Not that we need another way to engage in social networking since we already have Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and countless others BUT…there is an iPhone app just released on the market which put an interesting spin on the whole concept altogether. Enter FlyChat a social networking application that lets users go through the motions of awkward social interaction with complete strangers.
The whole scheme works via a virtual fly which users attach a message to. The message then has the possibility to be received by any iPhone user with the FlyChat application. FlyChat app gives a couple of options for message delivery; you can send it to a specific friend you already have, or send it to a group of contacts you already know, or even send it to random people all over the world (by selecting a region and letting the fly spread its wings). Messages can also be tagged with a category (say like classic car restoration) so that receivers on their end will know what you’re yapping about. When a receiver gets your note they get a profile snapshot of you consisting of biographic information and a pic. The receiver then decides whether or not they want to respond to you based on these tidbits.
The beauty of FlyChat is that it lets iPhoner’s build and maintains social connections but not necessarily through existing social contacts. In the arena of social networking this is a nice departure from what’s on the scene but the aspect of communicating with a total stranger online may turn some off. This seems to be not too different than communicating with someone in a chat room. So if I owned an iPhone it would be something interesting to try. Here in the South it is entrenched in our culture to speak to people we don’t know if we run across their path, so why not take this on a mobile and international level? Call it a “high-tech message in a bottle” but I’m going to tag it as a low cost method to make global connections.
After tooling around on Backpage I had to say the site’s interface seemed a whole lot easier to use as opposed to Craigslist; for example instead of getting to a particular ad for your locale of interest by clamoring through countries, states or cities a user can go straight to a city. When you click on a particular city (in my case it was Columbia, SC) you have all ad categories at your disposal. Backpage is a very clean and bare bones site and looks like it is off to a healthy start by looking at the number of affiliates it has. My main complaint would be that there are not as many ad listings as Craigslist but this may just be due to the fact that it is slightly under the radar of most online ad posters. Give Backpage a few years and I’m pretty sure we will see bigger and better things along the lines of Craigslist success.
Hulu is the online hub where viewers can watch streaming video of favorite TV. shows, movies and clips for free on-demand. Currently Hulu is only available in the U.S. but offers videos from close to 150 leading content companies such as FOX, NBC, Comedy Central and Lionsgate. Since its inception the groundbreaking platform for web viewing has picked up numerous awards, some of these include:
Fast Company’s “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies”
BusinessWeek’s “ Best New Way to Watch TV”
AdWeek’s “Top Media & Marketing Innovations 2008”
ReadWriteWeb’s “Top 10 Digital Lifestyle Products2008”
Screenshot of Hulu TV homepage
Hulu’s is being praised by enterprises left and right but it is not surprising after one visits the site. There is a large and diversified selection of video content from documentary to fitness to news found on Hulu. The site even has a catalog of older shows with full length episodes (some of which that do not air anymore), one of my personal favs, Married with Children can be found here. Viewers as subjected to some advertising (hey guys if you’re not paying for content who do you think is) but it is less than what is found on regular television. Advertising usually amounts to 25 percent of the running time of the programming it is shown in conjunction with. I can live with this especially if you compare this to regular TV. programs which have ads comprising up to 50 percent of its run time. Hulu is also easy to navigate due to its simple interface.
Hulu's channels page
I could’ve browsed through the video catalog which is divided into categories such as channels, popular shows, popular clips, popular episodes or just typed in what I was looking for since I knew exactly what I wanted (in this case it was Married with Children).
Viewers also get the option to control how they watch their selected content, whether it is in a separate pop window or with the “lower the lights” function that dims the screen around the window pane. All around I think Hulu is a site that everyone should check out. There are a lot of neat features and a gang of content sure to fit anybody’s taste. It is definitely a must watch, especially for those of us that complain nothing is on TV.
