Disqus - Friends of jtfmulder

Re: Pownce Invites

Andy DeSoto — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 13:55:53 -0000

invite please! kadeso@gmail.com

Re: Mad internet scientist

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:43:58 -0000

Robert: Hehe! As soon as I can afford one, perhaps. It is time for a new phone, now that you mention it...

Re: Automated music writing?

Andy DeSoto — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:56:26 -0000

I don't know, I wonder. "Journalist" used to be a specialized profession, and now anyone can be a blogger, just like scribe was a profession until the printing press came around. (Thanks, Clay Shirky.) I wonder what would result.

Re: FriendFeed not worth the time (or the hype)

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:24:48 -0000

Thanks for commenting Jimsang! I know there are a lot of folks out there that do enjoy FriendFeed over SocialThing! because it does have that extra social discussion component. As for me, though, it's just too much!

(Let's see if this Gravatar plugin works while I'm at it...)

Re: FriendFeed not worth the time (or the hype)

Andy DeSoto — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:38:37 -0000

Thanks for commenting, Lars! I started up an account on Secondbrain right away and already like the look and feel of the site. I'm eager to see how it pans out!

Thank you very much for your time commenting, it really helps when founders are unafraid to promote their great services!

Re: FriendFeed not worth the time (or the hype)

Andy DeSoto — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:57:07 -0000

*grins* Fortunately, following Jason isn't as bad as it could be, since I do enjoy his stuff, but you do have a point. I have added some recommended friends in the past, but ended up swapping them out since their feeds aren't as meaningful if I don't know them personally.

Thanks for the offer, though; I'll probably be in touch! In the meantime, I'm looking forward to reading louisgray.com!

Thanks for commenting, too.

Re: louisgray.com: FriendFeed Friday Tips #1: Five Ways To Use the Hide Function

Andy DeSoto — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:38:29 -0000

Great tips! Submitted to Digg: http://digg.com/software/Fr...

Re: Why follow people you don’t know on social networking sites?

Andy DeSoto — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:49:00 -0000

*nods* That is a good thought, Wayne-- really, if your goal is to reach the widest audience possible that will be able to have a conversation about content or activities, it doesn't make sense to exclude. I guess that's why I've naturally let some networks fill up with a bunch of interesting, but not necessarily met, people, and some remain for my closest pals. Perhaps the percentage discrepancy above is actually a sign of the system working correctly...

And absolutely right about the "friend" thing too. I really value your comment, for instance, because you are a million times more experienced with this sort of topic than anyone I know in real life that could comment. Stepping back for a minute, the chances that someone we know personally would find any one of our blog topics interesting is a lot less than someone randomly chosen from the internet community. Perhaps the whole idea of branching out is to find more people that connect with you on different levels.

I really like how some sites handle the 'friend malarkey;' for instance, Flickr does a great job of having non-reflexive 'contact, friend, and family' labels, and BrightKite allows me to friend someone, but not have to automatically subscribe to their streams if I choose not to.

Mel, your thought that "a person before becoming a friend is always an unknown person" might be the best bit of insight on this page today! That's an excellent point. This need is tripled when you're interacting with someone from a different culture, as both you and Wayne hit upon.

Thanks for commenting!

Re: The Blogosphere’s Changing Opinions on FriendFeed

Andy DeSoto — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:27:06 -0000

Just thinking about this argument gives me a headache. But I think you're right.

Re: Why follow people you don’t know on social networking sites?

Andy DeSoto — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:36:38 -0000

Great thoughts, Heidi-- thanks for commenting. I actually had a dream last night that you scolded me for not giving you enough anchor text in this post. I might be getting a little obsessed...

I agree with what you said, for the most part. When I think about all the possible interactions I could have, though, I have a feeling that a great face-to-face interaction is capable of a level of connection that online interaction isn't (maybe this is my less tech-oriented family speaking, here). This is what gets me really excited about the services that add a digital communication layer to what already exists in the real world, services like Brightkite and Dodgeball, for instance.

I'm thinking I need to do some snipping myself to make Pownce useable for me, too! It got to be too much to keep up with and I fell out of it, but I miss the great content that'd scroll through my screen every day.

Re: Mere chance sufficient for lasting friendships

Andy DeSoto — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:41:09 -0000

You saying you didn't make any new friends that day? Bummer! Guess you lost the coin flip...

Re: Why follow people you don’t know on social networking sites?

Andy DeSoto — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:10:38 -0000

Hehe, Heidi, no problem. You're a perfect example of someone that I share a bunch in common with, but you're also an extremely valuable resource to someone less familiar with these topics as myself! So you're multifunctional! ;-)

This issue might be one of the reasons why I dislike services like FriendFeed, I've been thinking-- the fact that the number of friends you can convert to the service is never greater than the number of friends on the original services themselves. I'm not doing a good job explaining myself, I think this might be my next post!

