Bubble Thoughts » Social Media

Are You Living In A Filter Bubble?

Bubble Thoughts — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:21:38 +0000

I recently watched this awesome TED Talk video on living in a filter bubble. The concept is that Google, Facebook, and other big online companies are filtering the information we consume online. The concern is that we could be missing out on the reality of the world around us by only being exposed to what the filters of these systems “think” we want to see. The original goal is to help us connect and have a better experience, but are unintended consequences being introduced? Are we being deprived of the information we need in the effort to push us the information that these networks think we want?

Watch the video and tell me what you think. It’s not long, but its very though provoking.

12 step program for Twitter junkies

toff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:00:17 +0000

Step one: Admit there is a problem

yes, you have a problem. when the first and last thing (and about 40 more things) you do in a day is check for new tweets, you are addicted. When you constantly look at your iPhone every time someone tweets, you are addicted. Admit this to yourself and move on. Its the only way.

Step two: Crystal Meth

Try doing something less addictive to take your mind off of Twitter. Something like Crack or Crystal Meth should do the trick. No longer will you obsess about Twitter. You will be getting out and interacting in the world. True, the interaction is probably armed robbery or car jacking, but there are government programs to help with that. Twitter addiction, on the other hand, is totally without government support.

Step three: Go Offline

The only way to truly get Twitter under control is to sever the artery of the internet. It is an extremely painful process (due to ISP paperwork and upsells) but a necessary one. Power down that monitor and yell “Get behind me Satan” at the top of your lungs.

Step four: Twinkies

This is going to be a rough time for you. the best known remedy is to drown your sorrows in Little Debbie snack cakes and Twinkies. Just saying the word, “twinkie” makes you feel bloated and greasy. What better way to remove any inkling of Twitter in your life could there be?

Steps five thru twelve:

There really are no other steps, because once you get hooked on Twinkies, Twitter pales by comparison. so far no one has ever needed additional steps. One of the potential steps that were thought up were “Neuro-Shock Therapy”, where tall really fat men were dressed in tutu’s and told to dance Swan Lake while eating M&M’s and carrying a duck. NST was originally developed by the military from a psychological weapons division, but even the military felt it was too cruel for practical use.

Well, hopefully you have cured your Twitter addiction enough to live a happy government controlled life.

And as always, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Toff Ward
Open Source Marketer

p.s. When the Twinkies run out, follow me on Twitter …. @peddlewin

Have You Heard The Buzz

Bubble Thoughts — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:23:29 +0000

So today’s big buzz was all about Google Buzz. It seemed like everywhere I turned online today, there was Google Buzz. It was in my Gmail and on my iPhone. It was in my rss feeds and in my Skype conversations. It was everywhere and to tell you the truth…I liked it.

It may be a little George Orwell, but I like being connected to people. It speeds my learning and makes me feel healthy. It makes conversations fluid and puts a certain finger tip to my interactions that I was starting to feel with Twitter and Facebook.

I’ll be interested to see what the privacy settings are like as Google continues to roll out more and more of their social search features along with all the other social networking pieces they’ve been quietly working on.

What do you think? Is Buzz to inner circle for you or does it get you all excited?

Watch Youtube Videos Realtime With Friends

Bubble Thoughts — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:21:25 +0000

Ready to watch those super bowl commercials again with your friends in real time along with chat? Until this very moment, you probably hadn’t event considered it, but now you can courtesy of SynchTube, the new real time Youtube sharing service.

Here’s what the SynchTube website has to say about their service.

Ever want to share a video with your friend or family, but wish you were there with them to watch so you could enjoy the moment together? synchtube solves this problem by allowing you to share a video in real-time. Simply paste a YouTube link and create a room. You can share this room with others, and watch videos in real-time

To tell the truth, I never knew I was deficient in this area of my life. But now that I think about it, it would be fun to load up a whole playlist of my favorite videos, and then spam the crap out of my friends so that we could all sit around and chat about the best parts of the show. It’s like creating your own customized break from reality. But now, instead of just surfing Youtube clips by yourself, you can compile a list of your most favorite videos and then get the crew together.

I can see all sorts of possibilities for this. Everything from watching family video clips to viewing network TV reruns, American Idol rants to stupid pet tricks. There really is no end to the combinations. You could even use this for rebroadcasting training materials and then collecting feedback and answering questions in the ensuing chat session. It really does seem useful to me.

