“How is twitter similar to status updates in Facebook and Myspace and why is twitter more popular NOW than both Myspace and Facebook? You have probably already compared them but how do these sites contrast, or how are they different ,and do you think you will ever be tired of social networking?”

Time for a quick post! I was already socializing in Friendster before I heard of Myspace/ Myspace Music. I only learned about Myspace when DSL connection was first installed at home. I listened to all the songs of my fave bands, local and foreign. I noticed that most bands have a Myspace Music account and that this social networking site is very popular in the US! Its awesome! I wanna hear a song, I go to Myspace and voila my ears indulge.

I have some friends in my list too =)

...and lots...

..lots of artists

I was surfing the news online and came across an article saying that an employee in Canada lost its benefits because of a picture of her in Facebook.

Reading on, I learned that the employee is apparently on sick leave due to depression and is receiving an stipend from her insurance. The insurance company apparently ceased to give her her benefits when they saw pictures of her in Facebook having fun.

Irregardless of  the veracity of that news, we as users of these networking sites eg. Facebook, Flickr, Multiply, Hi-5, Friendster and tons of other social networking sites must be responsible on what we post.

Keep in mind that these sites are open to anyone who have access to the internet. And these magnitude of people have access to your pictures, data, and ideas too. Unless of course you like other people to have a glimpse of your life you should and you must use these sites responsibly.

The world is absolutely not just for good people. Remember that in order to have a balance an exact opposite must exist. All I am saying is, we should be responsible on what we intent the world to see, particularly if it is our life.

… or at least makes a great case for natural selection.

In Darwinian’s theory of evolution, natural selection is “the process in nature by which only the organisms best adapted to their environment survive and transmit their genetic characteristics to succeeding generations while those less adapted tend to be eliminated”.

Truer words were never said of social media.

Treat every online social networking service as an “organism” and we could probably trace back its ancestry right back to its most primitive form.

I decided to do a rough evolutionary timeline in the short span of 30 years that social media have been around:

Social media platforms are constantly being replaced with newer, better, succeeding generations of services which in turn must adapt and change or risk elimination.

In the cruel game of natural selection, “mother nature” takes the form of social media consumers: a fickle group of individuals ultimately deciding who lives or dies in an arena where each service has to literally fight for survival.

In this article, I will review how social media has evolved from the “primordial” 8 bit generation to the present day 64 bit service and platforms.

Usenet: the social media “Adam”

Born in 1979 from the minds of Duke University graduates, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, the Usenet system allowed users to read and post threads of discussion, called news, on one or more newsgroups.  Its similar in several respects to the modern day forums and indeed, Usenet could effectively be named the father of all forums. It gave consumers the first taste of “social networking” in the loose sense of the phrase.

Many of us would cringe looking at the graphics we had then. I wasn’t alive during the launch of Usenet but I couldn’t imagine having to network on an interface like that. Just goes to show how spoilt we consumers are these days.

Status: Deceased

Though a friend of mind says Usenet is still being used by hackers wishing to remain anonymous, I can’t say for certain.

Bulletin Board System (BBS): fathers of the World Wide Web

The comic strip sounded like sarcasm to me.

“Well of course you can connect to other computers without being the same kind of machine! That’s just plain obvious.”

Well of course we would think that way. We’ve had the internet since we could work a computer. But even before the World Wide Web was established, people in the late 1970s could still communicate with one another using the BBS. In many ways, the BBS was the inspiration for the World Wide Web and many other aspects of the internet. It allowed users to upload and download data, read and post news on a public message board, and find and communicate with each other by way of email.

The BBS even allowed online games and a primitive form of chatrooms that provided communication using multiple phone lines called MUT, MultiUser Talk. MUT was later replaced by the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) system.

Status: Deceased

Replaced by internet forums.

mIRC

One particular IRC client stood out against the rest. The mIRC came into the market in 1995, and became an instant hit with the online crowd. The client’s main difference was in it’s scripting, giving users the power to customise commands, behaviour and appearance of their mIRC client. Filesharing, which very few IRCs at the time offered, was also possible on an mIRC. Even today, the client is still being used worldwide. IRCs were the precursors to the instant messaging clients we have today, and though no longer popular, is still in active development.

Status: Dying

The same friend told me that IRCs are still used by hackers wishing to remain anonymous. Its very rarely used for social networking purposes though, and I don’t see how it can profit anymore.

Internet forums

Bulletin boards has since evolved into internet forums like phpBB and vBulletin, bringing along with it the ‘netiquettes’ and internet culture we have today. The common features that set our forums apart from the BBS are private messaging, emoticons, picture galleries, attachments and polls. Few internet forums require paid subscription. Most rely on advertising dollars and donations to continue operation. Internet forums inspired the invention of the modern blogs we have today.

