Facebook censorship

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I followed a link posted on a friends wall on Facebook today and was greeted with ...

" Sorry - The link you are trying to visit has been reported as abusive by Facebook users. "

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GFC Donate gadget

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Google has a "Donate gadget" in the pipeline for friend connect.

It not ready for prime time yet, I've played around with it and currently it isn't functional when you set up the parameters, e.g. an email for Paypal payment.

It looks like it will support Paypal and Google Checkout which are the logical big gun choices for "micro payments", but could offer more options in the future.

I look forward to seeing this one finished and added to the directory, and wonder whether this concept will be altered in a way where it could be used as a full payment system. .... Change the button to buy, .... be able to see which of your friends have bought something, .... view their comments on the product .... Could be interesting don't you think?

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In the post

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This arrived in the post this morning for my "real world self".I got it as a thank you from one of the GFC deveolopment team for tracking down a bug and providing feedback.

The back is cool in a geek way, especially as I had already used it here on the blog.

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Not Twitter : But ..

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Tenkly asked what people are planning on using the conversation gadget for? ... got me thinking ....

I'm quite a late adopter of Twitter, because it didn't fit my "life model" that well: I'm not reliant on mobile phones (I own one bog standard mobile), I send virtually no SMS's.

But: I've probably been "aware" of Twitter longer than most.
I had a beta account for Odeo (since been sold and didn't move in the direction it was headed). I remember distinctly the first day Twitter Then a side project) appeared as a link from Odeo.

Evan Williams makes it clear that they had no idea that Twitter would become what it ha;, so let's be a little free with our thinking about the "global conversation model".

Imagine:

1. You build a very simple app that works like the conversation page. All it does is have a text box for the "topic", takes the typed value and builds, with ajax, a conversation gadget iframe on the same page.
2. Tweek 1: Make the app know who you are (using OpenSocial).
3. Tweek 2: View "saved conversations". These aren't YOUR conversations, they'd just be topics which you could jump to.
   
4. Tweek 3: Show "conversation volume" next to your saved conversations. Done through an API "listener" on the GFC events endpoint.
   
5. Tweek 4: Allow "noise reduction" view filtering through all friends, individual friends, or "my comments" (with replies).
   
6. Tweek 5: A "friends conversations" panel, for new conversation discovery.

There are more tweeks that spring to mind, but to keep things simple we'll stop there and think about where we are by tweek 5.

It's NOT Twitter: it is more topic or "conversation" based than twitter.

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Advertising social media parody video

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This will appeal more if you weren't born yesterday

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Friend Connect and Gmail myths

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There is a "run away train" myth going round which claims as fact:

"when when you become mutual friends through a Google Friend Connect widget, you get each others GMail address in your contacts...."

This is NOT true!

Am I wrong about this? Prove it please!!
(I would love to be wrong)

Image credit: otogeo

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Conversations Element [web elements]

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"Conversations element", along with the other web elements lanuched by Google recently.


Being able to host, join in and quickly respond to a "conversation" on a set topic is an interesting idea, but it is yet to be seen whether these "themed conversations" can stand up to the ignorance of the common user.
Because this site is a playground for GFC I've jumped on board the GFC conversation, which will, over time, show if any sense can come out of a "global conversation" or whether it just ends up being drivel.

The REAL reason behind the "conversations" element specifically is, I suspect because of the inability of the average "site owner" to comprehend, and implement new technology.

Google's problem, is that they are too bright and it was easy for them to miss that:

• Most "site owners" have little or NO technical understanding.

This new approach, helping the technically challenged "friendconnectifying" thier site only one line of code may help, but there is a trade off in that people are asked to understand the "nature" of the conversation, e.g. does this comment box:

1. Apply to the page I'm viewing?
2. The site I'm viewing?
3. A topic?
4. etc etc

During the course of my experience with Friend Connect I'm always amazed by people's inability to understand something as simple as replying to a comment. Use the "reply" link you moron! ...is often hissed through clenched teeth.

The democratic moderation, (e.g. there is no direct moderation, but comments are automatically removed based on the numbers of people who "flag" a comment, presumably based against the numbers of people who view the comments), is an interesting difference, which may appeal to lazy site owners too.

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