But there’s one thing I see here. This site is either going to be ad supported, subscription based, or a Youtube buyout at some point. It seems like a natural fit to be purchased by Youtube and then integrated into the existing offering. That is if Google doesn’t just “borrow” the idea first and then claim it as their own.

Either way it’s worth checking out. If you have a good video or playlist to share, post a link in the comments so we can check it out together.

Chaz
BubbleThoughts.com

Google Goes Single White Female

Bubble Thoughts — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:38:54 +0000

Is it just me or is Google quietly slipping vodka into my Kool-Aid? I think, and I could be wrong here, that Google is slowly becoming THE single largest social network on the planet. And, I think they are doing it right under your nose, my nose, and most importantly, Facebook’s nose.

Let’s look at it for a second. You can share Google documents, Google calendars, Google Readers, Google mail, Google this, Google that, and now Google search results. According to a recent CNN Tech article entitled “Google searches getting more social” Google is on the move.

Here’s a bit of their state supported propaganda (I mean promotional video. Sorry, to many war movies as a child.)

Overall, it’s not a bad idea. I mean the last time I got ready to plan a trip to Las Vegas I used Facebook and Twitter to find out where I should go and what I should see. That proved to be fairly successful, so why not make it a part of search.

Of course, there is one small factor here that no one is taking into consideration…

What if you friends are complete a-holes and you’re trying to look for something better than their recommendations on the best brand of cheese whiz. I mean seriously, its compressed cheese! It’s just not natural.

Hopefully social search can do better than that.

Chaz
BubbleThoughts.com

When Twitter Pigs Fly

toff — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:57:29 +0000

Not everyone is built for Twitter. I’m personally having difficulty truncating my speech to fit 140 characters. I’m not especially prolific or eloquent, evidently just long-winded. I’m trying to learn how to compress what I want to say down to either 140 characters, or toss out a link to an article. Bit.ly, ow.ly, and tinyurl seem to be very prevalent for doing this (I ended up using qwkurl, since I can have a bit more control with that one).

I’m seeing examples from “going to dinner now” to “Three Reasons the Future of Your Nonprofit Depends on Social Media”. There is a HUGE discrepancy between how different people use Twitter. Some have agendas, some are just for fun.

Can I have both?

How about an agenda of learning how it works, and making that process a fun one? Should I only post when I have something decent to say or do I go stream of consciousness like my 7 year old? Should I follow everyone who follows me or should I only follow the conversations that interest me?

I’m seeing both trends. Some people are followed by thousands yet only follow a few dozen. Quite a few people are following thousands.

How can you follow thousands?

I’m not sure I can read that fast.

Are you just following to be polite? Are you using a tool like Tweetdeck to only read a few and let the others scroll down some other section of the page? Is there an overlaying strategy you are following?

Whatever the reasons, I will certainly give it my best shot and see where the Twitter pigs fall.

Toff
Open Source Marketer

Maybe Twitter Should Go All Napster On Them

Bubble Thoughts — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:57:06 +0000

Twitter should go all Napster with their communications, given their recent battle with denial of service (DOS) attacks. Let’s face it, the Internet was created around the idea that the network could still deliver messages even if a major portion of it was taken down. But, with popular services like Twitter and Facebook becoming single points of failure, what’s the point of having an unstoppable network.

The old school Napster approach, or even a Limewire alternative to centralized Twitter messaging would provide the kind of peer-to-peer strength that’s needed for the Twitter bird to get it’s tweet on. If we’re gonna use this thing like it’s an extension of our daily lives then it’s more than just something fun to do, it’s a utility like water or electricity. Anyone who thinks that the Internet or Twitter or Facebook or email is just an extra is living in a bomb shelter from the fifties.

How about it you Twitter developers? Who’s got the stones to step up and take Twitter to the next level? If some 14 year old without a chance of getting a prom date can take the Twitter 1.0 down on a whim, then maybe it’s time to step in an do the open source things where all the Cheeto eating freaks get in one virtual room and super size the hell out of it. Twitter on steroids is what I want, how about you? DOS attacks are so ten years ago.

Honk if you think I’m right here!

Chaz
BubbleThoughts.com

P.S. While we’re at it, maybe we should morph the iconic Twitter bird from a cute little blue bird into a Rambo spankin’, Terminator whackin’ red bird with a Harley and a Marine Corps tattoo. Too much? Yeah, maybe your right.