You should visit Cnet’s Webware 100 for 2008 and vote for your top websites for 2008. My predictions were…predictable, and I chose sites like Pownce, Twitter, Last.FM, EMusic, Wordpress, Google Adwords and others. I will release a full list after the polls are closed, not to inadvertently change the outcome with my influence.
That was said in a self-depricating, wry tone. 
Check it out - Webware is a great site.
I was trying to email a file to a co-worker the other day, but email was wonky and the file wouldn’t send.
So what did I do? I sent it via Pownce.
The funny thing is that the aformentioned co-worker and I are connected via Pownce, Twitter, last.fm, Facebook, LinkedIn and Kluster. As he put it, “We have absolutely no excuse for being unable to contact each other.”
He’s right. Which brings up the question - are we TOO connected? Is there such thing as social media overload? I mean, surely some of us prefer Facebook over MySpace and Twitter all day long but forget about Pownce and approve connections on LinkedIn once every two months when we remember to do it… Nonetheless, in this hyper-connected world of new media, are there boundaries that we should set for ourselves that prevent others from having 24/7 access to our favorite songs, newest creative endeavors and an update on whether or not we’re single, in a relationship or if “it’s complicated”?
Tell us what you think.
Everyone must love Twitter. Twitter is a Web 2.0/Social Media institution. Twitter is like the Saturday Night Live of social networking - it has it’s low seasons, but somehow it always manages to find relevance again.
For the record, I love Twitter. I loved it when I had a Blackberry because it was the only fun thing I could do on my Blackberry. I love it now, because I have a Twitter widget on my Netvibes homepage and can twit whenever I’m working without feeling terrible about it. Why is Twitter so great you ask?
Really? Have you tried it? Really??
Twitter is like haiku blogging. You get limited words/characters and it’s more about - “what are you doing RIGHT NOW” - than really telling a story. The beauty of Twitter kicks in only after weeks of monitoring your friends twits and realizing that despite your reading their blog or knowing them from work, Twitter has actually given you better insight than anything else about who this person really is (or thinks they are.)
It’s brilliant. It’s stream of consciousness blogging, without the space for embellishment.
Of all the social media ideas to come since Facebook, Twitter will be the one that lasts and that will join the list of Facebook, Myspace, and blogging as social media concepts that business try to conquer (or at least adopt.)
Follow me on Twitter. From time to time, I actually twit in haiku.
Pownce is great. Of all the social networks I’ve joined, it’s the one I find most useful. And while I’ve never analyzed this, it may be Pownce’s usefulness that makes me have less fun using it. Which I realize is completely lame and has nothing to do with Pownce and everything to do with my level of maturity, or lack thereof. But hear me out.
Pownce allows microblogging and “friending” in a similar fashion to Twitter - well really, it’s like Tumblr COMBINED with Twitter - and throw in file sharing. I love that when I add friends to Pownce I can swap songs and prove my continued prowess in selecting GREAT upcoming bands that no one knows about yet except people who are PAID to know about great obscure bands. I can also hook up with my freelance design friends and share files.
Of course, I could also email them - but I like how I can post something to Pownce and not get lost in email with pictures of cute dogs laying on couches they’ve eaten or some dude who has impaled himself on a wrought-iron fence. It’s like file sharing, microblogging, and escapism. It’s great and super useful and I use it every day.
It’s just slightly less fun than Twitter. And that’s ok.
We’re a collective of writers, designers, artists, geeks and myriad other “labels”. Happy Recess is our online magazine to chronicle what interests us. Check back frequently for updates on topics such as:
We look forward to your comments, and join us on Twitter, Facebook, Pownce, Last.fm, Kluster, Behance, and Myspace. And whatever other freaking social network we’re into this week!