And Joe, that's a really great anecdote and just goes to show how meaningful originally online friends and acquaintances can be!

And you're absolutely right on that one: You can never have too many connections.

Thanks for commenting!

Re: Microsoft CEO Egged During Presentation

Andy DeSoto — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:20:56 -0000

That's really horrible-- it's gotta be terrifying to be in a situation like that. You never know if it's gonna be an egg or a bullet, if someone's angry enough. We laugh at the videos, but for the people targeted, I'm sure it's not so funny. I'm glad he was able to recover from the attack!

Re: Friend conversion ratios and opt-in aggregators

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:13:24 -0000

Definitely agree with you on the Socialthing thing, we've talked about this before, I'm pretty sure. I just wish those guys would get a little more work done; there haven't really been any chances to the service in quite some time, and it's a big shame as it's losing them users!

And that's absolutely true. Man, sometimes I wish I knew how to program and design like a pro. If I could, I'd be all over it.

Re: Friend conversion ratios and opt-in aggregators

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:21:33 -0000

Speaking of which, they just updated their blog: http://blog.socialthing.com...

Re: Andrea Rene for Mahalo Vlog Idol | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:03:56 -0000

Thanks for reading, Sarah! I think it’s great that you’ve been so involved with all of your fans on Seesmic, blogs, and so forth. It really speaks volumes that you understand the community/industry/niche well enough to get integrated. I’ve been reading all of your followup comments and it’s clear you want to win this thing.

I’d be quite the happy viewer seeing you on my iPod every day!

Thanks for the comment!

By the way-- looking forward to reading your blog and seeing your personal take on all of this.

Re: Andrea Rene for Mahalo Vlog Idol | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Sat, 24 May 2008 19:47:23 -0000

Edit: you can take a look at a better picture of the mug here-- http://www.flickr.com/photo...

Re: Social network pruning heuristic #2: Eliminate cross-posters | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:48:34 -0000

Hehe, thanks for following the light side of the Force by using different platforms for different content! I have a hunch all of your friend lists thank you-- it's less convenient for you, I'm sure, but a breath of fresh air for everyone else.

Thanks for the comment!

Re: What’s new with this blog | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:52:19 -0000

Glad you like 'em! I think both of your ideas are good ones-- I implemented the Media to Projects idea right away, since it wasn't too technically challenging, although I will have to mull over some possible synonyms. Maybe while I'm at the gym tonight; "Works" is another idea I had but a bit too pretentious for my tastes.

As for the category idea, I think that makes sense but will need to sit down a little later and try to find a WordPress plugin that will enable me to do what you're suggesting with minimal hassle. Gimme a day or two!

Thanks for the great advice!

Re: Social network pruning heuristic #2: Eliminate cross-posters | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:11:48 -0000

Hey Wayne! Glad you agree-- it's mostly common sense, but I figure individuals new to the bevy of status-update sites and so forth out there might appreciate knowing what some of us consider the dos and don'ts of such sites.

Heaven forbid anyone unfriends me! I really hate that on Facebook, where they're mainly people I know in person!

Re: New theories of using nonverbal communication persuasively | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:24:27 -0000

Hi Jess, thanks for your comment! I've never done any debate myself, but I imagine that nonverbal communication really can play a major role in that arena. I can't recall any papers on the topic you mention off the top of my head, but I'll definitely try and take a look and let you know of my findings.

And congratulations on W! It's a great school and I'm sure you'll love it. If you're interested, you might want to listen to an episode or two of my podcast, The William Mary Powwow, which ran 8 episodes over the course of last year. Take a look at http://www.wmpowwow.com.

Re: Inside the Attack that Crippled Revision3

Andy DeSoto — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:11:38 -0000

Wow, Jim, I never knew you were such a fantastic writer. Your update was both a joy and a shame to read.

Re: louisgray.com: Dealing With Capacity Overload and "Laying Off" Features

Andy DeSoto — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:30:05 -0000

That's right-- as others have said, those SocialThing! functions have been disabled for quite some time. You must not have taken a close look in a couple of months, eh! I'm really excited to see what the SocialThing! guys are cooking up for 2.0 because it's _usable_.

Also-- my wireless is running a bit slow and it took over a minute to load the comments page. Yowza! Is that Disqus acting up?

Re: Other social networks to try besides Facebook | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:54:50 -0000

Hehe! I'm not trying to hide Pownce. As much as I love the service, I don't think it should be #1 on the shopping list for someone new to the whole idea of status-update social networking.

Thanks for the link recommendation, I'll have to pass that along for anyone in need of some insight!

Re: Social network pruning heuristic #2: Eliminate cross-posters | Andy DeSoto

Andy DeSoto — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:56:32 -0000

Hey Matt! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I absolutely LOVE Socialthing! and the more opportunities you give me to say it, the more I will.

I think what you're describing sounds absolutely phenomenal, and I'm looking forward to the new features rendering this post null and void!