Facebook Like Button Alternatives
[ 7 Comments ]Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin in Technology
Saturday, August 14th, 2010I really hope you like this. Because if you don’t, I’m assuming you hate it.
Don’t you love the Like button? No longer must we pause, actually think about something and articulate a response; we can either just “like” it or not. Which sort of raises the question: if you don’t click the “Like” button, doesn’t that mean that you don’t like something? I mean, when life is distilled down to a binary set of responses, and you don’t engage in the simple action of clicking a little “Like” button, shouldn’t your inaction be perceived as an active dislike? I’m going to assume so from now on, and be forced to ask: WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH??? The fact is that although I personally find it frustrating that on Facebook I can only “Like” something or not, or be someone’s “Friend” or not, Facebook will probably always thrive on this kind of binary decision making process. But that won’t stop some of us from pondering the possibilities. Mark Cuban for instance, thinks the Like button would benefit from some color coding. And a BoingBoing.net reader has proposed a “meh” button. So, never wanting to miss a ride on the meme wagon, we’ve come up with a few of our own. See below. And remember: if you don’t “Like” this article, we’ll be assuming you hate it. Read the rest of this entry »
Facebook Politics – I Only Like You So I Can Hate You
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on August 12, 2010 by admin in Politics
Thursday, August 12th, 2010Why I quit voting and started “Liking”. And why I support the Palin/Quayle campaign of 2012.
I’ve discovered a new approach to political action that seems to confuse my friends, but which I’m confident will afford me endless hours of glee, and may lead to me never getting credit for creating the soon-to-be-popular phrase “I Only Like You So I Can Hate You”. I’ve joked a number of times recently that I’m drifting back toward the apolitical stance of my twenties, but somewhere inside, I knew that I was too addicted to America’s political shenanigans to be satisfied with simple satirical observation. So I’m doing the next best thing to voting: “LIKING”. One ironic side effect of the popularity of Facebook and their omnipresent “Like” button is that if, for instance, you find yourself for some ungodly reason looking at Sarah Palin’s Facebook page, you’ll notice you can’t make a comment on any of her surreal ramblings unless you “Like” her. So today, I did. Prompting a concerned friend to immediately comment with the astute observation that – and I quote – “in spite of appearances Ian, she’s not satire“. A short while later, I coincidentally saw Ben Quayle’s campaign video (also below) that’s been getting so much press today, and immediately “liked” him too, so I could misspell his name as I asked in the comments of his campaign page what a “Tax Cartel” was. Then, as I watched the clip again to make sure it wasn’t actually a Saturday Night Live clip like this one or some viral campaign, it hit me. The solution to all of America’s political woes. The Palin/Quayle campaign of 2012. My theory being that if they don’t win, they’ll at least siphon off enough “real” republican votes to give Obama another four years to figure out what the hell he’s doing before Newt Gingrich or somebody really scary runs. And if they do win, that’s a win for America too. As the nutjob teabagging Washington outsiders that they are, it’ll take them four years to even begin to figure out how to actually get anything done, and by then the global economic collapse caused by the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama corporatocracy will have fully played out, and THEY’LL get the blame. Then we can all make a fresh start in 2016. So get on board the “I Only Like You So I Can Hate You” movement and help run the hugest campaign of subterfuge and disinformation in the history of politics. Read the rest of this entry »
You Biatch! You Stoleded My Link!*
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on August 3, 2010 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010Ever get a weird possessive feeling about the links you share? Me too. That’s because they’re ALL MINE. I just haven’t been sharing them. Help me name our new weekly “link dump” column.
I get depressed sometimes when I realize that my life is just a bunch of web links strung together with occasional real-life discussion, but mostly just connected by written commentary and link sharing on Facebook. It gets REALLY depressing when I find myself having an emotional response to someone sharing a link on their Facebook “wall” without crediting me, as if somehow it was MY link. Or if they get more comments in spite of posting it when it’s already a week old. “Stupid link sharing friend! I shared that link LAST WEEK!” This is one of the unfortunate side effects of maintaining a site like Dissociated Press. As I said to a friend once: “The Internet. I have seen it“. Out of the literally dozens of sources I comb regularly to bring you interesting stuff, I OMIT infinitely more than I share, because, well, they’re JUST LINKS. So I’ve finally decided to put this wasted pile of weekly links to use, with a regular “link dump” section. I just need a name for this new section on the site. “Linkdump” somehow doesn’t sound like something that would generate enthusiastic user engagement. So if you have an idea for a name, feel free to share. But enough delaying. On with delinking! Read the rest of this entry »
How SEO, Google, and Facebook Are Ruining The Web, And Ruining You
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on July 9, 2010 by admin in Technology
Friday, July 9th, 2010Has the web become a big Wordpress linkfarm driven by social networking?
