Archive for: Online Communities

Online Tribes Can Avoid GigaTribe

Online communities have since been known as tribes. Thanks to Seth Godin’s famous book of the same title, it’s forced us to think of our online networks and communities in a unique light. Much like primitive tribes of earlier times, we’ve now formed digital tribes where we’ve found comfort in connections with people of similar interests, habits, hobbies, and histories. The tribes we belong to have a simple connectivity of communication that we long to maintain, enter Gigatribes.

The concept of communicating with your tribe is easy to see in networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or even LinkedIn. What if you wanted to share files in a local depository where all of your tribe can have access to? Or what if you only wanted to share with certain members of the tribe? Gigatribes allows you to build your community, much like any other social network, but now you’re able to share large files seamlessly and with out problems.

But there is a problem. How is this different from DropBox? Or maybe ZumoBox? Or any other of the hundreds of file sharing sites. In looking at the application itself I didn’t see anything that really stood out to make this the go to community file sharing network out there.

What it’ll come down to is comfort level and ease of use for your needs. DropBox and Zumobox both have mobile apps that give you access to your files on the go. No such app was found for Gigatribes which already puts this network at a disadvantage.

Web App Buffers Timely Online Communication

Heard of Twitter? Sure the whole world has by now. Lone tribes on far islands have heard about Twitter. This massively immersive and widely used micro-blogging network has become a staple for both our personal and professional lives. The world seems to still be feeling the “Twitter effect” as industries adapt their existing messages to fit the fast paced world of this social network.

But do you ever feel like you’re being left behind? Perhaps not enough time to get the right message in a timely fashion? Now there’s a solution to that.

Twuffer presents itself as the buffer between you and your timed messages. By using the web application, you are able to preset messages on a timed schedule to be released on your network at the times you think most important. The possibilities of this type of functionality are as endless as your creativity.

The web app is easy to use and can serve you to better time your announcements, set reminders for yourself or others, engage in timed online activities, or, as the site suggests, make it appear as if you never sleep. The practicality of this app seems pretty straightforward.

The application is currently in beta, but your able to explore what it has to offer pretty seamlessly. I suggest you give it a try to announce regular days when your podcast or blog post will go live, or perhaps some other similar campaign to see if Twuffer is right for you!

Screenjelly Records Your Screen

Screenjelly is perhaps the easiest screen recorder you'll ever use.

There are a lot of applications that claim to be the leader in capturing and recording your screen. Well I’m not making that claim with Screenjelly, but I will say it’s the easiest I’ve ever used.

Why?

Well unlike most other free screen capture applications, you don’t need to create a profile or sign up for an account. You also don’t need to download anything or log-in for access, you simply go to the site and start the process. The ease of use is a welcomed approach for new users who are not familiar with existing screen recording applications. There is little barrier into the service and users do not get mired down with having to check their emails to authorize emails and other such necessities when creating a new account.

Screenjelly also has a close relationship with Twitter, where you can easily share your recordings directly with your followers, and instantly get feedback. It’s pretty tempting if you’re looking at doing something quick. There are no screen share capabilities to pass it on to someone else, there’s not meeting function for chat function to share with other users, this is just purely setup to record what’s on your screen and the audio being sent via your microphone.

Classy, Unobtrusive Twitter “Follow” Badges

We at Crenk scour the net for stories, apps, humor pieces, and useful additions for your productivity and websites. Here’s a quick something that a lot of us on Twitter have been looking for, a classy badge.

Lots of sites out there offer Twitter badges that you install and more often than not they can take up valuable real estate on your site, so here’s a nice SITE that can help you instantly create a very unobtrusive “Follow” badge for your site that users can click on, while saving space on your site.

It’s not an issue for everyone, but I thought it would be useful for some.

Blellow, Social Network for Freelancers

Blellow burst onto the scene a few months ago, and after winning a few awards paired with an explosive launch at SXSW, the social networking site is experiencing explosive growth. For any self starters, entrepreneur, freelancer, or contract worker, this network has been the hub for meeting new people, finding job leads, and joining project teams seeking specific talents. Companies are welcome to also post their job listings for a reduced nominal fee to attract some highly talented professionals.

The unique name is an extension of its unique community. Putting together some of the best aspects of popular social networking sites, it fosters creativity, innovation, and looks to be the dominant force in finding work for the self starters around the world. While Elance and Odesk serve as bidding job boards, Blellow looks to use its extensive network to rely on recommendations and friendly introductions to new people to pair people with the right project.

If you’re looking to expand your contacts, find unique job postings, and converse with people in a specific industry or topic, then Blellow is the place to network!

