I’ll admit my original interest in having a Facebook profile was part of the fad. Going along with all the other cool kids at the time, racing towards that socially-connected future that promises so much.
Along the way, I’ve been duped by nearly every cockamamie “app” that’s been launched on Facebook. Or at least it seems that way. Very few have been of any real use. Most were a large waste of my time.
So I just wanted to let my Facebook “friends” know I’m stripping out all the useless Facebook apps from my profile. My intention is not to insult anyone who’s invited me to use an app. My plan is simply to trim down the mess, clutter, and useless apps so I can actually make sense of my Facebook page again. And no, I won’t be accepting new apps that don’t add real value.
Are all those apps really bringing you any value beyond entertainment?
It’s perfectly natural, and something that we’ve wanted for some time. Using the Google login for their online properties was the first step (and not finished mind you), but integrating the GMail address book, and adding basic sharing options is a huge step.
When we talk about social networks connecting people, we rarely take a close look at the tools in question. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Plaxo… these are all tools – and so are the Google services. Having some best-of-breed, and some adequate online tools be able to provide sharing capabilities is a huge improvement. It’s much better to add sharing tools to these apps rather than try to build new one’s in someone else’s sandbox.
For me, using Google apps (and Yahoo and MSN/Live apps) every day, I’m looking forward to finding ways to enhance communication and productivity because of these new features. In my opinion, it’s this type of evolution of “social networking” that will become more useful to businesses as well as individuals.
As business-relevant social networking tools become incorporated into the software that businesses use, that’s when you’ll see perceptions of social networking change.
Late last week, there seemed to be a problem developing between Twitter and T-Mobile for both their customers. It was reported over at Get Satisfaction that T-Mobile Shuts Down Twitter Service for Good? – with a *TON* of Twitter/T-Mobile users jumping on and adding to the confusion.
This morning, Twitter posted on their blog that the T-Mobile Mix-Up was Technical, indicating that it was their SMS Gateway providers.
Over the weekend we were able to determine that this was purely a technical issue between T-Mobile and Ericsson, the folks who serve our SMS traffic.
Thankfully, if you’re sending Tweets via SMS on your T-Mobile cell phone, they’ll now go through as before.
As governor, the State Capitol will stand for unity and common sense.
In addition to the POW/MIA flag that has long flown over the State Capitol, we will fly two flags when I am governor: the Wisconsin state flag and the American flag.