Status: Stable

Most people find internet forums to be a great source of information and since there are no visible alternatives in sight, it will likely continue for a long time.

Windows Live Messenger: entering the age of instant messaging

Formally known as MSN Messenger, the Windows Live Messenger almost wholly replaced Amercia Online’s AIM and Yahoo Messenger in 1999. The client allows for an amazing range of features and capabilities including, but not limited to, games, sharing folders, phone calls, web camming, application sharing and animated display pictures.

Instant messaging is still very much alive in our day and age. Contacts are more connected now than ever before. True, a phone conversation would flow much faster and is more personal but you can’t multitask on a phone, and you can’t leave your phone running for the whole day.

Metaphorically, signing in to the client is like entering a large living room where all your friends are gathered. The difference of instant messaging from other modern social media platforms is that most of the people in your contacts list are people you already know. There was small chance of meeting anyone new (although new MSN services available provide for that deficiency though it remains unpopular).

Status: Stable

The communication technology will likely improve in the far future, but ‘instant’ messaging is already pretty much… instant. The only technology I see replacing  this is telepathy, or mind reading.

Blogs: the creation of the blogosphere

Taking concepts and characteristics of a forum, blogs have evolved out of the primordial soup of the digital communities in 1997 and rose to popularity in 1999. Blogs were revolutionary in that they gave social media consumers the platform to have their voices heard by the internet community. There are several types of blogs for several different subjects and purposes. The most common form of blogs are personal blogs, an online diary of sorts that allowed readers to get a glimpse into the bloggers life. Corporate blogs are blogs used primarily for marketing purposes, adding content updates that relate to the product or service the company offers and giving the company a sort of personality.

What completely differentiates a blog from its ancestors, besides the obvious customability and depth, is the ability for any user to earn a profit. A blog is one of the few social media platforms that can be very lucrative. Some of the more famous bloggers blog for profit by featuring advertisments in their page. Companies know the influence bloggers have on their consumers and the evolution and growth of the blogosphere makes this platform a necessity for any smart social media consumer.

Status: Growing

There are people alive today who dream of blogging for a living. Its a great indication how much fun people get out of blogging. Theres just something about letting people hear your thoughts and feelings that makes you feel warm inside. Kinda like when you write that diary and pretend to hide it knowing it’s going to be found anyway.

Six Degrees: the first of its kind

Six Degrees was the first social networking site ever to be in operation. It evolved from the concept of ’six degrees of separation’; everyone is at the most six degrees away from anyone on the planet. Unfortunately, no one got the concept and it was sold in 2000 for $125 million, and shut down a year after. It was however, the precursor to other social networking sites like Friendster and Facebook.

Status: Deceased

Six Degrees paved the way for future social networking sites. It was too complicated itself, which was probably why it shut down.

Friendster

Taking from the concept of Six Degrees, Friendster had a highly successful reign in Asia in 2002 which continued until early 2008 when Facebook gained immense popularity, leaving behind millions upon millions of inactive accounts in the biggest internet ghost town. Friendster was an example of the internet consumer’s viciously low attention span and loyalty to any one platform.

Rumours, presumably started by rival Myspace, that Friendster would become a pay site made it unpopular with the younger Western crowd. 90% of their users are from Asia, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, Phillipines, China, India, South Korea and Japan.

Today, Friendster is looking at expansions into Asia and growing its list of features to seperate themselves from social networking giant Facebook.

Status: Near Death

I think I’m being generous when I say its not dead. I checked into Friendster yesterday and none of the accounts in my friends list had been entered in the last 3 months, except two which were entered a month ago.

Myspace

Also the victim of Facebook’s growing popularity is Myspace. Myspace was a copy of Friendster launching in 2003 and gained popularity over the years with the Western countries until 2008 when it lost its users to Facebook. Today, it struggles to compete with Facebook with an extreme makeover, adding applications and updates and redesigning their pages.

Status: Near Death

Myspace is probably as dead as Friendster. Or maybe less dead. But dead is dead.

Facebook: the big boys on the block

Facebook started first by focusing on smaller communities of high school students. The name itself is taken from the American college face book given to freshmen on their first day of school. It differentiates itself effectively with its many features and games, including a public wall that friends of the user can post messages on. Its integration into the iPhone and other smart phones make it the most accessible social networking site currently available. Its popularity speaks for itself and remains at the top of the food chain. However, its hard to say how long Facebook can keep its users happy before another social site pops up.

Status: Growing

Almost everyone has a facebook account these days. Not to mention ‘facebooking’ is now as much of a word as ‘blogging’ and ‘tweeting’, I’d say facebook could last.

