16 Nov 2010
While apps and websites may connect us socially, we rarely make the devices themselves a social experience. My phone is a very personal tool. It holds my emails, access to my Twitter and Facebook accounts (which, for me, have some business purpose), contact information for hundreds of people, and really neat pictures from Hipstamatic. While I don’t mind people making phone calls, I’d never be willing to share it. The same goes for my computer. An iPad is a different story. I remember reading a post by Fred Wilson, who was revisiting his negative opinion on his iPad. He noted that the “iPad makes using a computer less of a commitment” and goes on to explain how, in addition to easily moving in and out of interaction with the device, his whole family share use together, as well as each having their own personal use. Some data from Nielsen supports…
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02 Nov 2010
We’ve been pretty excited about work we’ve been doing with Linkfluence, a cutting-edge firm out of Paris (ooh la la) that, in their own words, analyzes, segments, and maps conversations taking place in social web communities. Essentially, they’ve analyzed and mapped the social web in France, the UK, and the US. In 2009, based on their mapping of the US, they launched a site called Politicosphere, which gives an insightful look at how (or if) political conversations track through the online political community. As tomorrow is election day, the online world is buzzing with political conversations. As we are in the process of working to relaunch and run Politicosphere, I’ve got the intersection of politics and social media on my mind. On that note, I want to draw attention to an interactive map the New York Times put up. This map looks at Twitter buzz around individual candidates’ Twitter handles,…
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26 Oct 2010
Creating a custom Facebook tab is not a task for the faint of heart. It’s a lot like wandering the halls of a deadly labyrinth. Only, instead of battling flying arrow traps and ill-intentioned minotaurs, you are constantly on the lookout for unannounced changes to the Facebook code structure. You are sure to find yourself winding your way through a maze of development blockades.
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13 Oct 2010
As both a musician and a social media junkie, I have always been intrigued by music artists who push the envelope in online promotion and distribution. Like when Radiohead released In Rainbows exclusively online and asked their fans to name their own price (the average was $8) or the Arcade Fire’s release of The Wilderness Downtown, an interactive film built in HTML5 that creepily incorporates an overhead zoom of the house you grew up in. Most recently, it has been Chicago-based progressive rock band Umphrey’s McGee, who has just announced:
“In a departure from the standard “album” format, we have decided to roll out the new music in bite size pieces for your prolonged enjoyment.”
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