Social Media and Me

or.. Why I don't use Facebook?

I recently received exciting news from a friend, via a message on WhatsApp.  I replied directly, congratulating him.  I later learned that the same news had been shared via Facebook.  Of course, here many others posted their messages of congratulations.  Along with the inevitable "Like" thumbs up.

I don't disagree with the sentiment, but I do wonder how impersonal it is.  Surely it would take just a few seconds extra to send a personal, private, message to say "well done", or "great news".

It's a small gesture, but I believe today we are so wrapped up in social media, to the extent that our lives are broadcast in the moment.  Please, don't get me wrong.  I have been guilty in the past of posting photos of days out, birthday messages etc.  I still post on Twitter; but if it's to someone in particular, then I send a Direct Message to them, and them alone.  Or, I send them a text message.  Maybe even an email.


Social media is terrific for sharing; but it gets quite impersonal.  Monotonous even.  The same people, day in, day out; posting photos of their days out, dogs, cats, achievements, children's achievements...

I totally understand that it's exciting to tell everyone some good news; but what happened to the personal touch.  The days when the "bush telegraph" took over and the news spread via telephone - I think it was called gossip.  Now; it's instant...out there, in your face...

I'm not completely anti social media; it has its uses and I do use it; I post occasionally to Instagram, but use it mainly for following people and interests. 
I also use Google+, mainly for the communities. Again,  I don't feel the need to post all the time.

I don't 'do'  Snapchat; I'm not their target demographic and I don't use Foursquare (does anyone, anymore?)

So,  I'm happy with my life outside social media, just dipping my toe in every now and then.  I certainly don't feel the need to post my daily lives to all and sundry - those I want to know, I tell.

And if I send you a personal message, directly,  it's because I value you as an individual.

Review - Blaq

Follow me on Twitter.

We hear and read it all the time.  Twitter - a social media monster, that has taken the world by storm, and in my opinion, beats facebook every time.

It's quick.  It's succinct.  It's in the moment - quite literally.

There are many desktop and mobile applications to manage your Twitter feed, but today I'm concentrating on one that, again in my opinion, is the best of breed, on BlackBerry 10.

Originally developed for the PlayBook, the team re-designed and re-built the application from the ground up, for BlackBerry 10.



First of all , it's native.  That means it's been built specifically for OS10 and not ported across from Android.
It up dates in real-time - there's no need to refresh, it will just do it.

When you first run the app, it launches in Help mode, leading you through the various features.  It's a nice touch, and you can access it again via Help in the settings menu.

The active frame (the minimised window) doesn't show recent tweets, but it does update if you receive a mention or direct message.  There's colour-coding for the different streams, so it's easy to see at a glance.
With BBM integration, you can share tweets with BBM contacts.

There is auto-completion of Twitter names, when adding to a tweet, which is more fulfilling than doing it on the native Twitter app.

Blaq can host multiple accounts, which are easy to switch between, so if you have more than one; i.e. for personal and business use, then you'll like the way this works.

Using simple gestures, you can access your Mentions, Direct Messages, Favourites and Lists.  You can also see a view of all your tweets that have been re-tweeted.  A nice touch.  There isn't a Connect view, and you can't see which of your tweets have been "favourite'd"!

A killer feature, for me anyway, is the ability to schedule tweets.  By accessing the settings icon, you can set the date and time for the tweet to be published.  If you have more than one, you can view a list of the scheduled tweets.

You can see previews of images in the tweets, and select them to open in full size.  From there you have the option to share it, save it, or even set as a wallpaper.

In the settings menu, you have ability to change the font size as well as the frequency with which the timeline is updated.  Note, when open, the timeline automatically updates - you can watch it do this as tweets flood in! However, when minimised to the active frame, the more often it refreshes in the background, the greater the drain on the battery.  The lowest you can set is 5 minutes, and the longest is an hour.

For each account, you can set the notifications individually.  This is one area where I find Blaq weak.
Mentions and Direct Message notifications tend to be late, so I have the option turned off in Blaq, and just use the native Twitter notifications.
It's also possible to set if you want the timeline to show your last read tweet, or to start at the latest tweet.