Twitter: so simple, its smart

A service evolved from SMS (short messaging service) and blogs, Twitter is a microblogging site that enables users to send messages, called tweets, to the world in 140 characters or less. Twitter is also highly accessible, integrating itself in various smartphones like the iPhone. According to comScore and other research sites, only 11% of its users are teenagers. Its used by companies, reporters, educators and even politicians in the case of Barack Obama’s unorthodoxed campaigning online.

Where it is in the food chain is highly suspect. At the moment, Twitter looks to have a bright future with companies looking to use the platform to reach out to its target consumers, a job twitter is flawless at. Its simplicity however, is a double-edged sword; although its consistently ranked top 5 in the list of social networks most used, it also has a very low retention rate (40% according to Nielson Online) with users dropping the service after a month.

Status: Growing

Personally, I found the service jarring. It’s literally ‘too much, too fast’. I’m one of those people with an unhealthy compulsion to reply to every message and in twitter, I’m like an addict getting a constant fix.

The statistics don’t agree with me though, so I’m gonna have to call it as it is.

Youtube

Youtube remains one of the largest and most effective video sharing site in the market. Naturally, with the improvement of digital technology, sharing videos was an obvious step for the online community. It’s not surprising that Youtube met with extraordinary popularity that’s still rising even today. Its reported that Youtube’s bandwitdh in 2007 consumed as much bandwitdh as the entire world wide web in 2000. Companies have engaged the site to market their products. Vloggers who were virtually unknown suddenly rose to massive fame. People suddenly lost hours of their day just watching videos on Youtube.

Although not a social networking site in the strict sense, Youtube does offer an immense level of connection in the form of comments, video replies, subscriber systems and private messaging. The site is easy to use, and highly accessible through most digital devices.

Status: Growing

The revenues earned from the site is gradually increasing, but Google still hasn’t figured out how the site can be used to earn profits. Youtube is constantly evolving and changing together with digital technology so it would stay in operation into the far future.

Other worthy mentions

Linkedin: More for the businessmen. A site that could widen your range of business contacts. Your profile page is your resume here.

Flickr: Although you can’t call it a social networking site in the strictest sense, the site offers more than just image sharing. You can also set up a profile, add friends and create groups.

Revver: The very first video hosting site to share all revenue generated by a video on their site with the video’s owner 50/50. Several video hosting sites are starting to do the same, but Revver shares revenue for all videos (Youtube requires you to have at least 500 subscribers).

Delicious: Hate the name, kinda. Its a social bookmarking site that’s pretty useful if other social news sites couldn’t already do the same. It takes it to a new level with rating systems however and is helpful when your in need of some recommendations into sites.

Digg: Same as Delicious in several respects. Digg has a top 100 Digg Users system that rewards top one hundred users with more traffic. You can ‘dig it’ or ‘bury it’ depending on how useful you thought the link was.

It was around 4pm when i received a letter from our brgy hall. I was shocked when i read all the complaint of the complainant.. truly i never expect that it will all come to this.. but if they really want to complain about my write ups, they are free to file a case against me, and then okay.. we’ll see each other in court.

Last night, after what happened, i was really thinking of what is the right thing to do.. I also pray to god to help me make a right decisions. But the courage to pursue this fight enlightens me. And a thought came to my mind, “the truth shall always prevail”

Yes, they were right about telling me I’ve written an article that is supposed to be private. But don’t they think they also gave me an idea why? why i have done those things? people sometimes misunderstood things  when infact, they have also done something.. not just something..something bigger..

While i was sitting there, infront with 5 people.. 2 familiar faces and 3 unfamiliar faces actually.. I really felt like i was harrassed.. First and famous i was wondering what i have to do with this guy?!! he was not involved at all–look, they were referring to my blogs right and all my write ups here?! whatever complaint that this guy is telling to our brgy is totally out of nowhere.. totally nothing to do with me.! And now i was actually wondering why do people allowed everyone to file a complaint without a proper investigation first, except for the verbal one.

I was overwhelmed for the brave action that they have done and i am just so proud for them that they can actually face me.. at the barangay hall! haha!

but posting this as my shout out:

” I’m rarely get mad, but im violent when coerce”

======> is not a “PAGBABANTA” at all..as what they said. Am i referring to someone with this shout out? god, i was actually referring to my own self! that’s me! that’s me! yes i’m violent when coerce and please don’t use that line against me.. 

I also remember one of her lines against me;

” if you were a true friend of my boyfriend, you will never let me txt him using your fone just to say something bad about them”

why? is this what you get after giving a two hands just to help her? she was my friend, and you went up to me.. asking for help.. and this is what i do, helping a friend,.  aahhhh.. this is what i get for trusting and believing this lady!

Lastly, they were asking for a public apology..

• why would i do that?
• i stand by my words as well as i stand by my grounds.
• Truth shall prevail itself.
• You want me to apologize in public? then stop lying. stop making stories, stop making posers, stop making your dirtydeeds.

