pollute it.
- funkyboy
from Posty
Twitter is just a temporary solution for a quick mixture of instant messaging + status updates + chat forum.
- Bora Wiemann
Just having a discussion today that Twitter will eventually go bankrupt when the hype is over
- Khuram Hussain
I don't agree with you Robert. Twitter is easy to use, succinct and versatile. I've made multiple very meaningful connections through my use of twitter. I do like friendfeed's threaded conversations which are great but in a way it only helps those who have big followings like yourself, because people are more apt to comment on your thread than say mine because they know the conversation...
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- Lon Cohen
For example - how do I message you directly so you know I'm speaking to you (i.e. Twitter @ reply) but all your followers and my followers know that we're having a conversation in Twitter back and forth so that they can follow and interject when they want. Everytime we do that we have to start a brand new discussion thread and I have to "tell" you somehow that I'm talking to you. Twitter is like email/phone conversations and friendfeed is like collective blogging/commenting.
- Lon Cohen
I would rather everyone be anonymous than no one.
- jeneane sessum
Gerard: as I said in the other thread this would be impossible to enforce so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
- Robert Scoble
I commented on your blog: I think anonymity is both a horrible thing and a great tool, it depends on how it's used. In some countries complete anonymity is needed, otherwise they would be put to death or jail. I find its far more respectable when someone puts a real name and face to their opinion, though it isnt always needed.
- Colby Olson
Robert: I just think it's interesting that you want to abolish anonymity, that in itself is an odd thing to say, I suppose. Perhaps you could explain your reasoning?
- Colby Olson
Robert I think we all realize it would not be enforceable but what I'm going after is the idea behind it - that *were it enforceable*, it would be a good thing. To me, the underlying idea that anonymous speech is a bad thing and should be eliminated is rather authoritarian and terrifying.
- Anthony Citrano
Colby: everything that I have seen negative on the Internet is due to anonymity. Can you link to one positive thing? Mini Microsoft but even that would be much better if the guy who wrote it would sign his name.
- Robert Scoble
Anthony: well, I don't see it as a good thing. I have freedom of speech already and would die to defend that. Anonymity is for cowards.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, speaking out on the internet against oppressive governments is not a bad thing. And as I have stated previously, many revolutions start in anonymity. Again, rules of absolutism don't allow for both sides. Anonymity is a tool and it can be used for good and bad.
- Tim Finucane
Kind of a night of drastic comments from the Scobleizer, huh?? Everything negative on the internet is due to anonymity. Yikes thats a whole new round of overstatement. I love following you Robert and agree way more often than not but that's silly.
- Cody Heitschmidt
tim: what revolution started with anonymity? Certainly NOT the American one.
- Robert Scoble
It most definitely did start with secret meetings. The crown didn't know identities until after things got under way.
- Tim Finucane
Robert: You just spawned numerous blog posts and threads with that one. I agree with you up to a point. One of the two that I have blocked on FF was determined to be a troll and supposedly anon. However, there are many countries that speaking up and signing on the dotted line will get both your head and hand chopped off.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
Cody is right. I did overstate that and I am sorry about that.
- Robert Scoble
The Internet is and should be about choice. You should be able to choose your level of anonymity. It is not one shoe fits all.
- Jauder Ho
Robert... i would follow you into the fire.. and here is why we all follow you: Your are passionate. Sometimes it gets in your way because you overstate things but then you admit you are wrong. A guy with 30,000 followers could be big headed enough not to admit something he said wasn't quite right. It's cool that a little guy in Ks can make a contrary statement at you and not just get blocked and you roll over him. Now admit you were wrong on the rule against anonymity too. lol just kidding.
- Cody Heitschmidt
Robert -- There is legitimate reason for anon speech, especially on the internet. What I think you really want is a "Personal Global Internet Filter" that allows the removal of the ugliest side-effects. Even looking to the American revolution, pen names and aliases were used countless times by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, et al. There is a legitimate purpose to it... the statement that no revolution was started by anonymous is a bit of a stretch.
- Mark Philpot
There are a ton of reasons for a person to use a pseudonym on the internet. Especially when you look at people in other countries who can only speak by being "nameless". I even have reasons for using a name that isn't my real name.
