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07 The Twitter API is taking over the world.mp3 (9228 KB)

Boulder Open Podcast Episode 7: The Twitter API is taking over the world. Other services (Wordpress and Tumblr) are duplicating the Twitter API on their services to allow their users to post to their services using standard Twitter clients. It only takes one simple change in the app. Posts are mapped to their respective counterparts on the services. Dave likes the idea of a common/standard API (he's reminded of he quote: "Standards are great, everyone should have one.") He's concerned about the same content appearing on every service, and this might just make that easier. Wordpress and Tumblr content isn't the same as the live stream-of-consciousness content that's posted to Twitter. Dave thinks this will contribute to the normalization of these services from the user's perspective. Michael says that the developers can save time by not having to write their own apps if there's a standard API. Seesmic Desktop will already post to several services, as will many other desktop clients. The Wordpress blog post on the subject was authored by Matt Mullenweg. This could be the start of blogs with hundreds and hundreds of teeny tiny posts. Anything we can do to make less work for iPhone developers (gives us a better chance of finding an idle one!) is good.

Big things in 2010: Of course Apple and the rumored iSlate (or whatever). Google has over 300 services and products... keep an eye on Google Voice. And the blurring of the lines between Apple, iPhone, and Kindle. Apple's tablet will supersede the Kindle for lots in Apple land. Dave thinks the OS will be something other than what we currently know. Michael thinks it'll be Mac OS X Touch for the record. The price point is a challenge for the Kindle once the iSlate appears.

That's a wrap. You can find Dave at http://davetayloronline.com and Michael at http://friendmichael.com . You can find the show at http://boulderopenpodcast.com, iTunes, and http://callisto.fm

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06 Getting people on board (AKA The 7 Second Lamar Edit) 1.mp3 (17572 KB)

Boulder Open Podcast Episode 6: Getting people on board (AKA The 7 Second Lamar Edit). Social media - is it good for people that aren't already plugged in? Which tools are best? Not Tweetie vs. Tweetdeck, but more Facebook vs. LinkedIn vs. Twitter vs. Blogging, or a Podcast. What does Michael suggest for his mom? When she was looking for a job, he suggested LinkedIn because resumes are passe - no one really uses them anymore. Her concern was more about people finding her that she didn't want to talk to - the same with Facebook. His advice, just don't accept friendship requests from those people. It can't be an age thing, plenty of people 60+ are on these networks and love being there. Dave's answer? Connect with the people you want to, and pass on the others. It can be a tricky situation - it may lead to awkwardness in meatspace social situations. Friendships are accepted in some cases that wouldn't normally be, but one can just hide their updates from the news feed (in Facebook).There are benefits, but long time friendships (people from the past) may not be a compelling enough reason - maybe a better angle is being able to keep up with other family member happenings. Videos, Tweets, etc. Michael's relationship with his parents isn't one of constant contact, but far more casual - once a month or so via phone. His dad is everywhere (not as participatory as some, but he's there). His dad was one of the six people that bought a Droid too (it's a joke dad, I know you love it!). Not everyone needs these networks of course, but they can certainly be fun. Facebook is the premier social network. You can find some great stuff in the pages and groups. There was a special on the local CBS affiliate - a guy posted a toy drive on his Facebook page and it increased toy donations significantly. Topic two: Which tool is right for you? Dave's a blogger, and tweets, etc. Which is better? Dave dislikes people that feed tweets to Facebook. Now Michael knows why Dave doesn't see his updates in Facebook. Each network has update frequency expectations (no rules of course, just expectations). For LinkedIn, it would be weird if people updated every 2 hours. It would be odd to not update that frequently on Twitter. |-) Seeing the same updates in Twitter and Facebook isn't OK with Dave. Where's the line? If "I" wanted to follow you on Twitter I would, so don't send your Twitter updates to Facebook. Michael has his Twitter connected to Facebook, and *never* updates Facebook specifically. The Twitter Facebook updater doesn't include @replies. There's one app that filters the Tweet and looks for #fb and only populates Facebook with that one. Better filters FTW! Dave thinks the filtering possibilities in the news feed have taken a step backwards. Michael thinks it's fine. Twitter is for short form blogging? Has Twitter replaced blogging for many? Dave says the shorter the message, the harder it is to have a meaningful conversation. Broadcast media (30 years ago) had lots of investigative journalism. Today, stories are a minute or two (and they are all about things blowing up and people dying). The same thing is happening with Twitter. Dave prefers the long form review of a movie for example though there are people that really shouldn't elaborate too much. Pick the conversations that suit you and use that medium. Is regular blogging too much of a pain for the n00b? There are lots of great blogging platforms that make long form blogging relatively easy to set up. Five minutes later you have a platform! Speaking of screwing around.. is Lamar's project up? :) How much time are you going to invest in the conversation? In the beginning, there is none... it takes time to build any kind of audience. Follow people that are interesting to you as a start. How to get new friends? Engage in a conversation with people that have more followers and/or influence. [The problem is that the option for everyone to see @replies to people they don't follow is gone baby, gone. A trick to getting that functionality is to put a . in front of the @ when replying] Snipe friends from your friends follower/following lists. When requesting friendship on Facebook or LinkedIn state in the request why you want to be friends - even if it's simple "we go to the same church." Dave gets half a dozen requests a week from people he has no connection to. He ignores them. Check out http://twtrfrnd.com to see how well new followers fit into your circle. Which people do you have in common? Please don't give your Twitter credentials to sites! Experiment, and have fun. This is episode 6, thanks for listening! Find us at http://callisto.fm For more, see http://boulderopenpodcast.com Brought to you by DuctTape® Because without it, it would be really hard to be a parent!

