qedx
26-08-2008, 04:35 PM
What do you think about microblogging?
I guess before I go on I'd have to explain a bit more about microblogging for the uninitiated. You guys know about blogs, right? Well, microblogs are tiny versions of those. Usually the content is limited to 140 characters; just enough to fit in an SMS message (more on this later). Usually microblogs are built as a social networking service where users can follow other users on the same network to receive and send updates to them. Examples of microblogging services include Twitter (http://twitter.com), Rejaw (http://rejaw.com) and identi.ca (http://identi.ca).
Most of the time, microblogging services enable their users to send and receive updates through various means: from the web site itself, desktop applications, e-mail, instant messaging, and SMS. As you can assume this can lead to very interesting "live" messages from time to time.
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I have used Twitter (http://twitter.com/harisbinali) for over a year, and have until recently been happily using SMS to send and receive the occasional update from my brothers and a few other people I follow. Recently though, they stopped sending out messages via SMS for international users so that bummed a bit especially since their IM service is also down.
I wanted to try a local variant: Pacmee.com (http://pacmee.com) but have never been able to register - it seems they only allow registration via sms and I seem to be unable to send SMS to them. *shrug*
So now I have fled to identi.ca (http://identi.ca/haris). As a service it's pretty much what Twitter was before they started turning off services except for SMS. But at least their IM updates is up and running and they have built-in keyword tracking and post tagging. Also it's based on an open source microblogging platform: laconi.ca (http://laconi.ca), which you can easily deploy as your own private microblog if you so desire.
I guess before I go on I'd have to explain a bit more about microblogging for the uninitiated. You guys know about blogs, right? Well, microblogs are tiny versions of those. Usually the content is limited to 140 characters; just enough to fit in an SMS message (more on this later). Usually microblogs are built as a social networking service where users can follow other users on the same network to receive and send updates to them. Examples of microblogging services include Twitter (http://twitter.com), Rejaw (http://rejaw.com) and identi.ca (http://identi.ca).
Most of the time, microblogging services enable their users to send and receive updates through various means: from the web site itself, desktop applications, e-mail, instant messaging, and SMS. As you can assume this can lead to very interesting "live" messages from time to time.
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I have used Twitter (http://twitter.com/harisbinali) for over a year, and have until recently been happily using SMS to send and receive the occasional update from my brothers and a few other people I follow. Recently though, they stopped sending out messages via SMS for international users so that bummed a bit especially since their IM service is also down.
I wanted to try a local variant: Pacmee.com (http://pacmee.com) but have never been able to register - it seems they only allow registration via sms and I seem to be unable to send SMS to them. *shrug*
So now I have fled to identi.ca (http://identi.ca/haris). As a service it's pretty much what Twitter was before they started turning off services except for SMS. But at least their IM updates is up and running and they have built-in keyword tracking and post tagging. Also it's based on an open source microblogging platform: laconi.ca (http://laconi.ca), which you can easily deploy as your own private microblog if you so desire.