Thursday, January 15, 2009

Partisan Scream Machine Fed to Facebook!

I finally have this blog hooked up to my Facebook account. As an update for my last post, about Facebook as a news feed, I've found some good tools to connect my content and interesting news pieces with Facebook.

Since Digg still isn't functioning with Facebook Connect, I had to find another route to connect that info to my Facebook account. I started using Twitterfeed, which is a great program that connects my RSS feeds and blog posts to my Twitter account (follow me here). The best part about Twitterfeed is that I can connect multiple RSS feeds and blogs to my Twitter account, and control the frequency of updates and volume of posts. I currently have my Digg actions, my blog posts here, and my actions on OpenCongress feeding to my Twitter account.

Seeing as I think Twitter is close to worthless without these feeds, I then hooked up my Twitter account to Facebook. Seriously, Twitter is ridiculous on its own. Twitter is like techie crack, but it's also one dimensional, and annoying. If I could just feed all my info to Facebook, I would...Anyone know a way out? hit me with it--Twitterfeed is cool--but how about Facebookfeed?

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Friday, January 09, 2009

Facebook as a News Feed

I'm not updating this blog very often because I'm lazy. I can't do the constant update thing, with breaking news, etc. I'm too lazy to copy a link to a news piece, post it in this little box and make some comment.

Of course my laziness has its own (lack of) motivation. I don't find it beneficial for me personally, to rehash news that has already been reported by much more authoritative voices. Not only am I not 'on the ground' in a lot of these instances, I don't have the best insight. Besides, there are plenty of people out there doing the exact same thing...

But mainly I'm not writing these updates because the Blogger platform is already outdated. It's an antique. I've been using RSS feeds to get my news, on my toolbar, from multiple sources all in one place.

In terms of sharing news, I'm no longer focusing on acting as a news and information hub, a point I've made clear in a previous post. Instead, I'm focusing on social media. I've been using Digg and Facebook to pass around my favorite news bits and interesting links. With the many sharing options on most big media sites, I've been able to post items directly to my Facebook page or Digg them quickly and easily.

But now, two developments have made all that even easier-- the Digg Toolbar on Firefox, and Facebook Connect. The Digg toolbar is a nice, seamless improvement, while Facebook connect could change the way people use and identify themselves on the Internet.

With the Digg toolbar, I can now Digg any story anywhere on the web, just by clicking the 'digg' button just below my toolbar links. Not only that, but I can see how many people have similarly 'dugg' the piece, and how many comments have been posted. What's more, I get a pop-up update every time one of my friends Diggs a piece. It's a great way to use Digg seamlessly, while sharing your news with friends.

Facebook Connect takes it to a whole new level. Now with Facebook Connect, sites (like Digg...) can allow users to seamlessly combine their actions to their Facebook profiles. For example, If Digg ever gets their shit together and starts using Facebook Connect, not only would I be instantaneously sharing my diggs with freinds on Digg, but I'd also being sharing them with all of my friends on Facebook. All in one click of a button. This is important because now I don't have multiple communties of friends on different sites (I have Digg friends, Facebook friends, OpenCongress friends, etc, etc). With Facebook Connect, I'll be able to share everything in one place.

So don't look here for rapid news updates.

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=12416298&ref=name

Or on Digg: http://digg.com/users/zepickens

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