Friendfeed Is All About Friends Who Reciprocate

29 09 2008

I think some people miss the point of Friendfeed, just like they miss the point of Facebook or any other social network. A social network is all about networking and reciprocating. It’s all about talking to one another. But if you subscribe to someone and they don’t return the favour, that isn’t networking, that’s just being downright rude.   It’s like standing in the middle of a street and talking to a brick wall.  It also defeats the whole point of social networking in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »

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One-on-One: Meeting Jaime Mack

25 09 2008


(Brian Wallace and Jaime Mack enjoy a chat about entering social media)

Meeting Jaime was a bit different from meeting my first two meetups. Prior to meeting, Jaime had asked me via chat if I still wanted to meet up as he was so new to the social media scene. This made me think that this was exactly what 10 in 10 was for! What better a way to get more acquainted with social media for a newbie than meeting with a practitioner one-on-one?  Jaime has a regular day job, and for him, social media is more of a past time.  He’s most active on Plurk, with a pretty cool user name.

I gave Jaime some tips on getting he way around on social networks, even with limited time, and even some tips on getting a blog underway.

Jaime was local to the area, so Kevin Mason is still in the leader in the Geeks.com 10in10 contest.

Three weeks down, seven to go! Looking forward to meeting more of you in the upcoming weeks!

Previous 10 in 10 posts:



10 in 10 is Official: iPod Nano Anyone?

22 09 2008

So, I’ve suggested on here and a few other places about making the
#10in10 series into a contest. Well boys and girls, it’s official.


Geeks.com has officially sponsored the event, and is offering up
an iPod Nano to the individual that comes from the furthest away!


Currently, the front runner is Kevin Mason with an impressive showing, driving over 3 hours to meet up!

We’re only getting started, moving into week 3 of 10, so there is plenty
of time to try to oust the current leader…good luck everyone!

Previous 10 in 10 posts:



Digg Bannings: Interview with Diggboss

18 09 2008

With me today is a popular former Digg user, Diggboss. Thanks for joining me, Diggboss. Ok, let’s get right into it:

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you start getting into social media in the first place, and which network did you like the most from the start?

2. When did you first discover Digg, and what were your impressions of it back then? How do you think it has been in its progression and dealing with growth, enhancements, and issues?

Answer to 1 and 2 above -

Thanks for having me and giving me a chance to talk to you. I am a Freelance programmer. I specialize in Data Extraction services and writing web-robots or spiders as they are called. Hence the spider avatar.

My first exposure to social media was through digg.com. I didn’t know then that Digg was a “social media site.” I absolutely loved and still love Digg, I am not active on any other social media site other than Digg, i created accounts on Reddit, SU, etc but never found them as interesting as digg. I still don’t even have a MySpace or FaceBook account.

I guess I started from mid 2006, reading news and interesting geeky stuff on digg.com. I became an active Digg member since April 2007.

3. Although Digg has issues with your scripts as you have noted on your site (http://checkfriends.appspot.com/), any plans for creating scripts for other social media sites?

I am not into any other social media site as much as I was in Digg, I do use Plurk and Twitter sometime for micro-blogging but only rarely. So there are no plans for any scripts on any other site.

4. Had you kept your Digg scripts secret, only for personal use, would Digg have caught on you?

I could have kept it a secret but I thought it was a benefit to other Digg users so I wanted to share it. I had no idea it was going to end up like this.

5. Do you feel that your scripts had proper disclaimers on yours scripts? Remember that many Digg users probably don’t understand what goes into a script, API calls and the like. Do you feel upset that many people were just booted, assuming that the reason was due to your scripts?

My scripts used Digg APIs. Anyone can use Digg APIs. Digg data is open under Creative Commons.

6. Do you think that Digg was justified in banning you due to creating your scripts? It could be said that letting users create such scripts would give them an unfair competitive advantage versus diggers just using the tools that Digg alone provides.

Absolutely not as I said anyone with a little knowledge of CURL or WGET can make use of the APIs and do what I did.

7. Which begs the question: what should developers that work outsite of Digg be doing with the Digg API? Colorful charts of who’s Digging what? ;)

Digg is not FaceBook, coders please stay away from Digg. Digg does not have open policies and does not support coders. Every script is a BAD script. Digg uses its TOS to its advantage.


8. Ever think of starting your own social media site? Seems like you have the head for it.

Haha, thats an outrageous question, nope, never.

9. So what’s next for Diggboss?

I am sure Digg would restore my account, I don’t have an alternative. I am banned.

I loved Digg and will continue to love it, my love for digg is not conditional.



One-on-One with Kevin Mason

17 09 2008


(Brian Wallace and Kevin Mason meet up for a one-on-one chat)

Week two of the #10in10 experiment was a success. This week’s focus was Kevin Mason, who graciously drove all the way from Nashville, Tennessee!

Kevin runs a music marketing company by the name of Intensity Media.

It’s always fun to learn things about people that you just don’t get from a social networking profile. I soon learned that Kevin has already done a lifetime of experience in radio (and has the radio voice to prove it!), and I was quickly suggesting that he starts up a regular video blog, as I think people would find him interesting to listen to.

Having never heard Kevin’s voice before, I had figured a guy from Nashville would have a pretty heavy southern accent. Turned out that he had been from other points north and east, so that wasn’t the case! I’ve seen Kevin on Plurk and Twitter, but meeting him face-to-face showed me another dimension of who he was and what he was about. You can’t get a full view of a person from a few tweets and links.

Week 3 of 10 in 10 is up for grabs - if anyone is interested, please let me know! :)



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