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Social Media
Drag to Share WP Plugin
Jan 28th
Installed the WordPress plugin Drag To Share. Allows you to drag images on this page and it will give the option to share the page by dropping it onto several social network icons. If you’ve been to Mashable, you’ve probably seen this. What do you think?
More about the plugin is available: http://www.adrian-apan.com/blog/wordpress-plugin-drag-to-share
Mother’s Acting Up
Nov 29th
I love those random, unplanned experiences that often land in our laps. A few weeks ago I ran into a faculty member and her friend at a local breakfast joint… in the midst of our quick conversation we ended up (as so often happens in my life) talking about social media and Twitter. This initial conversation led to a follow up breakfast meeting with several very cool folks from the organization Mother’s Acting Up (MAU). We had a really great breakfast talking and strategizing about Twitter… what I like to think of as “understanding social media and how not to use it for advertising.” It was really fun and rewarding to spend time with such genuine people who are interested in engaging with social media in the right way. They had lots of cool ideas that they’re beginning to put into action. I’m looking forward to seeing how their efforts grow and develop, I hope the social media seeds we planted bear lots of fruit.
Mother’s Acting Up is a great group doing important and meaningful work. Check out their site for more info and ways you can get involved.
http://www.mothersactingup.org/
And on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mothersactingup
Wave has landed
Oct 14th
I was finally hit by one of the GWave roll outs, so I’m on board. Now I just have to find some other Wavers to ride with…
Posted via email from MarkGammon
Ecosystem Change
Oct 11th
One of the many projects I’m engaged with right now is working with a group of fellow innovators who are exploring collaborative change processes in large ecosystems (eg. education and healthcare). Spearheaded by @sourcePOV and a core group of interested thought leaders, the group is meeting regularly for discussions (fairly high level right now) about the evolution of complex systems and implementing change within these systems. Underpinning these discussions are the emerging attributes and value afforded by social media. As these social platforms continue to evolve (real-time hi-definition video conferencing and 3-d virtual collaborative spaces, for example), they are enabling new spaces and forms of information sharing and public collaboration. How might rapidly developing social media tools drive new opportunities for complex social change by engaging stakeholders, subject matter experts, and constituents in new ways and at differing times across the change process? How might early stage, on-the-ground, collaborative, and ongoing input from diverse stakeholders in an ecosystem open new opportunities for problem solving and system evolution? These are some of the underlying ideas and questions that we’re working with. Interested? While high-level at the moment, the goal is to move these ideas into action including small pilots within particular complex systems. I’d especially be interested in hearing from folks who might want to join an Edu specific team.
Check out these other spaces for more information and feel free to get in touch if you’d like to discuss and/or contribute.
http://sourcepov.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/eco-framework-1/
http://sourcepov.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/ecopm4/
http://smchat.ning.com/group/ecosys
Posted via email from MarkGammon
Twitter Reputation Systems…
Oct 4th
“We are working on reputation systems … You may not know someone is trustworthy, but other people who are trustworthy trust them.”One of the challenges, he said, is the balance between anonymity — anyone can create a twitter account — and reliability. He noted that anonymity was key to the Iranians posting images and news of the government crackdown.
“Anonymity was a key thing for the people there … How do you have anonymmity and trust … that is a key thing,” he said.
via cbsnews.com
These quotes from Evan Williams in this CBS News story are very intriguing. I’m interested in these “reputation systems” that Twitter is developing, how they will be implemented, and their effectiveness. What kind of systems can you think of that would address the complex intersections of anonymity and trust/credibility in an ecosystem like Twitter? Is this a real need and how will the Twitterverse respond to the implementation of some sort of reputation system?
Posted via web from markgammon
Colleges and Social Media #fail
Sep 30th
Though the article does go into more depth than just the simple headline… Colleges better wake up and stop thinking about social media as something they have to deal with, live with, put up with, survive, etc… that kind of attitude will have them on the losing side of this paradigm shift. As a college, which by it’s very nature tracks in information, if your approach to social media is akin to trying to live with a messy roommate… “I’ll stick it out, survive, and hope things get better,” you are in deep trouble.
