Going Native In The Age Of Aggregation

Gradually I’ve disconnected feeds from one network into another and today I’ve decided to disconnect them all — no more automagically distributed content. If I have something to say or share, I’m going to say or share it directly to you, where you are.

My Social Network Content Flow

Like Twitter’s 140 character limit forces one to distill one’s thoughts, having to hand-enter a post into Facebook, FriendFeed, Google Buzz and/or Twitter will force me to use more discretion regarding what I share and who I share it with. I can’t promise that each network will get original content, just that the folks in each network will be specifically considered before I type in a thought or share an interesting item.

I’m not suggesting the adoption of this practice by anyone else, but it is liberating to me. I’ve often felt insincere when I feed posts from one network into another. The implication of aggregation is that I just don’t have time to say something original to you folks over there.  If I haven’t taken the time to post something directly to you, why should I expect you to take the time to engage with me?

I pay more attention to what someone says when I know the message was thoughtfully considered for the network in which it appears. I am also more compelled to comment on these native posts — there’s a human behind them, not a script.

An additional benefit to this native posting plan is that I no longer need to worry about the complexities of cross-sharing across four networks.

Some folks do a very good job of tending their inter-network posts and there are certainly valid reasons for aggregation, it’s just not for me.

My primary, and perhaps sole, places for sharing and interaction will remain Facebook, FriendFeed, Google Buzz and Twitter. If you see something that I have written in any of these places, you’ll know that is exactly where I intended it to appear — you’ll know that I selected that specific item to share with you, where you are.

Google Buzz Blogging Is Real Real-Time

I've been advocating Google Buzz as a blogging platform since its start early last month and posted a general example of a Buzz Blog about two weeks ago. After writing my first true Buzz Blog post yesterday, a review of the iPhone Buzz client Buzzie, I am even more convinced that Buzz is a powerful, real-time blogging platform.

For most people, I think the best way to get thoughts, shares and ideas noticed is to put them directly in front of the largest number of people in the places where they spend the most time. Today those places are the feeds at Facebook, Twitter and now Google Buzz -- The Big Three. I should note that private posts in a Facebook feed are invisible to Google and don't have as much value as public posts.  I use a Facebook Page, which Pages are now indexed by Google in real-time.

I will not argue that the traditional blog or that RSS is dead, just that people should be exposed to your thoughts, shares and ideas where the people already congregate.  The more influential folks can still elicit that crucial mouse-click to their respective blog sites, but for everyone else the best opportunity for exposure is in the feeds of The Big Three. I've previously laid out the reasons why I think Buzz is The Superior Sharing Network.

The ideal Buzz Blog should be less than about 800 characters -- any more than that collapses the Buzz formatted text field into about four lines of plain text. Don't expect folks to make that one extra click to expand and reveal your writing -- format your Buzz Blog to appear in its entirety. See my quick primer on Buzz Blogging at Buzz. If you've spent the past few years distilling your thoughts into 140 characters tweets, don't think of Buzz as a way to say the same thing in 800 characters.  A Buzz Blog requires the same economy with words, you just have room to say more. A Buzz Blog can be spontaneous, but should still be edited as carefully as a traditional blog post.

When I read that the first iPhone Buzz app was released yesterday, Buzzie [iTunes link], I immediately saw the opportunity for a Buzz Blog. I bought the app, went through each page, grabbed screenshots, explored its functionality and compared Buzzie to the Mobile Safari interface for Buzz. I could have written a blog post here, but expecting folks to click through and read it was simply too much to ask. I figured that putting a quick review with pictures right in front of my Buzz friends was likely to get more attention.

I think it worked.  I not only received Likes for the Buzzie Buzz Blog post, but a discussion emerged. I've only been blogging for about a year and have had very few discussions and comments here at starnes.com.

It's great if your new blog post notifications are now broadcast in real-time across your social networks, but Google Buzz offers the opportunity to bring your thoughts, shares and ideas directly to the people.  Such a strategy, in my opinion, is more effective than trying to bring the people to your blog.

Finally, as I was thinking about how I would express my own thoughts this morning regarding Buzz Blogging, I came across this Buzz Blog post from DeWitt Clinton, who has quickly become Google's thoughtful, intelligent voice on Buzz:

Buzz has reminded me how much I enjoy blogging.

In the year since my last actual blog post, I've sent several hundred Twitter messages, posted over a thousand comments on FriendFeed, and left several dozen or so comments on Facebook, Disqus, Blogger, and elsewhere. But no blog posts.

Yet since Buzz launched less than a month ago I've written 47 updates here, each one of them essentially a blog post in itself, averaging 208 words per update. That's more than one post a day, which is far more than I ever wrote on my blog.

I'm not exactly sure why I post so much long-form content on Buzz, especially after I effectively abandoned my old site.

But I am doing it, so Buzz is obviously doing something right

Google _is_ doing something right with *Buzz* and I like it.

Take Control of Facebook Game Applications | Update #3

Updated March 1, 2010. This blog writing was originally published in December of last year and now reflects changes to Facebook’s user interface since then.