Let’s examine some of the facts here about this popular device. The BlackBerry lets users do a number cool things from the phone for example let’s examine the phone’s email and text messaging capabilities. BlackBerry allows owners to add up to ten personal and work email accounts to their phone and also keeps them in touch with push-delivery technology. The push-delivery feature sends an alert to users when any of their email accounts receive a message. BlackBerry owners have the ability to access important work documents since these files can be opened directly from the smartphone. Owners can also record their thoughts and send it as an email attachment or MMS message.
Another cool feature on the phone relates to its instant messaging feature. BlackBerry supports a number of popular IM applications (some business ones too) which allows a user to translate their IM computer experience easily over to the phone. What about your social networking sites you ask? Well, BlackBerry takes care of this too by seamlessly integrating your social networking experience with the phone. Users can update their statuses instantaneously, post pictures in a flash or post on friend’s walls easily through popular social networking applications specifically designed for BlackBerry (Facebook, Flickr and MySpace).
So it makes sense that this phone garners the level of stickiness that popular culture has given it. However, I’m not a mainstream follower and will stick with my plain Samsung Eternity even though it doesn’t have the phone IQ (aka capabilities) to be considered a true smartphone. I don’t need all those bells and whistles to keep me entertained but I won’t rule out an occasional romp on the web with my phone either. So I’ll leave the Crackberry to the addicts and stay drug free.
Doctor Cage: “So what has been troubling you Jackie?”
Jackie: “I just can’t seem to concentrate…the urge to do it comes over me multiple times during the day.”
Doctor Cage: “Have you tried to keep yourself busy…you know make less time to indulge?”
Jackie: “Yes, I have but there just always seems like time to do it. Before I go to bed at least one more time. On theweekends if I don’t have time to…I miss it and wonder how I would feel doing it at the moment. I don’t know how I gotto this point, or what’s come over me. Can you help me Doctor Cage?”
Doctor Cage: “I have to be straight forward with you about this…you’re an addict. You suffer from Facebook Addiction.”
*Any similarities to actual persons or situations are strictly coincidental and purely for entertainment/illustration purposes only.
Yes, folks he said it, “Facebook Addiction”. Some of your may be laughing and shaking your head in disbelief but more and more and people are heading to the couch of their local therapist and confessing their online addiction. Facebook for them is a way for them to escape from reality and engage in a fantasy world where everything is happy and nice. Doctors categorize behavior like this as a compulsion to disassociate.
Lipari and others are on to something. I have friends on Facebook who practically update their status every day. Then again what does this really say about my own usage since I know they update that often? Personally I think my Facebook habits are pretty harmless and probably that of the average Facebook user. If people access the site in moderation what harm is it really doing? Is it really any different than people listening to their iPod when bored? Or people who turn on the TV for background noise while they are trying to sleep or study? I think it’s all mindless absorption, a way to relive the mind of the follies of life. Now if a person starts neglecting important social responsibilities like their children, basic hygiene or work then it becomes a total different animal. Do you think this is a legitimate problem? Would you consider your usage of social networking sites to warrant concern?
Have you ever thought it would be cool to put a tracking device on a person? You would be able to watch their every move as they made it. We have all seen sci-fi shows where a person is being tracked by Omni-present Big Brother because of a chip placed under their skin but of course this isn’t legal (yet).
Do you still crave the knowledge of what your significant other is up to while not around or exactly how far your friend Jimmy is from your house since he said he was on the way an hour ago? Well it just so happens the mobile phone gods have heard your cries and decided to answer them by bringing you Loopt.
This breadth of knowledge is great but with all forms of technology there is the possibility of abuse and in this case it would center on privacy concerns. The most pertinent questions are who has access to my information and how are they using it? Loopt co-founder, Sam Altman claims that his service places customer privacy in the highest regard and is not wantonly giving information out to marketers. However the service does share your information with marketing partners of Loopt. The company also stresses that it gives users control over who gets to see their location and when.
Even with all the coolness that Loopt is I still don’t see myself using the service. It just seems a little creepy to me that my friend Derrick can find out instantaneously that I’m within 20 miles of his house or if I’m passing by a sex shop that I could receive a discount coupon for condoms. It’s just too much information available to too many people even with the ability to control location disclosure.
