Yahoo backs OpenID

OK this isn’t ‘new’ news, being as it was announced last week, but I was jetlagged then, OK??! This is hugely important in the move for portability of data across different networks. OpenID is an open source initiative aimed at creating one online identity that can operate across multiple social networks. It acknowledges that there is an ecology of different networks that people like to belong to, and we’re getting fed up maintaining different profiles and logins. Now that Yahoo have moved this way, I’ll be able to log into Flickr, WordPress and other sites using the same ID…

Exhaust data

This is an interesting and thought-provoking piece on the nature of the communication that flows between people using so-called ‘micro-blogging’ tools. Interesting because of the number of times I’ve heard people criticise the kind of “banal, pointless chatter” that goes on through channels like Twitter or Facebook. Am I really interested in the minutiae of my friends and colleagues’ lives?  

Google OpenSocial

Google have just announced the release of OpenSocial – an attempt to try and build commonality of API between social networks. It allows developers to access three sets of core information: profile data, friend information, and activities happening within a network…and it looks like they’ve persuaded some pretty high profile networks to participate. Facebook is notable by its absence, however…and this move should provide developers the means to build applications once for multiple platforms…

Update: MySpace join the party.

VIA: Techcrunch

A social network for your home

Interesting piece at the Guardian on the future of everybody’s favourite mobile time-destroyer – the Blackberry.

For me, it’s the bit about becoming a social network for families that’s really interesting – despite not being one of the Crackberry Crew (and having been many times at the receiving end of the ADO-like condition brought on by its beep-vibration…”Oh, sorry. What were you saying….?”) – you can see how this kind of tech could bring people closer together…and as boundaries of family get fuzzier, extend into our social neighbourhoods too.

Shared diaries though. Hmmm, I once bought into this idea, and suggested it to someone close to me who said “Why would I want to see what you’re up to?”. An interesting point. And these days, do people really plan out their time that much in advance, or rely on ad hoc gatherings facilitated by text message?

Facebook and ageism

So Mark Zuckerberg, the 22 year old founder of Facebook, believes that ‘young people are smarter‘ – apparently because they have simpler lives (and might not own a car). Hmmm, this seems like either a completely moronic thing to say or it’s been ripped out of context.

Facebook – despite being built outwards from college networks in the States – recently opened up its doors to non-collegiate groups such as workplaces, and as a consequence is going to have to deal with mixed ages coming together and interacting in the same social space. Surely this is something that is going to prove difficult? It certainly doesn’t mirror most offline behaviour – at least in the West – where different age groups tend to have different needs socially?

1%er

An interesting perspective on a phrase that we’ve been throwing around a lot recently: the “one percenter” actually used to represent biker counter culture – or at least, the element perceived to eschew society’s norms. Live fast, die young! Or, at least – start a new thread!

I learned a new word today

…and the word is ‘autopoeitic‘.

It means:

the dynamics of a non-equilibrium system; that is, organized states (sometimes also called dissipative structures) that remain stable for long periods of time despite matter and energy continually flowing through them. Actually, this flow is what maintains the organization of the open system.

…and the reason I’m interested in this right now is because we’re always thinking hard about networks and community at LBi – and this, to me, highlights the complexity of trying to define a social system with all the nuance and semantics involved – around a client’s problems or brand.

MySpace censorship

Big companies that uphold traditional media standards are bound to
clash with Internet grassroots culture. Despite MySpace’s apparent
oblivion to Friendster’s demise, in part due to the very freedom that
MySpace offered, it hasn’t lost momentum yet. For the same reason that
the majority of Americans still shop at Wal-Mart, we still turn a blind
eye and a deaf ear to disapproving rhetoric about MySpace.

MoveOn.org are ramping up a campaign to battle censorship on MySpace…I had no idea that MySpace operate any such policies…

Via: Mashable

Web CV: ex.plode.us

Ex.plode.us – a new social search tool – provides the ability to find other people by name or by interest. A quick search for me, and my friends displays a fairly reduced list, but I guess we should expect the search to become more ubiquitous; I wonder how it’s going to deal with my different identities across a range of social networks? If it can, then this might be the first step to creating a tool that aggregates all my information from all the online social spaces that I inhabit – something that I’d predict will become increasingly useful for tracking multiple sets of data and communication…

More importantly, when is the trend for breaking up titles with full stops gonna end? It’s driving me and my spell checker nuts.

LastFM and The Filter

A couple of music-related social web things to digest today, culled from Mashable:

Firstly, Last.FM are now starting to push a video recommendation service that will push out content from their network of content providers. I’m thinking this won’t necessarily fly as easily as the music proposition – it’ll ask too much of the user? LastFM worked really well for me due to their iTunes plugin which moves my music consumption history online with no real effort for me…not sure if this translates as well…

Next up, The Filter. Originally set up as a auto-music-playlist generator based on ‘seed’ tracks that the user specifies, they’re now folding in a social aspect…which makes sense. It’s mobile, too…

I’m liking the idea of this a lot (kind of an auto-DJ for your moods or context) – how comes I didn’t hear about it sooner!!?