Colleges need to start thinking about social media as a paradigm/cultural shift that is redefining what they do and how they do it. This is an opportunity folks!
Colleges learn to live with social media — (via baltimoresun.com)
Sociologists on Twitter
Sep 20th
A TweepML list of sociologists on Twitter
Click here to see the list
Mixero: My Everyday Twitter Client
Jun 12th
When it comes to using technology, I like trying new tools and applications which means I end up bouncing around a lot to see what’s out there, how well it works, and what it has to offer. This is especially true of apps for things like email, calendars, todo, projects, research, presentations, media, browsers (and extensions), and increasingly, for social media. I’m a big Twitterer these days (as that column to the right shows) and I’ve discovered that using a desktop client has really transformed my experience of this platform. I like the way these clients allow for things like group management, URL shortening, saved searches, and increased control over the visual presentation of my Twitter stream. In my bouncing around I’ve used most of the major desktop Twitter clients including: Twhirl, Tweetdeck, Seesmic Desktop, Nambu, and PeopleBrowser. I’ve also looked at apps like Eventbox and AlertThingy (though less closely). In my experience, each of these clients have good things to offer to Twitter users. I’ve used and liked all of them, finding that each had features/functions I liked as well as limitations and frustrations. So I keep bouncing around.
Recently I’ve had the chance to get in on the beta of a new desktop client called Mixero (@mixero). Mixero is built on Adobe AIR and is therefore supported on a variety of platforms. Mixero bills itself as “The new generation Twitter client for people who value their time and are tired of information noise.” In working to achieve this, the folks at Mixero have developed a very slick application that has lots to offer, particularly in its UI.
In my own use I’ve discovered this UI can take a little bit of getting used to. Coming from Tweetdeck/Seesmic/Nambu, I had to adjust from my use of a multi-column full screen view (although Mixero does allow you to create this type of layout) to a more concise but quickly adjustable view based on my ActiveList. It didn’t take long though, for me to see the value of the Mixero UI and how to adjust it to make it work for me. It’s been a few weeks now and I’ve made the switch to Mixero as my everyday Twitter client. I’m still working my way through this application, but I wanted to post a little information about my experience. For now I’ll do that with a quick list of things I like and a few shortcomings/things I’d still like to see. Mixero is not perfect, nor will it be everyone’s cup o’ tea, but I think it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a unique Twitter client. I’m also including the Mixero demo video for more information on features and functions.
Likes
- Easy to create groups for managing contacts, and give the groups relevant icons from Google images
- Create channels to save searches
- Create contexts- allows you to view different groupings based on a context (ie, work or home/personal or professional)
- Active list- see time line for various combinations of groups/channels/people
- Conversations
- Autocomplete usernames
- Preview of URLs and Pics
- Filtering/Negative filters
- API controls
- Various URL shortening options
- Avatar Mode- Love this one. Active list icons float over other apps on the right side. can preview last tweet in each- see the video for a demo
- **Another great feature is that if you create groups/contexts/channels on one computer, they will show up when you log in to the same Twitter account on other computers. Excellent!
Like To See
- Multiple account support
- Application often hangs multiple times when starting up
- A way to use columns so that they attach together rather than have lots of floating spaces (this would give an option for views akin to Tweetdeck/Seesmic/Nambu) ** improved in current updates
- Various UI tweaks and bugs ** regular updates have been great
- Direct message button /option
- More user control over look & feel- colors/templates
- Other social media integration: Facebook, FriendFeed, ident.ica, etc
- Better bulk manage contact groupings
Mixero is still in private invite beta. My sense is that lots of things are in the works and the developers have been responsive to feedback and requests. In fact, they were kind enough to provide me with some beta invite codes. If you’d like to check it out, download the application here and then use the invite code “soctechnologist” to get logged in.
Let me know what you think of it.