I loved it the other day when Prince said “the internet’s completely over”. Like that statement, and the headline above, much of what I’m about to say will be hyperbole, opinion, and oversimplification. Which is ironic, because that’s kind of what the web has become as a result of some of what I’ll be talking about. Do you remember when there were more than three search engines? When grandma didn’t have a blog, and your mom didn’t ask you “how do I set up a Facebook?” Or when small business owners who can barely use e-mail didn’t ask their web developer questions like “we’ll be be implementing SEO and social media tools when you build my website, right?” I would argue that Google’s domination of search and the ease of installation of WordPress blogs have done nearly irreversible damage to the web. How? Back when there were a half dozen or so competing search engines – Lycos, Hotbot, Excite, MSN, Yahoo, Altavista, etc. -they would have ups and downs and shortcomings, but competition would drive their evolution. And perhaps more importantly, an interesting cycle would drive part of that evolution: a popular search engine would attract SEO experts, which would slowly erode the engine’s organic results, which would cause a migration to a new search engine, which would inspire the top dog to clean up their index, or fail. Then Google came along. They did so many things so well in the beginning that it was almost magical. And slowly their competitors faded into oblivion, so that now, according to stats like this, Google has about 70% of the market, Yahoo 15%, and Bing 9%. So why is that bad? Although a disruptive technology could always come along, for now, there’s little incentive for developers and VC’s to say “hey, let’s start a search engine“. And with Google as basically the only portal to the web for most people, their search results have become so “spammed out” and infested with WordPress-driven linkfarms in general results, and Yelp-like listings in local results, that random searches can often be utterly useless. And Google can care less about that for awhile, because where will you go? It’s sort of like if you were frustrated with your cable TV service. What are you gonna do, call the other cable company? Add to this mix an attempt to cash in on the myth of the wisdom of the crowd, and you get a real mess. Rather quickly, any site that is based on natural networks of user trust will fall apart. Think of something like Yelp. Who bothers to offer up reviews on sites like Yelp? Mostly either opinionated egoists, or angry people. Real experts are too busy doing whatever they do as experts. Which is an idea summed up nicely in this piece by Amber Naslund, which talks about “confusing ego with influence”. And when Facebook becomes the second most visited site on the web, you get an interesting new phase. Google vs Facebook. Google keeps going after Facebook, while Facebook enters the search market. I can’t wait ’til all my search results are based on “Like” buttons that were clicked in e-mail spam campaigns. How about you? Oh I don’t need to ask. Facebook’s Edgerank will keep me informed of what you’re thinking and doing if I need to know. Which is another piece of this e-pocalypse. We already know that Google is making us stupid, but once we’re stupid, is it really such a good idea to make Facebook the very first thing we do each day?
This Fall’s Blockbuster Horror Flick: The Social Network
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 29, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010There are rumors of a Mafia Wars movie too. We hear if you get four friends to join you, admission is free.
I have to admit that when I first heard that they were making a movie about Facebook, my comment was “@Sony: omg ur jk, RITE?”, then I looked for the “Unlike” button, forgetting that real life doesn’t have one. Then I imagined going to see it. The theater would of course require you to log in for admittance. Since you’d be so embarrassed that you were actually going to see it, you’d try a made-up name, and they’d have the gall to accuse you of using up a made-up name, so you’d give up and use your real one. Before the opening scene even began, the film would stop repeatedly, asking you if any of your friends were in the theater, and tossing names and faces on the screen, asking if you knew them. Finally things would get rolling, and for a while you’d really be amazed at how they captured little slices of your friends’ lives for you to watch. That is, until the movie Mafia Wars started appearing on the screen in a little crawl, because your friends were watching it in the next theater and had forgotten to hide it in their settings. And until you realized how banal everyone’s existence was when you could watch it unfold right before your eyes. All the same, you’d walk out of the theater six hours later, saying “DAMN. I only meant to watch an HOUR of it!” You’d swear you’d never watch the thing again as long as you live. Then you’d be disturbed to find yourself suddenly sitting in the theater the very next day. Of course, that would all be much more fun than what you’re going to get if you actually do go watch the movie; the only thing more horrifyingly dull than watching a movie about two annoying nerds