Twitter, Flickr, Doppr, Delicious, Boxee ... it goes on....

Continuing on from a recent post I’d like to tell the world why it is that I’ve migrated from one service (Facebook) to nearly ten (MobileMe, Twitter, Dopplr, WordPress, Flickr, Upcoming, Last.fm, Vimeo, Delicious) which seems entirely rediculous and somewhat overwhelmingly inefficient:

1. Firstly Facebook is a corporate walled garden in a trendy tee-shirt, this makes me very angry.
2. Secondly all the services I use can be updated or used via the web, or even better, by text message via Twitter.
3. The services I use are hot-swappable, that is they are easily replaced, upgraded or removed (thus the TCP/IP reference).
4. The services I use let me and, more importantly, me friends choose how to ‘consume me’ (a’ la JP Rangaswami).
5. The services I use can be aggregated using devices such as FriendFeed or, for media, Boxee.

So I think five are enough reasons for now, oh wait, you can update Facebook for free too. Anyway the only quandary I’m left with is:

How can I present all this information in a way which is both pleasing to the casual observer and useful for those that are interested in the same things as I?

With this I give you the remit for my soon to be released website. The premise follows from a post about tags that I wrote a few weeks back. I was interested in what tags said about me as a person as nearly all the services I subscribe to have tag APIs (or at least a third party generator). These tags contain information about me, my events, my interests, my travel, my photos and most importantly my friends.

Taking these desparate sources and presenting a weighted tag-mash (weighted by the amount I use a service) I intend to produce a superset tag-mash which, when clicked, follows though to a list of referenced content carrying that tag for each of the services I use. This will obvsiouly be accompanied with a per service linkage on the left (a’ la Phil Hawksworth).

I think this could either be a complete mess or an interesting experiment in digital self-discovery.

You decide.

Twitter, it's the future

Right! I’m simply losing too much of my life to explaining to my friends why they dont need facebook any longer and why they should move to Twitter, Dopplr and Flickr as a replacement instead. So I’m writing it down.

The one thing I hate about Facebook, particularly of late, is that right now

Facebook is no longer working for you, you’re working for Facebook

There are many reasons for why this is true, some more technical than others, but I’ll keep it simple. If Facebook is purely to keep in contact and up to date on your friends, colleagues, lovers etc. then why is it so inaccessible, and why spend so much time in front of it? Particularly when you can use another medium and maintain it for free? So I give you Twitter, Dopplr and Flickr.

Twitter

Twitter is an increasing popular ‘micro-blogging’ service similar to status updates on Facebook. In it’s purest form you should always answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ however there are mechanisms for sending public (by prefixing an @ symbol) or private (by prefixing a D) message to someone. You can do this via the web, a desktop application, a mobile application or a text message. You can also upload pictures via twitpic. So far far we have the following services:

• Status updates
• Public replies
• Private replies
• Posting images (with comments)

Flickr

Fortunately Flickr doesn’t really require an introduction. It’s one of the most famous ‘web 2.0′ services for uploading, sharing and commenting on peoples photos and videos. So here we add:

• Uploading high resolution photos
• Uploading videos
• Commenting on content

Dopplr

Dopplr may require an introduction. Dopplr is designed for frequent travelers or friends of frequent travelers to schedule, log and keep up with people’s whereabouts. You register your home address and any future travel plans. In return Dopplr will tell you if any of your friends will be in the area and some local sights and services to visit. Dopplr is available on the Web, as a mobile internet application and, best of all, can be bound to and updated via twitter using the Dopplr bot with a phrase akin to ‘@Dopplr I’ll be in Birmingham from April 5th for 3 nights’ (you can also privately message). So now we’ve added the following services:

• Location awareness
• Travel scheduling
• Travel planning

Now ‘what about Facebook’ I hear you cry. The best part is that all of these things can be automatically linked via the bewilderingly large number of applications available in Facebook. Link them in and all your friends know exactly where you are, what you’re doing and (via Flickr) how many beers you’ve had.

So get out there, sign up and Fuck Facebook (yes, I did start that Facebook group).

You’ll thank me in the long run.