In the US, 25% of the web pages viewed are within Facebook. (That’s just so beyond sad.) This may partially explain why, when I told Facebook people I was leaving the site because I thought it was an unscrupulous and untrustworhy company (and asked them to connect with me on LinkedIn till something better came along), one of them, an educated woman, said “I am not sure what facebook is doing that you are troubled by, but do share!” and another one, who considers herself a web entrepreneur, just asked “Why are you leaving facebook?”
Upon reflection, I was surprised that I was surprised that people had no idea that Facebook has, from Day One, been subject to scrutiny and criticism for its morally questionable actions, blatant fuck-ups and lack of respect for users and their personal information. Of course (lightbulb)! Ordinary people don’t read about the Internet, they just jump right in and use it. And Facebook banks on that kind of lemming-ness.
Read the entire post on frogblog.
Filed under: apps, social media, web life, web trends
My latest article on WebWorkerDaily is about how quick and painless it is to use Posterous to share the treasures you find on the Web across your many online social apps. Using the Posterous bookmarklet, you can send goodies to all your social apps at once, or pick and choose where you want things to go in literally a minute or two.
But although Posterous makes it easy for you to spread your Internet finds around, this doesn’t appear to be its primary goal. I have reason to believe that the people behind the app don’t want you to use it solely as a personal “cloud,” even though that’s how I suggest it be used in my article. The fact that all the content you send to your various social sites also appears on a Posterous site tells me that Posterous wants to be a blog unto itself and a stand-alone element of your online presence. Plenty of people do use it that way.
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Filed under: apps, social media, web trends , blogging, tools
January 28, 2010 • 8:10 pm
There is a common theme to the last two posts I wrote for Web Worker Daily (which has a spiffy new design, BTW, check it out). One was about how to use a great little app called Tweepi to manage all your followers and followees on Twitter, and the other was about what to do when you are in over your head on a project. I seem to write about managing chaos a lot. Hmmm… I am feeling very fatigued.
Speaking of fatigue, I saw the expression “social media fatigue” for the first time in a while the other day, just a few days after announcing to my husband “I’m bored with the Internet and Twitter right now.” Maybe that’s what I’ve got.
And of course, with what’s happened in Haiti, the expression “compassion fatigue” is on my mind, especially since I can’t seem to inspire even 188 Francophilia members to donate five bucks each to reach my $1,000 donation goal for earthquake relief. Inspiring is hard work. It’s making me tired. They must be fatigued too…
Filed under: apps, social media, web life , Francophilia, tools, words
December 18, 2009 • 10:28 am
Of all the terms I’ve heard to describe people who can work anywhere there’s wi-fi, my favorite is nomadic workers. There’s something exciting and mysterious and all Lawrence of Arabia about it.
De tous les appellations que j’ai entendues pour parler des personnes qui travaillent partout où il y a du wi-fi, ma préférée est la nomade attitude. Il y a quelque chose de Lawrence d’Arabie dans cette expression-là, du mystère, de l’intrigue.
London-based nomads now have WorkSnug, a sexy, brand-new augmented reality app for the iPhone that points them directly to work-friendly spaces with wi-fi in their vicinity.
Les londoniens qui ont la nomade attitude ont accès à WorkSnug, une application iPhone en réalité augmentée qui leur indique les espaces conviviaux avec un accès wi-fi à proximité.
Now they’re working on the Paris version of WorkSnug, and I get to do the research.
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Filed under: apps, web life , startuppity, tools
November 7, 2009 • 7:20 pm
I rarely try out a new site without being highly conscious of my own user experience. That’s what happens when you’ve been in startup Lala Land for a few years, write for a tech blog, and are married to a UI design expert.
Read my post Online seduction on frogblog, about being a conscious user (but mostly about how I was seduced by Squiz, and their anti-business cards).
Filed under: apps, web life , Francophilia, fun, grrls, IRL, personal branding, toys
It started with Springwise, which I subscribe to to see what’s hot out of the entrepreneurial oven. It’s always a refreshing read because it’s not only – or even mostly – about Internet startups and the latest Twitter app. You’d be amazed at how many great ideas and insights you can get reading about non-Web innovation…
Springwise occasionally covers Web startups that are truly special, and YourTour.com is one of them.
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Filed under: apps , Francophilia, startuppity, tools, toys
Filed under: apps, web life , Doris
Google is messing with my reality and that is simply unacceptable. A while back I noticed that, more and more often, my searches were returning a lot of junk that was unrelated to what I was looking for. I have concluded that Google thinks I’m an infant. Or a moron.
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Filed under: apps, language, translation, web life , tools
I would have thought it impossible to make an animated puppy dog that was not adorable if I weren’t a Windows user. I’m referring to the cartoon dog that’s supposed to keep you entertained while you search your hard drive using Windows Explorer… Anyway, I looked at that not-cute puppy, and suffered the agonizingly slow and inadequate Explorer search function for way too long. Don’t even get me started on searching in Outlook… If you’re still watching the puppy, I can help. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: apps , tips, tools
Filed under: apps, social media, tech events, web life, web trends , Francophilia, netiquette, online identity, personal branding, startuppity, tips
February 23, 2009 • 7:29 am
January 29, 2009 • 1:10 pm
The moment I met Doris, a new, and free, task management/GTD Web app, she was hired. I don’t know how I survived without her for as long as I did. Now all my cerebral flotsam and jetsam has its own convenient and functional storage unit. Read more of what I had to say about Doris on Web Worker Daily and Salon.com. Don’t wait! Get a Doris account. You’ll also find her in the iTunes store. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: apps , Doris, tools