- Candace
Don't admit you were wrong on the rule unless you believe it... until you believe ! hehe lol Great freaking discussion who started this whole mess with the rule comment?
- Cody Heitschmidt
I believe it was started by Robert's response to Laura Fitton's question: "What one "rule" would you make about the Internet?"
- Tim Finucane
To all those under pseudonyms: Why? Are you truly in fear of reprisal? @Dtrizzle a link to your blog profile quickly reveals you. @Corvida do you have a reason?
- Mathew A. Koeneker
i'm sorry he's wrong or right depending i've been batting this question lately and i use the internet not to shield who i am but to get people to talk to me who wouldn't do to disability. and if i ever meet any net folks in RL my hope is that they will be over it quicker due to knowing I'm capable and cool to begin with
- Cecil Sandus
@Robert Scoble (scobleizer): What's so negative about my blog? Well, other than the fact that I don't apply myself. Sorry, there've been too many firings and too many "we won't hire you" situations because of uptight control freaks in power who can't stand employees who have their own minds. Anyone who really desires it can find out who MiniMage is, but I feel the better for not broadcasting my real name, and so do my parents.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
from NoiseRiver
One rule for the internet is that all data is equal. The second rule is that there are no other rules. I think Scoble's idea of not anonymity is becoming more a reality with people's lives becoming intertwined with their online identity. I would like to preserve anonymity for whistle blowers, etc. Anonymity is a tool that can be used or abused.
- Erik Weese
Pseudonyms mean nothing. People do find out who you are. I spent two days in a courtroom reading my blog entries aloud that were posted under a pseudonym. If you don't want people to read what you write, buy a pen and a blank journal and stick it under your mattress.
- Trish R
MiniMage many many more people have been hired for their blogs than fired for them and I can't think of an instance where someone who was fired wasn't behaving stupidly. We have a whole chapter in our book about that.
- Robert Scoble
yes Dtrizzle that makes sense to me and Trish as for your idea it's an oldie but a goodie...
- Cecil Sandus
corvida isn't anonymous. I have talked with her on the phone. Minimicrosoft is pretty anonymous but I know at least one person who knows who he is.
- Robert Scoble
Dtrizzle - The bit on your educational background while perfect for a resume can provide an easy way to start skip-tracing you. Not that I am. Just one of the little tricks I learned where tech meets accounting.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
it is amazing the conversations that can start with a simple word or two. I am at a wedding with people who have left Iran to get the freedom of speech so understand well the problems with using your real name. One guy here was in Iranian prisons for years. He is not afraid to stand up in public against injustice.
- Robert Scoble
@Robert Scoble (scobleizer): Do you remember the Chronicle of Higher Education article where someone talked about being on an interview committee? These EDUCATED folks attitudes were explained thus, "Several committee members expressed concern that a blogger who joined our staff might air departmental dirty laundry (real or imagined) on the cyber clothesline for the world to see. Past...
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- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
from NoiseRiver
Scoble I think he was referring to the fact that I don't use my real name online at all. As for the person who asked why, because I don't want people Googling me. I like to keep my personal life separate from my online life. Same person, different interactions and I don't want them overlapping in any way, shape, or form.
- Corvida
@Corvida - Why keep yourself so fragmented? Then you have to remember who you with whom. I am with Robert for the most part on this one. You instantly gain more respect from me if your are proud enough of your name to attribute ALL of your actions whether in the VW or RW to it. You are an American are you not? Unless, you have a TS like my folks then who or what are you hiding from. Telling me that it is just a personal choice is a cop out. @Dtrizzle gives some valid rationale for his decision.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
There are certain place on the net that you NEED anonymity !! Take a look at some Forums that ONLY focus on vulnerability disclosures. Each and every one of them is only known by a handle. Chances that you actually associate a handle w/ real name /face is near impossible.
- Peter Dawson
I could argue the same. Most in my situation do take that approach. My disease is just that a disease. It is what it is. Like I commented earlier there can be valid reasons; I just wanted to hear Corvida's rationale both from a personal interest as she is just another human being as well as from the pov of the well known blogger.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
Interesting convo. I actually talked to Mark Hopkins about this. He brought his anon handle into his identity. I've kept mine apart. I don't agree with no one being anonymous; I happily existed online for years and can still write about personal issues and my children without compromising their (or my) privacy.
