Foursquare Mayor

Foursquare Mayor published on 10 Comments on Foursquare Mayor

Foursquare may ruin your life!!

It can create obsessive behaviour and the desire to constantly check your phone for updates.
– just like twitter.

You will be searching for friend to make and follow.
– just like twitter.

Secret tips and local info will be yours to exploit and use.
– just like twitter.

In fact, Foursquare has already been touted as the next big thing after twitter, by many blog & press sites
Eg:
Foursquare : Why it may be the next twitter (a pretty good summary of Foursquare)
Next Year’s Twitter? It’s Foursquare

This service has a narcissistic appeal and draws you in via simple things we all love :

  • Easy Rewards – Foursquare allows you to easily gain points and badges, to prove how good you are.
  • Bragging rights – You can also become the Mayor of a location, which means you (virtually) rule the roost for that spot.
  • Friendly Competition – Others can take the Mayor title from you if they check in there more, so if you want to keep the title, you may have to fight for it.

The social element of this service is what gives it extra appeal to the current pundits. Not to mention that, unlike Twitter, Foursquare is actually creating it’s own revenue stream.

It is smart, as it works in with Twitter, allowing it to easily capture the interest of those users & creating a promotional machine via their tweet streams.

I am also using another similar service called Gowalla. This service also offers points and rewards for visiting locations.
The interface of Gowalla is much more appealing visually, in my opinion.
Through this service, you can find items at different location, left there by previous visitors. These can be collected and disbursed later, when ever you choose to.

Gowalla is great, but the lack of a competition element like the ability to become a Mayor via foursquare, may let it down in the long run, I feel.
Also, I have managed to find ways to cheat in Foursquare. Gowalla doesn’t have the same loopholes.

So for someone who likes to have a little bit of glory as soon as possible, my pick is definitely Foursquare.
But time will tell……

What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment below.

He has never facebooked

He has never facebooked published on 11 Comments on He has never facebooked

Do you also find it amazing that some people still do not use facebook?

Isn’t there a law or something, that says everyone should be using some form of social media by now?

I am from an age group that watched the internet get born & flourish. I had no twitter, facebook, identica, myspace, bebo, etc when I was younger.

My triple screen was way more awesome that these double screen games that everyone else had.
My triple screen was way more awesome that these double screen games that everyone else had.

Heck, I even remember playing computer games on a black & green screen that were run from data on a cassette tape!

I recall showing my friends “PONG” and they were astounded.

There was even the time that I was king of the school for about a month, when I got a handheld Donkey Kong Jr game that had 3 – count ’em3 screens!

Now, even after growing up through all of the electronics progresses of the 80’s to now, I am sometimes very surprised to learn that someone is NOT using twitter, facebook, etc.

I am not alone in this. The younger generation just expect that people are using the same online tools as themselves.

People who don’t, get shunned in the same way that when I was young, you got shunned for still playing Pacman on a tabletop machine rather than a handheld device.

It is amazing how quickly we are accepting of new services & technology, and just think of them as “the norm”.

I wonder how long it will be now, until we laugh at people for using twitter or emial, rather than Google Wave??

No-one likes Clippy

No-one likes Clippy published on 6 Comments on No-one likes Clippy

Is Microsoft’s clippy the most hated animated avatar of all time?

I think he just may be. I don’t know of any other avatar characters that seem to have united computer users in the bonds of hate like Clippy has managed to do.

Originally intended to be a helpful assistant to guide you through using Microsoft Office, he instead became a target of hatred.
I blame this on his arrogant manner. It always felt like he thought he was better than you and was putting you down. (Maybe that was just me?)

He is (mostly) gone now, but I know how much time microsoft put into creating him, so I truly expect him back sometime in the future. Until then – let’s enjoy the silence….

Leave a comment and let me know who your most hated avatar character is, and why.

Before you go – please take a minute to visit this excellent little animation done by Shaun Moriarty.
I just had to share this with you, as I think the animation he has done for this song is just perfect.

>> Click here to enjoy “a social network for two

The Great Social Media Conspiracy

The Great Social Media Conspiracy published on 2 Comments on The Great Social Media Conspiracy

The Government is reading your tweets and plans to oppress you through facebook!

Social networks are just a front to get your information!
A grand conspiracy to place all an individuals information into massive government database so they can monitor & oppress you!

Well, that is the plan (if you believe in that sort of thing). Luckily, the internet has blown the lid off the top secret machinations so we can all be vigilant.

The curtain has been raised, and through the power of the internet, we now know so many things.
For example:

– Did you know that “Facebook is a CIA front” ?
Obama plans to oppress you via Facebook ?
– The CIA uses facebook to recruit new operatives ?
Twitter makes you dumber
– Twitter was created by mind control experts

So, as you casually tweet away, or play your facebook games, make sure your aluminium foil hat is on tight.