So many social networks, so little time… I do not know about you, humble blog reader, but I have truly lost track of all the social networking sites I have signed up for over the last few years. I am using the term “social networking” sites loosely, maybe they are social software, maybe they are Web 2.0 apps, but what I am talking about are accounts I have set up for some specific purpose that have some component of connecting my actions with those of others, be they a large pool of strangers or people I designate as “in my network”.
I was thinking about these web sites, my account covered with dust and cobwebs, from my attention neglect. Some are really good sites, some are “so-so” or just not essential. I don’t have a pattern or method, but being in a reflective mood today, i started thinking about my web crumbs. I’ll even toss in a few categories, but am curious to hear what others have either left behind or just stopped using.
Good Sites I’ve Just Not Bothered To Pay Attention To
I really like these tools, but for whatever reason, like loss of brain call capacity, I’ve just not been tending.
(1) 43Things, 43People, 43Places
I always liked these connected sites as they early on displayed the web 2.0 poster child of simplicity, yet offering those connections to others based on your individual actions, plus integration of services from say Flickr and posting to blogs. The first one, 43Things was simple, every person in theory lists 43 things they want to do in life, and presented as a tag cloud, offers connection to others with the same goal.
The current page lists “1,420,085 people in 14,525 cities are doing 1,185,459 things” (Hmmm, that is only 1.2 things per person!) like travel the world, speak French fluently, and even the humble fix my dishwasher. So on your own page, you see your list, you can mark them done as you fix the dishwasher or parlez-vous française, and offer to be a contact for people with the same thing who might have questions. You can post stories, blog-like posts that are related to the goal.
I have a 43 list going, and just on reviewing this admit jumping in and updating a few, but I had not even looked at it for like 18 months. There was a time I thought this had some potential for educators perhaps doing some portfolio like activity, or advising/planning; I thought someone out there was doing some grad research on this.
The related sites are similar in function- in 43People, 43Places you list either places you want to go to or places you have been, with parallel connectivity features. I have given my list even less attention, and certanly there are more places I’d like to see.
The last in the trio, 43People, was interesting, but to me, the least of the three- you list 43 people you’d like to meet or have met. It gets a bit much of the wish to meet celebrities, like people wanting to meet Bill Gates or Hillary, but heck Bill Shakespeare has a few fans. The hard part was that f someone is not listed, the system cannot find an entry quite automatically.
(2) Library Thing
I am embarrassed I dont keep my book collections up to date, because LibraryThing does so many web 2.0 things in a clear elegant way, and its not very hard to add books. I’ve not even logged in to my collection since 6 or 7 months ago. And I do read. The Suggester is an amazing tool and the UnSuggester is just too damn clever.
I think I need one of those new years resolutions to be more faithful.
They Were Good in their Time, But Perhaps Eclipsed
- Furl– not used for 3 years http://www.furl.net/member/cogdog I think the account still has my old Maricopa email address in it
- BuzzNet– one of the first photosharing sites I played with in 2004, got kind of spammy, and flickr stole my heart. Was at http://cdb.buzznet.com/
- Fotolog same story- it was really rich at the time, but then came along flickr… http://www.fotolog.com/cdb/
I am sure there are many more in my drawer. An interesting point is… my old stuff is still there on these sites I dont use, now that is amazing!
So what ones have you left by the wayside?
Friendster is cool to find friends who haven’t yet migrated to Myspace. I also like that it links you to strangers ala six degrees of separation which myspace doesn’t do.
Great post! The other day, during a lull in our family routine, I sat down at my computer to relax. I just sat there staring at nothing, until my seven year-old approached and asked what I was doing. I said, “I don’t know. This is my hobby. This is how I relax, but I don’t remember what I do!” She just looked at me, shook her head, and said, “Twitter, Mom. You Twitter!”
I have also abandoned accounts all over the place, but here are just a few.
http://citypixel.com/injenuity
http://www.slideshare.net/injenuity
http://www.tokbox.com/injenuity
Too many to count… but 43Things vexes me a bit only because I know I would use it more if I could integrate it better in my google homepage or something. I just never think to go there.
Maybe you should keep a list of resolutions in 43Things including the need to keep your LibraryThing account up to date 🙂
There are several social networking sites that I’ve come and gone on. I’m think about going back to LibraryThing. I had switched to Shelfari some time ago (not sure why), but I’ve recently become annoyed with the volume of emails I get telling me what my “friends” are up to on there.
I “sacrifice” myself to the various interweb gods for our Technology Tuesday and Web Wednesday sessions at my school. So, I have loads of accounts that are long been forgotten after those demos are over.
When I installed 1Password on my Mac, it brought in scads of accounts that are dusty and mis, er, not used. The ones that caught my eye were:
http://www.tadalist.com – online todo lists just didn’t do it for me.
http://www.bubbleshare.com – a fun photo sharing site with word bubbles but I share Alan’s enthusiasm for all thinks Flickr-lishus.
http://www.livejournal.com – I was a big fan of the Friday Five but got busy and then got my own blogs so it was forgotten
http://www.odeo.com – I went a different way with podcasts