Okay, we owe each other an apology. Here’s the catch.. I will make a public apology ONLY if you will be able to explain to me all of this things you’ve done to me, to us.. And if i will be satisfied with your explanation, I’m gonna write for it and put it in my blogs together with my public apology. FAIR ENOUGH?..

c’mon guys.. let’s be fair.. that’s a consequence..

Alhamdulillah…arsip tulisan di blognya friendsterku masih bisa terselamatkan…

Ada tulisan yang aku rindukan…

1. Teruntuk seorang adik yang penuh kerinduan
2. Belajar dari kehidupan
3. CAHAYA
4. Penyejuk Qolbu
5. RAPUH
6. Kutakut Sakit Hati

Biar tetep update walaupun nggak sering ngupdate…

Posting tulisan arsip dari friendster dulu aja, nggih…

Sampai ada kesempatan untuk berbagi ide segar kembali..

Tema pekan-pekan saya penuh dengan draft dan revisi..jadi mungkin nggak bisa sering sharing ide

Tapi tenang aja, saya paling nggak tahan kalo nggak ngeluarin ide. Coz nggak suka jadi bisul ato jerawat

*I am NOT a seller so I am making this guide from a buyer’s perspective.

Kittymama’s Guide to Good Manners and Online Businesses for Sellers*

1. Post clear pictures and describe your products honestly. Describe even the condition of boxes. Don’t say an item is brand new when it is not. Show tags as much as possible to provide buyers with date of manufacture.

2. Provide measurements or comparisons as much as possible. An item seen through macro lenses may appear gigantic, when in fact, it is only a few inches tall.

3. Indicate clearly which items are included if the buyer is interested in a set.

4. Please post your prices. It’s difficult to have to keep asking “how much?” (or in my friend Cynthia’s case the very unique “how muchie?- cute!) especially when multiple items are involved. Unless you are open to haggling, indicate if your prices are fixed and non-negotiable.

5. Don’t change your prices midway through a transaction. A short example: I was looking at some cellphone cases a while back. I took a screenshot of the item to show my husband but didn’t bother to peruse the posting closely (my fault, see number two of previous post; I learned from this mistake). I then left a message for the seller, asking her  for the price.  The seller quoted a number and in turn, I passed on the price quotation to my husband. He quickly pointed out that the picture I sent him had indicated a much lower price. I chose not to pursue the transaction anymore.

6. Once an item is posted for sale, it is fair game for anyone. Unless you mark it as reserved or taken, the first person who reserves an unmarked item should have the right of first sale. Better yet, if you have promised it to someone else, remove it from the album.

7. Don’t say it is on sale when it is not. Some sellers use the word “SALE” loosely to entice buyers. For most of us, the definition of a sale is the opportunity to purchase at reduced prices.  

8. Money isn’t everything. We all know that sellers sell to make money, but for patrons of a seller, it does not feel good to be duped or misled. The most common reason for buying online is to cut on costs by shaving off big retailers’ mark-ups. So to find the same items you are selling in the malls at a much lower price than the sellers’ is a big, big letdown. Of course, if you are selling unique or handmade items, a significant premium based on these qualities is understandable, but even then, know how much profit your market can  take.

9. Reply to inquiries promptly. Don’t put off your correspondence. Buyers hate waiting and by not acting promptly, you may lose their business. One seller I met promised to text back with details and didn’t; I did not pursue the transaction as I felt ignored and my business unimportant.

10. Provide clear instructions on payment modes. Give your buyers all your options, be it bank payments, money transfers, COD, or electronic money (for example, Gcash). If the last  is one of your chosen options, indicate if you are passing on the 1% charge (cash-out fee) to your clients, and only then, charge only the amount which is being transferred via this mode.

11. When products have been paid for, acknowledge payment with your thanks. An acknowledgement of payment assures the buyer that their business is real, solid, and based on mutual trust.

12. Package your items carefully, especially breakables and fragile items. Also, special touches mean much. Just this morning, I received a package in the mail from someone who I did business with just two days ago. I didn’t spend much, just PhP270, but the seller’s packaging made me feel like a VIP. It really made my day.

13. Send your buyers’ tracking numbers or air bill numbers right away. This should be a seller’s responsibility. Tracking numbers also assure buyers that the contract has been consummated. Trust me, unless you are a good friend, buyers hate running after waybill numbers.

14. If you opt for a meet-up, indicate upfront if the buyer must shell out part of your gas expense.  Meet-ups are usually done at the seller’s convenience, not the other way around. The rationale behind  this is to save on shipping costs. As such, meet-ups do not usually require charges. Don’t say you can meet her somewhere then later ask for extra money for a service you volunteered because this action shows bad faith. 

15. Freebies are very nice and heartwarming, but they not absolutely necessary. Good service, honesty, and a real concern for your buyers count more than whatever it is you can throw in for free.