Despite the below information being widely distributed across the internet and residing within Facebook itself, I still come across folks on social networks, almost daily, who complain about Facebook game apps. Some even say they may quit Facebook because of the app messages in their Feed. This writing represents my effort to promote harmony between those who are annoyed by Facebook game apps and those who enjoy them.

It should be noted that today, March 1, Facebook officially ended app notifications.  Your Feed will still display app messages unless you filter or block them, but you should no longer receive notifications in your Notifications Tab.  This tab sits in the upper left-hand area of your Facebook and shows red numbers over an Earth icon.  If you’re still getting app notifications and don’t want to wait for your Facebook to get the new feature, simply click the Notifications Earth icon, scroll to the bottom and click See All Notifications and in the right column uncheck the apps you want to silence.  Apps you block using the methods explained below will also be blocked from sending notifications.

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Imagine if you could selectively block your friend or mate from saying anything that annoys you.  What if you could press a few buttons and keep an old flame out of your business?  Unlike relationships in the meatspace, Facebook does provide such tools which allow almost absolute control over what you see and what sees you on Facebook.  But if you desire absolute privacy, don’t put private information on the Internet.

You may not like Facebook games, aka apps, but your best friend may have just reached Level 32 on Farmville and may be flooding your Feed with updates and messages.  While these Feed messages may be worthless, nauseating, space-filling noise to you, they’re likely important to your friend.  For many apps, these messages alert other players to special prizes or rewards.

In addition to the Feed updates, Facebook game apps do another thing that may alarm you — they access certain information from you, even if you have not authorized the respective app.  That’s right, games your Facebook friends are playing have the ability to access your information, even if you are not playing.

According to Facebook:

All applications must respect existing privacy settings. For example, if an application creates a slideshow of your photo albums, and a certain album is set to “Only My Friends”, it may only display that slideshow to your friends.

Simply put, Facebook says they will not break your own privacy settings.  If your friend can see your relationship status, the app he/she joins can also see that status.

Take Control

1. Hide The App In Your Feeds.

This is simple.  Just find a message from the offending app in your Live Feed or News Feed, hover your cursor in the right column and click Hide. All future messages from that app will not appear in your Feeds.

To un-hide the app or see what apps you have hidden, go to your Top News Feed and scroll to the bottom of the page and click Edit Options.

2. Block The App At Its Source.

If you want to keep an app from accessing your information and from sending you invitations, you can go directly to the specific app and block it. Go to the Facebook Search field at the top of any Facebook page and enter the name of the app. In the search results, be sure you choose the game’s Application Page and not the game’s Fan Page — it will be labeled as an application in the search results.

 From the Application Page

Dialog Box After Clicking “Block Application”

To view the apps you may have blocked, go the top right of your Facebook page and click the Account menu, then choose Privacy, then select Applications and Websites, then Blocked Applications. At this settings window you can also unblock Facebook apps.

Here is what that window looks like:

3. Block Specific Friends From Sending App Invites.

To block specific friends from sending app invites, go to the Account menu at the top right of your Facebook page, then choose Privacy, then select Applications and Websites, then Ignore Application Invites.

Enter in the offending friend’s name and your peace is restored.

Here is what that window looks like:

4. Modify What Info Apps Can Access.

This step will apply to all apps — it literally defines what information Facebook apps can access in your profile.

Back to the Account menu — click it and then choose Privacy, then select Applications and Websites, then What your friends can share about you.

Below is what you should see:

The above shows my Application Privacy Settings.  I’ve chosen not to share any of the information shown in this list with Facebook apps.  Remember, apps your friends use can access the information checked in the above list, even if you are not using that respective app. Also note that apps will always have access to your publicly available information: “Name, Profile Picture, Gender, Current City, Networks, Friend List, and Pages.”

If you wish to keep your information private from all Facebook apps, you basically have to remove all of the Facebook apps you may be using by first going to the Account menu then clicking the Applications option. On this Settings page you can view apps by Recently Used, Bookmarked, Added to Profile, Authorized, Allowed to Post, Granted Additional Permissions and Facebook Prototypes.

Authorized Apps is a good place to start cleaning up what is likely a surprising number of accumulated apps.  If you are on a determined mission to tidy up your current apps list, be careful you don’t remove an app you may be using!

When I first wrote this article I played many Facebook games, so I don’t mean to show any bias against the games used as examples above.  Farmville was actually one of my favorites.  For me, some of these games offered simple brain decompression after a hectic day.  My eighty year-old Grandfather still plays Farmville and I remain sensitive to letting the gaming folks enjoy themselves.

In a community now consisting of hundreds of millions of users, Facebook is wildly diverse.  Some folks like to use Facebook in different ways than you use it. Facebook has provided the tools to block what you don’t want to see and protect the information you’d like to try to keep private.  It’s up to you to apply these tools and create your own ideal Facebook experience, while letting other folks create theirs.

Note: Skitch for OS X used above for the screen captures and notations.  I think it’s a great OS X app.