blog.JacobBurke.com

Time for a break from Brightkite

Posted on: April 11, 2009 at 9:00 pm | Posted under: Life, Social Networking
Tags: Brightkite, micro blogging, Twitter | Comments: View Comments

For those of you that follow me online, you know that in the past I have posted a lot from Brightkite.  There are things about the site that had me hooked for quite a while.  But, I am starting to notice that it gets annoying to update my status on Brightkite and then go and check Twitter to see what everyone else is up to.  Colin has also pointed out his frustration with doing this, and is also taking a break from Brightkite.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Brightkite is a stellar network and they have a number of features that I really like.  It is nice to go back through my history of updates to see where I have sent updates from and where my travels have led me for that week, I am also a fan of being able to comment on posts.  But, there are also things that I am still waiting for – a desktop application, more search options, timestamps in my timezone, and less downtime.  Yes, I have noticed a good bit of downtime when I go to the site.

So, I am sticking with Twitter for my updates.  I will still check-in on Brightkite (if the service is up at the particular time), but that is about it.

Cheers!

More Twitter Junk

Posted on: August 6, 2008 at 1:52 am | Posted under: Rants, Twitter
Tags: junk, merchandise, Twitter | Comments: View Comments

Who buys this crap? Get a t-shirt instead!

Ping.fm removes you from the conversation

Posted on: July 9, 2008 at 12:29 pm | Posted under: Social Networking, Technology
Tags: conversations, Ping.fm, Social Networking, Twitter | Comments: View Comments

There is service out called Ping.fm, with this site you can update to multiple services at one time.  While this might be great for people or companies that use social networks to broadcast information, it is not intended for those that want to be in the conversation.

Yes, social media is about conversations.  One of the big reasons I use Twitter is to connect with people and converse with them.  If I was just sending out updates with Ping.fm, I would miss the conversation and not be using the network to my advantage.

So, while there are the fanboys of the service out there, they are missing the reason for the true use of social networks – conversations.

Are you part of a conversation, or is sending updates your only reason for social networks.

Cheers!

Is Twitter Dying?

Posted on: July 4, 2008 at 3:00 am | Posted under: Television, Twitter, Videos
Tags: seesmic, Twitter | Comments: View Comments

Tonight on Seesmic I asked the question ‘Is Twitter Dying?’.  I got a good amount of replies to my question, most of them being positive and people hope that the service stays alive.  My true reason behind asking the question was to see what people really thought.  My hope is that Twitter does continue to fix the scalability and architecture issues and comes back stronger than ever.  I really like the community I have built and would have to have to build another one elsewhere.  I have embeded the video from Seesmic, which also shows the entire conversation (the audio is low in my initial post).

I encourage you to leave me your thoughts on this, I am always looking to know what you have to say!

Cheers!

Twitter’s New Rival???

Posted on: July 2, 2008 at 10:05 pm | Posted under: Technology
Tags: Identi.ca, micro blogging, open source, Twitter | Comments: View Comments

It looks like Twitter may have some new competition in the micro-blogging arena.  I saw some talk on Twitter today about a service called Identi.ca.  What makes this site unique is that it is built on the Open Micro-Blogging platform: Laconica.

With Identi.ca being open source, there are much higher chances for stability and users will be able to contribute by developing out the service.

Dave Winer has touched on the RSS and how bad it looks, and my request is to see an API released and integrated into twhirl.  XMPP is supported and is fully functional.  How is that coming along Twitter?

The system still has a long way to go before it gets the user base of Twitter, but it certainly is a nice alternative.  The FAQ touches on what is in the works for the them, so I hope to see things happen soon.

You can find me on Identi.ca @jacobburke

Cheers!