Social Aggregators: FriendFeed vs. Socialthing!
When I explain FriendFeed and Socialthing! to my non-social media friends, they think the general idea is pretty cool. A place where you can aggregate the updates from your favorite social communities? Very nice. Borat style.
I recently got a Socialthing! invite from modern journalist and friend Brad King and signed up for FriendFeed at the same time. I’ve been using these two services side by side to see what I think and get a flavor for what the buzz is about. Although the case can be made that each service is bringing users a unique solution, so far I’ve been using them the same way.
Initial feelings: I like the Socialthing! UI much better than the look and feel of FriendFeed. The Lifestream thing is working for me. However, I have a lot more social networks aggregating in FriendFeed, making it much fuller as a one-stop shop for checking in on what my friends are up to. I don’t think I’d choose one over the other at this point. The thing is, I’m not sure that I even like mixing up all my networks in one place, even though social aggregators are so hot right now.
There’s something familiar and comfortable about going to each distinct site to find that separate content. I know what to expect from each different network and they’ve all become like favorite hangout spots for me. These social communities are not just about contributing and absorbing the content my friends are creating, but about the experience of going to a comfy, cozy place I’ve come to enjoy.
Do you find tools like FriendFeed and Socialthing! to be useful for you? How do you use these services?
Apps, Social Networks, Tech | Comments (4)Students + Cameras + Community = Press Pass TV
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Boston Public School teacher Gabriel Mugar, who is the founder of Press Pass TV, a group started in 2004 to work with local middle and high school students on the production of civic-minded video journalism.
The idea behind PPTV is to promote positive community identity and engagement in both the viewers and the student producers. These local kids are using their talents to communicate with the world around them in new and positive ways. I think Gabriel’s group is inspiring and very much in line with my view of creating a stronger, brighter, fuller future in the communities we find around us.
So, how did PPTV start?
I started volunteering in an after school program in Roxbury in 2004, helping out with a fledgling video production program. During this time I got to know the students and learned about the many challenges in their lives. One of the things that bothered me more than anything was that, on top of these daily challenges, the local news and entertainment media did not provide much hope or inspiration to overcome these challenges. As I got more involved with the community, it became very clear that the news media was overlooking all of the individuals, initiatives and organizations doing incredible things here. I thought that it would be nice to inject some positive content into the local news spectrum, something that made people feel better about the community they live in.
Let’s talk about creating and building futures. What are your hopes and goals for the students involved with PPTV?
My hope is that the students become more aware of all of the great things going on in their community and hopefully inspire their viewers to get involved in civic activities. On a more practical level, the goal of the program is to empower students with the skills needed to produce their own video news stories. Although the program is currently only within Boston, my goal is to have this expand to a nationwide network (or create a network between existing groups across the country so that they are producing similar content). The hope is that so much positive content is produced that it counteracts the stifling effects of negative reporting on local communities.
How are your students using their involvement in the program to further their own futures?
One student is going to Emerson College, and others would like to attend college for communications. Some are doing two years at community college with hopes of transferring to a solid four year communications program. One success story that comes to mind is that one of my students became so proficient in Final Cut Pro that he taught college students and a new hire at a local network station how to use the program. It’s been four years now–I’ve worked with more than 100 students, produced more than 40 stories and am about to release the fourth 30-minute show.
I know the program thrives on volunteer support, so how can my readers become involved?
If your local readers have basic video journalism production skills (and I mean basic, i.e. know how to frame a shot), they could volunteer to produce a news segment with a few students. Equipment is provided, along with support from myself. Your readers can also help out by letting others know about the program and the volunteer opportunities, which they can learn more about on our Team Advisor page.
If you’re inspired by Gabriel and his Press Pass TV initiative, I encourage you to check out ways to become involved, as well as the content the students have been creating. I am looking forward to seeing these students develop the program and use new media tools to inspire and communicate with their viewers. It’s great to see kids building on interests and talents to bring something new to the table when it comes to media, news and content creation.
Buzzing Bees, Helping People, Video | Comments (4)PicLens is Enhancing My Photo Viewing Experience
Social media evangelist and friend Bryan Person (formerly known as Bryper) recently turned me on to the Web browser add-on PicLens. I’m generally a fan of toolbars, buttons and widgets that make things flashier and/or easier to use, so I checked it out. As someone who takes a lot of pictures and finds herself turning up in a lot of pictures on the Web, I was curious to see what this app could do. And I agree with earlier reviews–it’s pretty special.
PicLens puts a little “play” button on images you find within certain Web sites, like Google Images, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, etc. When you click the little button, it transports your browser to this alternate universe where photos are much more amazing than they are with the average, everyday browser. Note: if a photo is small (think thumbnail size), the button will take up most of the picture. If you don’t want to PicLens it, make sure you click on the corner or edge of the photo so it doesn’t enable the PicLens app.
So, say you clicked on a friend’s profile photo within Facebook. PicLens now takes you to what they call a “3D Wall” of photos related to the one you clicked–in this case, your friend’s other photos in the album. From there, you can zip around, look at things up close, play a slideshow, search for keywords and generally have a very rich photo viewing experience.
Now excuse me while I go PicLens it up with the 1,336 photos currently filling the BS08 Flickr group.
Apps, Honey, Tech | Comments (3)The Night Geoff Livingston Partially Took Off His Shirt
You’d think that a girl who just graduated from college would easily be able to out-party a bunch of seasoned marketing pros, right? Not so, my friends, not so.
Blogger Social 08 was a huge success. I only experienced the swanky Saturday night party, but as you can see from the hundreds of pictures, compiled HERE in the Blogger Social 08 Flickr Group, everyone had a great time all weekend long.
Between meeting new people, jagerbombs, the Beast, Joseph Jaffe’s nametag becoming even more famous than he is (if you can believe that), a moving moment when crayon and My ooVoo Day presented a check to The Frozen Pea Fund, fabulousness, devil horns, peace signs, prom pictures, Geoff Livingston showing off his “Chinatown Gang” tattoo and all the moments in between, the weekend was wonderful for all who had the good fortune of attending.
It was so nice to shake hands with and hug some of the people I’ve been getting to know online. All the “preunions” were great. Steve Woodruff wrote a great post today with his takeaway thoughts from the weekend. I agree with him–events like these seem to stir and inspire us, shining light on what we as a group can do with our media, networks and technology in the future. Steve sums it up:
The best thing we can do is what we’ve been doing all along – creatively collaborate, care for those in need, welcome newcomers, share ideas, and enjoy each other’s company. The “message” of new/social/relationship-driven media will spread of its own, because we now have the tools to billboard ourselves, our ideas, our collaborations – on an open stage.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success. I was honored to be in your presence and look forward to the next time we can all socialize in person again.
Photo credits: Matt Dickman
Buzzing Bees, Events, Social Media | Comments (7)Move Over, Paris.
This weekend, a group of socialites will take over New York City.
Blogger Social is this weekend! I feel like it’s the week before a high school prom. I’m excited to meet new people and see everyone all dressed up on Saturday. I’m looking forward to good conversation, lots of laughs and maybe even some dancing.
Be watching for tweets and photos of the festivities from all the 80+ attendees this weekend as we put Paris to shame.
Funny side note: one of my non-social media friends called me the other day to catch up, and mentioned she had seen my post about the Blogstring Tweetup and had followed the link to Blogger Social. I can’t adequately capture the tone of her voice when she said, “This might sound bad, but… aren’t bloggers supposed to be like, nerdy and unattractive? Why do all your blog friends actually look good?” I spent a few minutes laughing hysterically and just had to share that comment.
