Social (Bet)work
Social networking is here to stay. There’s money in it. Everybody wants a piece of that pie, uh drippin’ that uh chocolate sow-suh.
But which ones will be hits with lasting appeal? It’s a gamble for all the startups.
There are several new social sites that seem to be picking up steam or showing loads of potential. A site my wife has a considerable obsession with currently is Pinterest.
Essentially, if you like you something on the interwebs (a picture, a poem, a product, a recipe) you can pin it up on one of your virtual Pinterest boards, each with its own category. You’ll find mostly females pinning on Pinterest, but I like to have one to keep track of all the places I’d like to visit and foods I’d like to try.
My boards: http://pinterest.com/ben_r_moon/
I recently received an invite to the social music site (currently in beta) Turntable.fm
Turntable.fm is similar to internet radio sites like Pandora, Last.fm, and Rdio but instead of the algorithms picking the music, real human “DJs” select which song to play. Turntable.fm has rooms designated with a certain genre(s) and music within the rooms generally stays within the confines of the genre. If a DJ strays away from the genre or plays music unfitting to the ears of the rooms inhabitants, that DJ can be booted out of the room (by the room’s admin) or the song can be voted down and skipped. DJ-ing is surprisingly simple and can be quite fun as you observe listeners’ avatar heads bobbing to your selections.
Obviously there’s some tweaking left to do on Turntable, such as being able to hand off admin abilities to another DJ if the original admin leaves the room (currently the room just shuts down when the admin leaves). Also, you can upload your own music into your playlist if you’re DJ-ing or simply choose from Turntable’s extensive list of music, but it would be nice to see that list expand. Same goes for the number of users (there’s hardly ever anyone in the one videogame music room!)
The biggest social network hoopla currently is most assuredly Google+
Google+ has its crosshairs set on none other than the 800lb social network gorilla, Facebook.
Google’s ambition may sound laughable at first, as Facebook has had a clear domination of the social network realm for several years now. But receiving an invite and actually trying Google+ for yourself can turn that doubt into something more like desire.
Google+ is essentially like Facebook used to be, before the vampires, mafias, causes, farms, worthless gifts, and all the other meaningless apps and riffraff currently plaguing the ol’ FB. So, Google+ is like old school Facebook but with new school technologies like the “Hangout” feature which allows friends to video conference in a group all at once. There is even a Youtube sharing feature which allows any member to show a Youtube video to the group, all in the same window on the fly. It’s really slick.
Google+ also has the “Circles” feature which is really it’s main selling point. Divide friends, colleagues, family, etc into various circles and share information/links/photos only with those circles the content is relevant/appropriate for. Facebook has recently scrambled to add a similar feature.
Google+ plus has the potential to replace FB for many a savvy tech user and possibly even average users. However, Twitter is another story. Twitter is something that feels open to the entire world when used, as opposed to the closed in feeling Facebook gives. If Google+ could somehow combine the closed in feeling (your world) of FB with the open (entire world) feeling of Twitter, they could have a Godzilla on their hands. In a good way. Some think Google Buzz may become “Twitter” tech of Google+ but it’s yet to be seen if Google even means to implement something like this.
If you want to try out Google+ you’ll need an invite, and your friendly neighborhood Stealth Geek is givin’ em out like all day! Just PM me your email address and I’ll get one your way.