16. Lastly, keep an accurate database of your buyers’ contact details. Remember their names and match it with their online handles. It’s frustrating to have to keep giving your contact details to someone you’ve done business with repeatedly. Besides, when you start treating your customers as your real friends, they are less likely to defraud you.

~0~

What can I say about my experience as an online buyer in Multiply? I have been immensely blessed by the people I have met in the forum that the successes still far outweigh the occasional disappointments. I have tried my best to be an honest, reputable buyer and this is a reputation that I would like to maintain and keep. 

In the end, we–buyers and sellers alike–must remember that an online business, like any other business, relies on good faith and a reciprocity of service, goods and trust. That we are able to develop friendships beyond the confines of the material world is a blessing that makes this world a much smaller, less colder place to live in.

We join social networking sites for various reasons. Some want to meet new people, others want to look for old friends. Still, some want to join interest groups; others,  discussion fora. Whatever the reasons may be, social networking sites provide a new venue where people may interact regardless  of geographical distance and limitations.

My first foray into social networking sites was in Friendster. Joining was actually a no-choice as I did it simply to monitor my then thirteen-year-old son’s activities on the Internet. Later on, as I got more net savvy, I joined Facebook whose appeal lies on its interactivity and its games. At around the same time, I also opened a Multiply account, and on this, I have to be honest and say I joined to be able to buy Hello Kitty stuff online.

With Multiply finally legitimizing businesses in their new terms of use, online entrepreneurship is expected to hit an all-time high. With this development, however, we expect that the rules and etiquette of business will undergo continuous modifications to accommodate the changing needs of a new virtual frontier.

I have, in the last two years, been a frequent Multiply buyer. In the course of doing business with others, I have been witness in my circles to breaches in social rules that result in joy reservers, bogus buyers, and bogus sellers. How, then, do we attempt to avoid all these headaches?

Here are some suggestions for buyers (part one) and sellers (part two) alike. If I miss anything, please feel free to add them in the comments section and I will update the list and give you credit for the suggestion.

 Kittymama’s Guide to Good Manners and Online Businesses for Buyers

1. Read. Read seller’s descriptions very well and repeatedly to avoid misunderstanding or false expectations.

2. Check first if the item price has been posted before asking “how much?” This saves the seller from unnecessary inquiries and saves her time and effort.

3. If you have questions on the item, do not hesitate to ask via text or email but always introduce yourself and indicate your purpose clearly.

4. Be polite. Send polite and clear inquiries whether it be via email or text.  

5. When using private messages, do not use text language. Do not assume that your seller is well-versed in text language. Phrase your questions clearly and in complete words to avoid having to repeat the same inquiries.

6. Once you make a reservation, make sure that you are serious in buying and have the money on hand to pay for it. Don’t reserve today if you are looking to pay for it with next week’s salary. By locking out an item you cannot pay for, you are depriving the seller the chance to make an honest profit from a sure buyer.

7. Provide up-to-date and clear contact details. Indicate your handle and provide your real name, address, cellphone and landline, and even your zip code. If your home address will likely cause confusion for the courier, elaborate by giving landmarks.

8. Know your seller. Don’t be afraid to ask for a name and contact number; after all, you have given them yours.

9. If an invoice is due any day, set time to check your inbox for messages and updates. You cannot excuse late payment by saying that you were offline. If you can go online to reserve an item, you can go online to finalize the transaction. 

10. For preorders requiring down payment, pay your deposit promptly. Two years ago, deposits were virtually unheard of and trust was the rule of the day but because of bogus buyers, sellers have been forced to ask for deposits to ensure future payment. We do not want to wait for the day when sellers will require full payment upfront even for preorders.

11. Mark the estimated time of arrival on your calendar for preorders so you will know when to contact your seller for updates. With their growing list of clients, sometimes, they are hard pressed to provide each and every one with update. In an ideal world, such a responsibility would hardly merit a second thought- it would be a given. But since you have paid your deposit, you must share the burden of following-up on your orders.

12. Pay promptly, preferably on same day as the invoice. Sellers generally give their clients a short leeway and time allowance for payment (usually three days). Don’t abuse their kindness and don’t give the seller cause to have to run after you.

13. Don’t use your seller’s pictures to show off your purchases. Unless you are granted permission to repost them with credit, take your own pictures.

14. Be gracious and say thank you for a business transaction done smoothly. If you can, leave recommendations on their feedback page.

15. For complaints, go straight to the seller if you wish for action to be taken. If you are ignored and your complaints are dismissed, then you may wish to take further action by reporting it to the network. You are free to express your disappointment in your blog, but remember to do so with discretion and with respect for a person’s reputation.

