Bebo tag

I’ve used the copied “status” or “What are you doing?” features on Facebook and Bebo. They are pretty addictive. I’ve been thinking about the micro-blogging thing and how to apply it on my website, or do something with it.

Bebo’s implementation of micro-blogging is poor. You write in the thing, it gets put on all your friends changes pages and on your profile. That’s it. There is no web feed, no way for people to follow your updates, no way for you to see previous micro-posts. What’s the point?

Facebook’s is better, though does go a bit shorter than Twitters. You can get the RSS, people can get updates (I get mine via the Boost extension for Firefox which pops up a little box whenever one of my friends has updated). I can’t update it from anywhere though.

Twitter is basically just like those but more “connected” so to speak. I can post “tweets” by using the website, an extension in Firefox, a software program, a txt message from my cellphone, a program for my cellphone… the whole shebang. Then, you can subscribe to them, or follow them, and get updates via email or txt message.

I’m not going to be one of those that will send out what I’m eating for dinner (last night I had cottage pie) or send random updates (I walked to work from class). In fact, I’m completely unsure what I’ll do with it.

I can integrate it with Daniels.net.nz, have my Twitter account a “personal” one for close friends and create a special version for my website, or what I should post on it. I just don’t know.

But, what I do know, is that whenever I see the Twitter entry in my phonebook on my cell, it gives me the urge to say what I’m doing.

• My Twitter Tweets

Recently I joined Facebook. Where has it been all my social-networking life? It has everything that Bebo and MySpace has, does that better and adds a lot more. And the new applications framework makes the lack of profile “skinning” worth it.

Take The Wall for instance. This is similar to Bebo’s and MySpace’s comments section, where you post a public comment on a friends profile. People tend to use this for chats and discussions instead of the private messaging function. What does the Wall on Facebook do differently? A thing called Wall-to-Wall – it simply takes the comments you made on your friends wall and all the comments your friend made on your wall, and puts them in a nice, simple chronological list so you can see just how the conversation turned. You can also use this to see what the latest comment left by your friends friend meant.

Next, I hate the fact that Bebo and MySpace have separate blogs and don’t let me use another blogging service if I so happen to use a different one. Facebook calls these Notes, and has a Note importing tool that can take them from your Atom feed whenever you update. There is a WordPress plugin available that can take comments from these Notes and put them in their respective post in your blog.

Then there is the application system – now I can have my Del.icio.us links, my Flickr photos and YouTube videos all on the one page, meaning my friends don’t have to take timeout to click through them all (or hack at malformed URLs).

If any of my friends are reading this (there must be at least one or two of you that do), join Facebook. Especially you, Daniel (not me - you know who you are).