It goes without saying that you can post photos from the app, either directly from the camera, or by selecting an image from your library.

All in all, this is my "Go To" Twitter app.

Blaq is available for all BlackBerry10 devices, and is just £2.00.  Well worth it, if you as me.

You can find Blaq in BlackBerry World.

NB - After I wrote this, there was an post on CrackBerry about some upcoming changes.. all good stuff

Hello Google+ - - - Goodbye Facebook!!

Recently heralded with great excitement and enthusiasm, this new social networking site from the famous search giant is in it's infancy; with an incredible 10,000,000 (yes, that's 10 million) users.

Amazing, since it hasn't even been officially released to the masses!!

I was itching for an invite to 'have a look' and a Twitter friend kindly obliged.


It's taken some getting used to.
What am I saying - it's taking some getting used to; but it dawned on me the other morning that I didn't go straight to facebook, to see what's happening.  My first port of call was Google+.

Circles
One of the big benefits are in what Google has called "Circles".  The ability to create what are, essentially, lists of different people, so it's possible to target updates, comments and discussions, to relevant parties.
It's clear, crisp and fresh.

For example, I have Circles for my Family, Real Life Friends, my Twitter Friends and Work colleagues.  You could have Circles of many different categories, and you can have people across multiple Circles.  It's so easy to drag and drop names around.  I'm still 'playing' with getting the right people in the right place...

Conversations are at the heart of Google+, but one huge benefit is the control you have over who sees what.  Now that you have Circles, you can have a one-to-one chat with someone, include more people in a discussion; or throw it open to the world.

Oh - and if you have an Android handset, by all accounts, the Google+ app is excellent.  I can't vouch for it.  However the mobile version of the site, on iPhone and iPad, will leave users wanting; as with BlackBerry (although my PlayBook does manage very well with the full, desktop version).

Hangouts
Instant messaging is available with integration to Google Chat; and with Google Hangouts, you can also video chat with up to 10 other people at at time - great for families, friends, and even businesses for video conferencing.

Photos
Finally - the ability to add photos to your online album, and share them with certain people.
Like I mentioned earlier, on Google+ you can share what you want, with who you want; so if you only want certain people to see your photos of a night out - you have the control.

Whether publicly, a group of people, or just one person.  The choice is yours.

After the video, you can read about my new 'experiment'.



The Experiment


So; from today, and for a trial period (although, who knows, it could become permanent) I will be leaving the facebook world behind me!

I say this with a few caveats:

• My Blog and I will still be published on Facebook- so you can still get your dose of my thoughts etc; but if you haven't 'Liked' my page, this could be the last post you read.
• My Foursquare updates will continue - mainly because they are automated. And I know you like to know if I get my morning coffee!
• I will react and respond to messages - I won't ignore you.
• I won't be updating my status, and I won't be commenting (or liking) any statuses.
• I won't be chatting either - If you want to chat; come on over to Google+ (or BBM or text me!)

No-one in the house thinks I can do this!

I can and I will...

At the moment, you can join Google+ by invitation.  Over the next few days you  may start to receive messages that I've added you to a Circle.  Don't be shy.  It costs nothing to look, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

I'm also still on Twitter, so you can follow me there @doonytime

So - Goodbye facebook; or should that be à bientôt.

iPad - App Review

It's been a few months since I purchased my iPad (16Gb Wi-Fi Only) and thought I'd revisit some of the apps I've downloaded.  I've already written reviews on some of them, but there are others that are worthy of a mention too.

There's no obvious place to start, and with the lack of folders on the current OS (will have to wait for OS4 in November before we get them) I have split my apps into various screens.

A screen for business apps, one for news etc, another for games.  And so on.