Coming right up: Part Two of Kittymama’s Guide to Good Manners and Online Businesses for Sellers

In recent news, the country of Sweden crashed: Apparently it is possible to cause every single address in a domain to go down (in this case, .se), by making a simple script error during routine maintenance…whodathunk? I shudder to think what may happen when routine maintenance on the .com domain takes place…

In another bit of “wish I’d never done that” news, Tim Berners-Lee just admitted that the forward slashes in the Web’s URL design protocol were both unnecessary and – in his words – a mistake. With this in mind, I thought it might be fun to wander around the Web, and the Internet as a whole, just to see what we could find, by way of unfortunate stories we may have forgotten, or never even known about…things that “seemed like a good idea at the time”. We’re getting closer to the end of the year, when all those retrospectives come out, and I thought this would be as good a time as any to think back, only not just over the past year, but further. After all, it’s the history we forget that we so often tend to repeat…

Do you remember GeoCities? If you thought they died a long time ago, you might be surprised to hear that Yahoo, who acquired them back when people thought dot-coms would never bomb, recently (as in October 26th, 2009) announced GeoCities was closing its doors. Talk about limping along…

Then there are the ISPs. I was a Mindspringer for the longest time, one of the first evangelists for the brand (until Earthlink purchased them). Along with the likes of Prodigy (still shuffling along, believe it or not, as owner AT&T tries to find someone stupid enough to buy something worth nothing), AOL (reinventing itself every day, yet still deriving the largest measure of its revenue from good old (and I mean old!) dial-up subscriptions), and Netzero (reduced to net zero, as they try to find new ways to also rejigger the fact that they are still a dial-up ISP), Mindspring was a pioneer doomed to be eclipsed by telcos who learned from their mistakes.

When we think back to the search engines, the list is long: Webcrawler, AltaVista (technically still around), Lycos…heck, I’m just scraping the tip of the iceberg, and have already lost interest. Did you know that AltaVista had a chance to buy Google’s search technology way back when, and passed? Whoops. Google, contrary to its current well-deserved reputation, was not innovative at all when it first opened for business. It was efficient and analytical. Its algorithms reinvented web search, based on the ideas of its predecessors, good and bad alike. Some people call that reinventing the wheel, but they at least have not rested on their laurels.

Many websites that burned brightly for only a short while were decried as unsustainable business models (remember Pets.com, Webvan, eToys, Kibu, and Kozmo?), and yet their model has since been adapted and proven successful (Petedge, Upco, Fosters &Smith, Amazon, Barbie.com, Tesco, to name but a few comparable online ventures that seem to have “made it”). Timing is all, it would indeed seem, or at least kinda crucial.

For some, it was all about effective marketing and brand awareness…or the lack thereof: Akimbo.com failed because they could not manage to communicate their value proposition to their target market, among other “challenges”; Hulu succeeded (where Joost, Veoh, Vimeo, and others have not – to varying degrees) because they realized their brand strength was tied to the apron strings of their partners. OK, it certainly didn’t hurt that the networks who own the content it distributes also own Hulu!..

In other cases, interactive success came as a result of reinvention: the transition (or should I say ‘desertion”?) from Microsoft Live Search to today’s “Bing” *might* finally establish MSFT as a competitor to Google, in much the same way as Firefox is to the Redmond giant’s own browser…well, without the Open Source stuff!

Now,who uses RSS? I’m sure it some value, but not yet for me. I subscribe to several feeds, and all I do is trash the avalanche of junk in my inbox each morning. Until people learn to self police their content (be it RSS feeds, Tweets, or Facebook Mafia War activities), the internet is going to continue to burn through ideas like flames across the Verdugo mountains.  There is too much information online, and we want tools that will filter and control the flood of data, not simply fractionalize it. After all, half of infinity is still infinity.

Some companies have good ideas, easily replicable by larger or later-in-the-game interests. Kiko developed a web based calendar, which seems like a great idea, unless you factor that it was not sufficiently proprietary of a business model to prevent Google from developing its own Google Calendar app.; and  HotorNot.com and Friendster were arguably ripped off by what is known today as Facebook (originally Facemash). Several companies are in the process of trying to beat TVguide.com at its own game (something that seems – at first glance – to be a good idea, given that the TVGuide.com site is not so great). However, couchville.com was there first, and since departed. Branding is worth a lot these days, in a very cluttered marketplace and, unless you are a captive subscriber (using ATT/Yahoo TV portal, for instance), or an early adopter (of which there are far fewer than those of us on the East and West Coasts might believe).

Some ideas are not so much failures as temporary successes, taking advantage of loopholes in the law or in best practices. P2P is one prime example, with different offerings coming and going (or continuing to exist despite obviously supporting illegal practices), but there are others, such as Yak4ever, the site that allows you to make free international calls, albeit through a slightly cumbersome process. Google Voice is another offering that seems destined to either succumb to the counterattacks of the powerful telco lobbies, or force a reinvention of telco laws.

