Everyone likes hearing their own voice. But not everyone has something important to say. In fact, it is highly unlikely that everything anyone says is overly compelling. For this reason, I believe that excessive Twittering is a form of ego-blogging.
Has Twitter loyalty suffered from all the recent outages? Or does the fact that the community continues to thrive indicate that loyalty is stronger than ever? So-called Twitter competitors, such as Pownce and Jaiku, continue to grow as well, but we have yet to see a mass exodus from Twitter despite its poor service record.
What exactly is Twitter? It’s universally recognized as a “micro-blogging platform”, but its functionality extends beyond that. Twitter’s versatility is what makes it so useful and effective. It is also a major driver behind the success of the company. Serendipitously, Twitter has uncovered an unknown niche nestled between instant messaging and e-mail.
According to Blognation UK, an unofficial Facebook IM app will be going into BETA this Friday. Emphasis is being placed on the fact that no registration, installation, or download is needed to use the chat program. All Facebook users can instantly access the system. Although this application (Friendvox) is not a company-owned property, it will likely provide any and all functionality that an in-house system would. In other words, this app may be a prime takeover target for Facebook if they aren’t already developing a client of their own.
To be honest, I think we all knew that it was only a matter of time before a Facebook IM client came to fruition. I guess that time is now. Whether it provides any level of competition against MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and/or Google Talk is yet to be determined.
Here are some screenshots of the new IM (courtesy of Blognation UK):
I wasn’t overly impressed by the chat interface - I thought it was rather ugly when compared to the rest of Facebook. The traditional clean look has been replaced by a web 1.0 feel. Then again though, the system was not created by Facebook itself.
It will be interested to see what the company’s next step is in the space. It will also be interested to see what other applications and spaces the company plans to enter in the coming months. If I were any kind of social app, I’d be scared to death if there was a chance Facebook might enter my realm. These companies will need to erect barriers quickly if they planning on surviving the initial Facebook tsunami.
Digg is at it again. At midnight, they launched a whole new set of social features. The ultimate goal is to increase user participation and engagement. Why? According to Digg, only 15% - 20% of site visitors are registered users. In other words, the company is banking that a ’social network’ strategy will encourage participation.
So, what features have been added? Well, users can now:
Digg also outlined plans for the near future. The two major features mentioned included a dedicated image section, as well as a recommendation engine. The latter would suggest stories to read or potential Digg friends, based on user behaviour.
I look forward to seeing these new features in action. An image section has been a long time in the coming, and a recommendation engine would up the ‘cool’ factor (assuming it works well).
What’s eerie (to me) about these newest features is how closely they mimick those of Pownce - Kevin Rose’s other project. Sharing links with specific friends? Discussions threads? An extended profile? Privacy control? All of these features scream Pownce. Is this so-called Twitter competitor so revolutionary that Rose feels Digg needs to copy it? I have yet to make a decision on that. Who knows… if Pownce adds news submissions, they might as well amalgamate the two.
Here is a screenshot of the new Digg features, courtesy of BusinessWeek: Digg screenshot of social features. Also see Paris Lemon for added coverage.
Aidan Henry is an Internet strategy consultant, designer, and web entrepreneur.
aidanhenry (@) hotmail.com
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