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03 Boulder Open Podcast Episode 3 Monetizing the stream.mp3 (16556 KB)

Advertising and/in social media. Monetizing the "social stream." Dave signed up for Ad.ly, and sent a tweet offering the link to his followers. The link he sent was an affiliate link. A few cried foul, and one unfollowed him. No ads have gone out as of yet. Maybe a lot of flitter about nothing? A small subset says "eek" and unfollows when things like this happen. It'll be no more than one tweet in the stream every two days. Sounds un-intrusive given the number of tweets Dave sends out. Michael views Twitter as a personal conversation. Scenario to prove a point: A group of friends are hanging out at a bar, and one stands up and spouts out an a (completely out of context) "Have you heard about the new blah blah blah?" Dave sees that as awkward too, but throws out another scenario or two. No one knows what the ads are going to look like. Maybe it'll contextual, gives a Clooney movie reference. Ad.Ly asked Dave to categorize his tweets, he said only "Film" and as long as ads are centered around cinema it'll be ok. Dave suggests that the friend mentioned above could share the revenue with the table... but that's not the case. It gets fuzzy, and the less you tweet the less annoying it'll be. There's a clear delineation between commercial flavored twitter account, and a personal account. Ads in the commercial flavor might be more acceptable. How does all of this affect those of us that link our twitter accounts to all of our other accounts? Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, MySpace (lol.). What are you trying to accomplish with you social media participation? Dave notes his followers are interested in how he's using SM, and how he's making money. That subset is interested in the ads, from the statistical standpoint. Twitter clients need filtering. If ads were tagged with [adv] then we could filter them out. Problem solved. Tweetie? You listening? Following is black and white right now, and filtering gives us some grey area to play in. Dave follows very few based on his follower count. As does Michael. It's about 3 to 1 for Michael Event hashtags can get annoying, but filters again would fix that issue too. Magpie, Dave signed up for that, no one noticed (except that one guy again). Michael unfollowed plenty of people because his twitter stream was just crammed with people jumping on the Magpie bandwagon. Total insanity. Facebook is doing a great job with ads. They're using and self control, and the user is benefitting. Don't over saturate. Examine the user's twitter stream for relevant ad quantities, say a minimum is 5% of the tweets, and a max of twice a day? Neat idea. People that are 100% in to monetizing the stream aren't people Michael is going to follow anyway. Content needs to be about more than your product of service, then you'll get friends and followers. We have 2 listeners, right? This one is relevant baby! That's a wrap. For more on Dave Taylor, find him at http://davetayloronline.com and for more on Michael, check out http://friendmichael.com

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03 Boulder Open Podcast Episode 3 Monetizing the stream.mp3 (16556 KB)

Advertising and/in social media. Monetizing the "social stream." Dave signed up for Ad.ly, and sent a tweet offering the link to his followers. The link he sent was an affiliate link. A few cried foul, and one unfollowed him. No ads have gone out as of yet. Maybe a lot of flitter about nothing? A small subset says "eek" and unfollows when things like this happen. It'll be no more than one tweet in the stream every two days. Sounds un-intrusive given the number of tweets Dave sends out. Michael views Twitter as a personal conversation. Scenario to prove a point: A group of friends are hanging out at a bar, and one stands up and spouts out an a (completely out of context) "Have you heard about the new blah blah blah?" Dave sees that as awkward too, but throws out another scenario or two. No one knows what the ads are going to look like. Maybe it'll contextual, gives a Clooney movie reference. Ad.Ly asked Dave to categorize his tweets, he said only "Film" and as long as ads are centered around cinema it'll be ok. Dave suggests that the friend mentioned above could share the revenue with the table... but that's not the case. It gets fuzzy, and the less you tweet the less annoying it'll be. There's a clear delineation between commercial flavored twitter account, and a personal account. Ads in the commercial flavor might be more acceptable. How does all of this affect those of us that link our twitter accounts to all of our other accounts? Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, MySpace (lol.). What are you trying to accomplish with you social media participation? Dave notes his followers are interested in how he's using SM, and how he's making money. That subset is interested in the ads, from the statistical standpoint. Twitter clients need filtering. If ads were tagged with [adv] then we could filter them out. Problem solved. Tweetie? You listening? Following is black and white right now, and filtering gives us some grey area to play in. Dave follows very few based on his follower count. As does Michael. It's about 3 to 1 for Michael Event hashtags can get annoying, but filters again would fix that issue too. Magpie, Dave signed up for that, no one noticed (except that one guy again). Michael unfollowed plenty of people because his twitter stream was just crammed with people jumping on the Magpie bandwagon. Total insanity. Facebook is doing a great job with ads. They're using and self control, and the user is benefitting. Don't over saturate. Examine the user's twitter stream for relevant ad quantities, say a minimum is 5% of the tweets, and a max of twice a day? Neat idea. People that are 100% in to monetizing the stream aren't people Michael is going to follow anyway. Content needs to be about more than your product of service, then you'll get friends and followers. We have 2 listeners, right? This one is relevant baby! That's a wrap. For more on Dave Taylor, find him at http://davetayloronline.com and for more on Michael, check out http://friendmichael.com