Where such ongoing “could go either way” projects as MySpace.com,  Friendster (it’s still trying to make a go of it, my friends, and doing quite well in the Asia Pacific regions!), Kiva (currently under attack by folks who’d like to see it go the way of govWorks.com. Did you read the recent NYT article?), Project Natal, and James Cameron’s “Avatar” (had to throw that one in there!) end up is anybody’s guess. That’s where you come in: What failures and unforeseen successes do you recall? What is coming down the pike that you feel may completely reinvent interactive content production, storage, distribution, and/or consumption? Are you working on something that will make the Internet an even more robust tool and platform for communications, community and content? What does the Internet mean to you, beyond the conventional Web and email? What internet ventures do you feel will still be with us by the end of 2010?

History shows that much of what we praise today will be gone tomorrow.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Ozymandias, by Percy Shelley (1818)

Social networking? Keeping in touch with friends? Spying on (or stalking) a crush? These sites are good for all these things. I think Friendster was one of the earlier ones, but few people I know use it now. Myspace is a little too much for my eyes. It seems like most people liek to change their layouts often, and all kinds of glittery web bling, and I can’t keep track of who’s who because people don’t use their real names. More to maintain. Facebook is more straightforward to me, and I have heard it has replaced some people’s email accounts.

Check out more Sites We Love!

I’ve been working on this project for a couple of months now. It’s fun! Creating a website makes me feel intelligent, high and mighty. I’d like to thank Friendster, because it triggered my interest to cut and paste HTML codes that I did not write. Visit us sometime?

The Official Website of the Philippine Automotive Industry

Gallery Hots :

Cewek Friendster: Cewek SMA Suka Ngewe ngentot bispak
12 Jul 2009 Cewek Bispak Gadis Friendster Hot Bugil: pingin ngewe Bocah Keren pingin . ngeboseninPalagi suka sama suka dan ceweknya emang … cewek-ngentot-asik Arsip Blog. ▼ 2009 (50). ▼ Juli (12). gambar cewek lagi pipis memeknya keliatan artis bintang iklan foto bugil video bokep telanja…

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Hasil Pencarian Iklan Tentang Cewek Cantik Yang Suka Isap Kontol Video Bokep 3GP , download bokep Cewek Friendster: Cewek SMA Suka Ngewe ngentot bispak .

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Cewek+Friendster+Cewek+SMA+Suka+Ngewe+ngentot+bispak. kontol gede: Gambar cewek sma Hasil Pencarian Iklan Tentang Cewek Cantik Yang Suka Isap Kontol .

Model Bikini

Pasar kaum muda memang sangat potenial untuk digali. Samsung mengerti betul akan hal itu. Maka tidak heran bila pabrikan asal Korea Selatan itu meluncurkan dua ponsel sekaligus bernama Samsung CorbyTXT dan Samsung Corby. Kedua ponsel tersebut dirancang untuk mendukung gaya hidup anak muda saat ini yang senantiasa terkoneksi secara digital. Karena itu kedua ponsel ini didukung dengan jaringan sosial maya seperti MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, sampai Twitter.

Tampilan dua ponsel ini sangat stylish dan mencerminkan anak muda. Samsung CorbyTXT menggunakan layar sentuh, sementara Samsung Corby tampil dengan full QWERTY-nya. Untuk kemudahan dalam mengakses internet, Samsung bekerja sama dengan Telkomsel memberikan program bundling. Paket Samsung Corby seharga R 1.749.000, sedangkan Samsung Corby TXT sedikit lebih murah, yaitu Rp 1.499.000,-.

Untuk membidik pasar ini, Samsung tidak tanggung-tanggung mengajak dua idola remaja, yaitu Nicolas Saputra dan Dian Sastro sebagai brand ambasador-nya.

I was, (still am) never the kind that would jump onto the bandwagon when something new pops up.

Take for example Twitter,and Facebook. I joined Twitter in april 2009 and only started to utilize that platform a month ago. The same for Facebook. Most of my friends started using it in year 1. Facebook here, Facebook there. Finally I gave into peer pressure. All my friends were moving to Facebook, leaving Friendster behind.

After being on Facebook for a period of time, you start to notice the different trends. Because of the features offered, some people take advantage of it to make their online presence known. I have to admit, it’s kinda annoying at times. (Okay, some of them are not that bad)

So here’s a list of the types of ‘friends’ on Facebook:

1 ) The Overzealous Updater

This is the friend who can’t go half a day without sharing What’s On His Mind. Honestly people. We really don’t need to know that you’ve just had your second shower of the day. For that matter, we didn’t need to hear about the first one either.

2 ) The Groupie

This is the friend who has joined more groups than Marcia Brady did that one year in high school when she was overcommitted and frazzled. Asian Americans in Israel who Support Diplomacy with Iran? Really?

