Smalltalk with James Robertson

At least that's my take away from this news:

Facebook just announced via its Facebook profile that the ultra-lightweight version of its website, Facebook Lite, is no more.

Facebook has some Twitter-like features, but I don't think people go there for the same reason they go to Twitter. facebook is "deeper"; Twitter is more lightweight, and pretty much about "what's happening now". It's not about which is better; they're different, that's all.

Technorati Tags: facebook, twitter

Looks like I won't be using Ning much longer:

Just a month after Gina Bianchini, co-founder of build-a-social-network service Ning, departed the company, it's cutting 40 percent of its staff and axing its free, ad-supported service.

I don't object, and I'm ok with the idea that they need to focus on a working business model - it's just that for my needs, facebook and YouTube work just fine :)

Technorati Tags: ning

The powers of social media can be used for evil as well as for good:

Unfortunately, as PleaseRobMe points out, updating Foursquare on where you are implicitly updates Foursquare on where you're not -- at home.

On the other hand, with so many people doing this kind of thing, you have what amounts to an information flood. If you're already at risk (being stalked, for instance), I can see the immediate danger. Otherwise? It's never been that hard to figure out that a house is empty.

I've never been a fan of Outlook - this is mostly a matter of personal taste, not a commentary on quality, real or perceived. Having said that, I see that Microsoft wants to turn the software into a hub for everything you do online:

On Wednesday, Microsoft is releasing a "beta" test version of the Outlook Social Connector. The add-on software, which was first discussed last November, adds a new pane to the main e-mail reading screen on Outlook. When a user clicks to read an e-mail message, the new pane fills up with the sender's most recent social-networking activities. Those could include the addition of a professional contact on LinkedIn or a "what I'm doing now" status update from Facebook.

The interesting thing from further down in the article is that there's no "push" capability - i.e., no way to update those streams from Outlook. Heck, I can do that from BottomFeeder, so it's not that hard. I understand the idea, but I have no idea why they would leave it half done...

Technorati Tags: outlook, microsoft, windows

I'm getting to be more and more glad that I've just been avoiding Google Buzz. I love this "feature" Forrester found:

Some of the people using Buzz in the last 24 hours have discovered that, in an attempt to be helpful, it exposes the list of people with whom you regularly exchange e-mail. As the Silicon Valley Insider said, "Imagine a boss discovers a subordinate emails with executives at a competitor."

There's nothing in the Buzz UI that tells you, loudly and clearly, about the visibility of the followers list that it auto-generates from your frequent active e-mail correspondents. To make a bad situation worse, even if you learn about this problem, it's hard to fix it.

Replace "executive" with "recruiter". Or plug in your own set of embarrassing revelations on a personal level. I wonder whether Calacanis has figured this out, since he's proclaimed this to be a real Facebook killer?

Technorati Tags: privacy, google buzz

Jason Calacanis believes that Google Buzz is the next big thing, and has cut the value of Facebook in half. Umm, right - just like Wave. Here's his theory:

Google Buzz is way faster than the sluggish Facebook -- this is a HUGE advantage.

Google Buzz puts relies and updates into your GMAIL as threads -- this is BRILLIANT and a HUGE advantage.

Right, because what most of us want is more stuff in our inbox. Sure Jason. You and the other three people who actually want more email can jump on the Buzz bandwagon - the rest of us will give it all the attention we gave Wave.

As to the whole "people don't trust Facebook because of privacy concerns" thing - the sad reality is that this is one of the few things that Scott McNealy got right - no one cares

His next theory is even crazier:

This really is game over for Facebook because you know Microsoft and Aol are going to copy Google Buzz as quick as they can. In fact, Aol would have a HUGE renaissance if they simply knocked off Google Buzz's exact feature set. You would than have a reason to keep your @aol email address.

Umm, yeah - because Microsoft has shown such an awesome ability to execute, and AOL has been the nimblest business around. And Google has shown such amazing staying power with any of their new things - Wave, anyone (crickets)?

Technorati Tags: google buzz, facebook