- Cyndy
I vote for anonymity. If you are anonymous and threatening though, realize that I also support using every tracking method possible to make a community safer. People can not yell "FIRE" in a crowded room. I can not call my neighbor a "RAPIST" just because I feel like it. Regulated Free Speech is ok. Unregulated free speech is not, just as I can not go around town physically hitting anyone I want to ("Freedom of Action").
- Mitchell Tsai
The vast majority of my college friends (Harvard 1982-89, age 40-50) are still petrified of Facebook due to Corvida's concerns - and I have mostly techy friends. There are discussions on our alumni boards (on & off Facebook) about all the potential career dangers. About 30-40% of my college friends are on LinkedIn because they understand resumes & how you can control the presentation of...
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- Mitchell Tsai
P.S. I've spoken with Corvida on the phone also. We were going to visit Georgia Tech together, but plans didn't work out (and my college friend who's a professor there turned out to be out-of-town also). Bummer.
- Mitchell Tsai
Assume ANYTHING you e-mail, post on the Internet, or say on a phone is recorded somewhere and scanned for verbal/textual keywords. My first company is now partially owned by the C... and we process information to find ter...... Over 10 years ago (1992-98), I attended academic data-mining conferences where people from the phone company presented the algorithms they were using to scan...
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- Mitchell Tsai
“regulated free speech”, Mitchell? Can you be serious?
- Anthony Citrano
well i think the concept is absurd, myself. but i'm out. also, why post 5-6 messages in a row instead of 1? it's messy and inelegant.
- Anthony Citrano
Paragraph marks in a comment would work too. I don't like how everything runs together in one comment...
- Mitchell Tsai
@Robert people tend to act differently online than they do in real-life, anonymous or not. They perceive a disconnect between their online profile and life. Makes people be more direct, confrontational, and sometimes hostile. They don't feel bound by the same social rules (have respect for each other).
- Alexander van Elsas
I can fully understand that some wish to be anonymous on the web. But thinking that the things you do online are disconnected from your offline life is stupid. I am not anonymous online and I am aware that my interactions are always visible.
- Alexander van Elsas
I'll just add here that I don't agree that we should chop off our whole arm but if someone can point the finger and label me negatively knowing full well that I am public and not hiding behind a fake avatar, I should be able to see who is doing the labeling and so should the community since the insult was brought to the community's attention by the hiding labeler/harasser. We should...
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- Jeunelle Foster
Even aside from my opinion that the Imus thing was a bunch of BS from a clueless Outrage Nation, I disagree that providers ought strip away anonymity every time someone's feelings get hurt.
- Anthony Citrano
There are good (edit: adequate) legal processes for handling truly abusive cases.
- LogEx
This is a long thread and I may have missed it in a later response, but what about people finding you in person through the internet? I play WoW and my guild leader was stalked by someone who knew only her first name, state, and profession. He called her and flew to her area to find her. This is just a simple case of a nut job, but the internet is full of them. When you bring other countries, with less freedom into the mix things just get messier.
- Heather
The thing is, he never defined his terms either. Is creating a bogus account and logging in through a proxy for a one-time flame the same as using a long-term pseudonym for mostly constructive purposes? I think not. There are so many good and valid reasons for not living completely transparently.
- LogEx
@Anthony it's your opinion that you found the Imus thing BS and I'm not talking about when people's feelings get hurt, I disagree in cases where someone can get physically hurt, here is an example. Blogcatalog was in heat a few months ago when some of these members who I see as negative while hiding behind fake persona, fake avatars, hiding their Ip addresses and whois information took...
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- Jeunelle Foster
WOW. I was trying to figure out why I had this pop up from a year ago. I still pretty much side with The Scoblezier with a few exceptions. If you are blogging, chatting, or even surfing on-line....odds are pretty good that a determined individual or govt entity can find you out. You may think that you are "anon" but in reality you are not at all. Plus, I have a lot less respect for folks esp in this country that are unwillling to put their real names in their posts.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
I didn't feel like cutting and pasting so sorry. But if you think that your on-life persona is somehow sacred and secure from your real life identity then you have some harsh realities to wake up to. This is the information age people.
- Mathew A. Koeneker