3 ) I am my kids

This is the friend who only uses Facebook to post photos of the little ones, or updates that read: “Tommy didn’t feel well today, so he stayed home from school.” Might as well not even have your own profile, just create one for the kid(s), no?

4 ) Spies (who used to like us)

This is the Ex who only friends you so she/he can spy on you and make sure you have fewer friends that she/he does, and that your new significant other is less attractive than she/he was

5 ) The Wanna-be

This is the person who friends someone with the great hope of becoming friends with that person in real life, be it a minor celeb, or just someone the Wanna-Be really admires from a slight distance.

6 ) The Two-Facer

This is the friend who accepts your friend request just to be polite, but then Hides your updates immediately. Unfortunately, you have no idea who the two-facers are.

7 ) The Networker

This is the friend whose main purpose on Facebook is to build a list he can tap when he needs to for work/career. You know these friends because they only message you with e-mails that read “So you still over at Viacom?”

8 ) The Overpoker

No need to explain this one, right?

9 ) The Get-a-lifer

This is the hardcore friend who has nothing better to do but subscribe and follow you via SMS.

10 ) The Attention Seeker

This is the friend who posts status updates that are purposely vague, and therefore beg for a comment. Their status is all about getting you to respond, getting attention, getting sympathy. “Lori is scared, but hopes everything works out…”

11 ) The Over Suggester

Just stop. Okay? Let me figure out who I want to be friends with, okay? Honestly

12 ) The Link-bot

This is the friend who does nothing but share links all day. Links to articles he’s read that he thinks the whole world should be reading, links to movie reviews, links to new games coming on the market, links to his Twitter page where he’s gone and posted 10 more links. There needs to be a limit. Some links are good, especially when they send people to this blog. But let’s impose a 2-link-max rule per day, what do you say?

13 ) The Good Friend

This is the friend who mercifully doesn’t fit in any of the above categories and is, hopefully, just one of many normal, average facebookers you’ve friended. Let’s hear it for the Good Friend!

So what kind of friend are YOU?

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/28968#fb (David K. Israel)

Kadang kita ingin terlebih dahulu melihat Foto ‘calon’ friend untuk kita add ataupun kita approve bukan? Tapi gimana juga caranya melihat foto facebook tersebut, karena yang bersangkutan bukan teman kita.
Facebook tidak akan mengijinkan untuk melihat foto yang ada didalam account facebook tersebut sebelum kamu menjadikan dia sebagai teman.
Untuk melihat ataupun mengintip foto seseorang yang ada di facebook yang belum kamu add menjadi teman dapat dilakukan dengan tips berikut ini:
1. Silahkan kamu Login dulu di Facebook.
2. Kemudian Klik disini

3. Setelah kamu klik link diatas, maka akan terlihat tampilan seperti dibawah ini :
4. Klik “Allow” untuk setuju dengan ketentuan dan kebijakan yang dipersyaratkan, lalu akan muncul tampilan seperti dibawah ini :
5. Cari alamat Facebook yang mau kamu intip fotonya, dan masukkan ID Facebook yang akan dilihat fotonya itu tepat pada kolom yang diwarnai merah yang terlihat pada gambar diatas.
Met ngintip ya ^_^

Friendster, twitter, facebook, yuwie, beberapa situs pertemanan lewat internet ini bukanlah hal baru lagi, kalau boleh dikatakan hampir semua orang pengguna internet menjadi member dari salah satu situs diatas, apalagi urusan facebook yang sudah booming di indonesia bahkan hampir di semua negara dunia ini digemari dari mulai anak-anak, dewasa hingga para profesional memanfaatkan facebooknya untuk mencari teman, bisnis ataupun aktualisasi diri atau minimal menepiskan kegaptekan it, terbukti juga kekuatan dunia maya ini telah mempengaruhi banyak media dan lembaga seperti kasus ibu prita baru-baru ini ataupun adanya gerakan satu juta facebooker pendukung chandra dan bibit, dan mampu memberikan suaranya untuk DPR kita dalam kasus tsb, mungkin masih banyak lagi yang lain, dari sini bisa kita analisa atau prediksikan sendiri bahwa untuk tahun-tahun mendatang akan lebih banyak lagi suara rakyat yang bisa disampaikan melalui media ini. Asal penggunaanya benar dan tidak dipakai untuk maksiat situs ini akan membawa banyak manfaat dan jauh dari tudingan haram, seperti yang pernah disampaikan fatwa mui beberapa bulan lalu bahwa facebook itu haram! Smentara smakin banyak bisnis dijalankan melalui fb, jadi apa dan bagaimana menyikapinya akan kembali pada diri kita masing-masing kan…?

Facebook, Youtube Gmail and etc…