Firstly; the apps that I have docked at the bottom of the screen are:
Toodledo - Task management has never been so easy; and it synchronises with the web too
Informant HD - Diary and task management (integrated with Toodledo, see above)
FeeddlerPro - An RSS feeder that synchronises with Google Reader
Kindle - THE ebook reader, from Amazon
Also Safari and iPod

Screen 1 - Apart from some of the standard, pre-loaded apps, I have
BBC iPlayer (which technically isn't an app; but a link to the site)
CineXPlayer - for watching XVid movies; now you're not tied to iTunes
DocsToGo - Familiar to BlackBerry users, this app gives you word, excel and more
Dropbox
AccuWeather - Need to know the forecast - this is a great free app
PrintCentral - An app to print from the iPad via Wi-Fi; excellent application
ZumoCast - Listen to music or watch films hosted on your desktop PC; via Wi-Fi

Screen 2
Facebook - This is the iPhone app; which doesn't look good at all - but it works!
Twitter - The app for iPad is very well thought out
Photo fx Ultra - Ideal for photo editing / enhancing
Wikihood - What's around the area you're in - Wikipedia for the local area
IMDb - The No.1 app for movie fans
Sky+ - Full access to the Sky programme schedules, and you can set it to record too
NASA - Pictures, video, news and more about space
LinkedIn - This is the iPhone app, and looks rubbish on the iPad; but it works
Instapaper - Download webpages to read offline

Screen 3
BBC News
TripIt - Online journey planner
Flipboard - A personalised, 'Live', magazine; which displays Facebook and Twitter in an interesting format
Sky Sports - General sports news; would be better if more video provided
Eurosport - Access to more sports news

Screen 4
Bloomberg - Business news.  Plus, how are your shares performing?
Teamviewer - A great, free, app for remote-access to other PCs/Laptops.  Ideal for helping others
Other pre-loaded iPad apps, that I don't use

Screen 5
Angry Birds - Very addictive (I have the iPhone version; but there is an iPad specific one too)
NFS Shift - Racing cars through cityscapes!!
Tesla Wars - Defend your area type game
MultiPong - Shows off the touch aspect of the iPad, with excellent graphics
Real Solitaire - Solitaire - nuff said!
Conquist - Like Risk, only playing against computers as well as your friends
Slice It - Addictive or what?  Very clever, and frustrating.

So there you go; just some of the apps that reside on my iPad. 

What iPad apps do you have that might be worth considering?

Flipboard Review - A social magazine for the iPad

On Wednesday, a new application made its appearance on the AppStore.

OK - I might be going iPad mad at the moment, but this is free (we like free stuff) and it bills itself as a social magazine.

Imagine the worlds of Twitter and Facebook being presented in magazine format.  It's a clever concept, and once I'd got over the initial hurdle of linking my accounts (due to everyone trying at the same time, and their servers being unable to cope - where have we heard that before!) I found it to be quite beguiling.

I'm not a huge twitterer (or should that be tweeter?) but I do dip in occasionally, to see what's going on.  Indeed, this blog will appear on there, as a means to drive traffic to read it.  I'm also not a massive user of Facebook - I update my status every now and then, but otherwise, I just catch up on what's going on.

So when I heard about Flipboard, I wasn't sure of the relevance to me.  However, I have been quite surprised.  I'm not sure how it can be free, indeed I don't know the business model behind it, but I reckon there'll be adverts popping up soon, which, if handled and presented properly, won't interfere with the overall flow of the application.



When you start it up, you are presented with the 'cover' page.  Flip it across, and you will see 9 boards. In fact, you'll see 6, with space for three more.

The top left ones are free for you to add your Twitter and Facebook accounts.  The rest are populated by Flipboard, and these can be changed as you like.

When you select a board, the page flips over, and presents you with the content.  Twitter, for example, shows updates from the last few minutes, and it is possible to open them further and comment; just as you would reply. You can also see other replies.
Some tweets refer to actual website addresses (urls), and these are presented in full, rather than just the link; with further links to the website.
I like the fact that you can reply to posts, but you can't post directly from the app.  This could be something that is introduced in a later release.  For now, though, I can live without it.

On the Facebook page, again, statuses are presented, and you can 'Like' and comment, just as you would on the website.  You can click on the "Read on the web" button, to take you to the page - although you'll need to sign into Facebook to get the real appreciation.

One great fact is that, if there is a video, it will play directly in Flipboard - I tried it, and it worked beautifully.

If you want my opinion, I like it.  I can see what they're trying to achieve, and since this is the first release, you can forgive some of the missing  'nice to haves'.

If you have an iPad, this is definitely worth downloading.

Have you tried Flipboard?  What do you think?