What’s the Deal With Authority Based Search?

It’s a known fact that if you’re on a social network, there are those that are simply on to connect with a few people, co-workers, family, old friends; there are also those that connect professionally because they are considered industry leaders in their field and they attract a lot of attention when they say something or share something on their profile. I’m not touting to be one of those people, but we all know who they are. Whether you’re in media, finance, law, science, there are people that we follow that people listen to.

Still no matter what level we are in with regards on online status, many of us go through the same facets of life, experience the same problems at the home, at work, in conferences, etc. These topics blur the line of who we are when people do a search for us. Someone doing research or looking to find credible information on a topic might come across someones rant just as easily as they would someones concise opinion on a situation.

It’s this very premise that the idea of authority based searching be something all social networks consider, more specifically, Twitter.

The Low-Down

This most recent cage rattling has resurfaced thanks to Loic Le Meur, and his pleading with Twitter to build in this authority based search function to filter out, for lack of a better word, the rabble. I highly respect Loic and all of his efforts with Le Web ‘08 this year, and despite the backlash it received regarding the finer details, I thought what was UStreamed was quality panel discussions and speakers. Someone of Loic’s capacity does a lot of Internet searching, finding hot trends, finding the right people, and ultimately wants to make every minute he spends doing work count. If you don’t like Loic, substitute anyone you’d rather hear about in his place, the outcome is still the same. He only wants to read what top users are saying because their voice as a wider broadcasting scope as opposed to someone who only has 100 followers.

The question becomes does it matter? Well, the topic of discussion might be the same; there is a reason why someone with 100 followers would have come up on a search of that topic, but in terms of people listening, they just don’t have it. Users with a large established follower base are those that people go to when they are looking for information, thus becoming portals or hubs that can connect the seeker with the information he needs from either the hub or someone in that network of followers. Transfer the idea to real life. Do you take your ideas to someone on a soap box with five people watching, or to someone in a conference room with thousands of people listening?

Is This Discriminating?

So you’re one of those people with 100 followers, you’re reading what Loic is saying, and perhaps have heard others clamour for the same thing, are you offended? Does this make you feel like what you have to say has little worth compared to someone with a larger number of followers saying the same thing? I think it’s silly to think that just because you happen to be discussing the same topic as someone noteworthy, that you rank on the same level as them. It’s like having two degreed people with the same piece of paper, except one has 20+ years of experience and one just got their degree, there is no way they stand on the same ground.

As stated earlier in this post, the idea of authority based searching is nothing new. Technorati does this with its blog search function, filtering in search of sites with merit in terms of page hits and readership. It’s nothing new, but to those that fall out of the category it sounds pompous and conceited.

I disagree, I think there is definitely something to be said about finding the authorities on different topics for the sake of saving time and also ensuring that more people here what you have to say. Personally, I don’t see this happening with Twitter, but perhaps Loic has the power to make things happen. Right now Twitter has seemingly tackled the stability issue, needs to focus on a monetizing method, and who knows what else is happening internally.

I’m curious to hear what the readers have to say. Is there merit to authority based searching, or is this just conceited demands made by those in the top tier of their profession looking only to associate with other top tier professionals?

Sound off!

Crenk Wants You to Show Your Stuff!

Crenk is looking towards building a solid community of fans who not only provide us a sense of community around Crenk, but also have an opportunity to share their thoughts on some of our stories, and interact with other fans of Crenk.

The reason Crenk continues to go on is because of all of our loyal readers. Those new to Crenk are just as important and we welcome you and hope you leave your feedback. No site can stand alone, but together we can share ideas, innovation, and progressive thinking.

That being said, here’s what Crenk is looking for. All of you out there are amazing, smart, and techy people no doubt, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Share your story with us and show us your stuff. We’re looking for two things!

1. Send in a video or photo of all of your tech. Lay in a bed with it, sit in a chair with it, lay it out on a table and put yourself in it. Hell stand in a tech store and take a photo of all the stuff you want around you. We want to know what our fans are using, loving, and wanting to share with others.

2. We also want readers of our site to share their thoughts on stories. Send a quick video of your thoughts on articles posted on Crenk. No censorship as long as all videos are in good taste and profanity is used when appropriate. Otherwise, share your thoughts good or bad, and if you’d like, predict the future and let us know what you see in the future for a specific topic, product or brand.

Crenk’s Facebook Page just went live, so make sure to upload your files there, and we the staff of Crenk will be reviewing them. Could there be future benefits involved? Hmmmm…good question…what do you think?

Have fun!