Social Networks, XFN and the Future

After a rather odd post from me last time about the ring-fence, non-privacy that is Facebook (perhaps a d.construct fuelled blip) here's something as an alternative.

Since reading this article on the Digital Web Magazine, and more recently Tantek Celik's presentation at d.construct the possiblilty of an open social network has been once again running through my mind.

Potentially XFN has the power to give meaning to what we have and do on the web. If I were to sumble on to my blog, I'd be able to know that I've a presence on Last FM, and Facebook, and I built Pigeonbasics, and F1-Fans, etc, and vice versa if I were to start from my Last FM profile.

Where before you only had the details given on that specific site, now it's about the bigger picture, my presence on the entire web.

Mind there are some questions; do you want everything you do on the web to be accessible so easily? How would you block some parts from others - with confidence? How would you handle privacy? Or actually is anything we do on the net private?

With confusing conceptions about privacy, and security amongst the average net user, while I think XFN is useful, and good, I am sure there are a thousand that would find it scary and intrusive.

Having data on the web (having lots of it) and then having a meaning attached to that data is a big shift, and I think it'll take a very long time for it to be accepted (or even understood) amongst your average user.

Facebook I dont love you no more

You wooed me whilst I was at university, all my friends loved you. You brought us closer together, you meant finding people was easy - all important when finding yourself in a new country, around new people and a new life.

You gave a standard format for entering all my interesting(?) details, and finding the same from my friends.

What went wrong Facebook?

You're now a clutter of clashing pages and useless 'applications'. You don't even know who you are any more. I mean either roll out your 'new' persona or keep the old one - at least be consistent!

The power and potential from what I saw in you has since gone; how is something useful to me if I'm the only one I know that uses it? I already know about me...

...and now you know about me, but you seem overly intent on keeping it that way. Why can I not access my information to use on different online services...

Identity and privacy are rare commodities - I only have one identity, but are you really private when I don't own my information anymore? If I wish to give another website, another person, my details that is up to me, not you... you holding my data captive is surly an admission of exactly what you have always strived against. All your privacy and security you so loudly tout is null and void because you, not me, hold the key.

You hold me hostage now Facebook and that's why I don't love you no more.

iPhone 2.0 Apps don't live up to expectations

After all the trouble updating my iPhone to 2.0 yesterday, it was about midnight when I first got my hands on the first Apps.

I downloaded, Twitterific, Facebook, iPint and a couple of others, and my overall reaction is that they're poor.

I expected fully functioning versions that encapsulated the simplicity of the iPhones interface, but no it seems you get patchy performance, and just about the same functionality as the Web Apps.

Lets start with Twitterific; I expected the full Twitter functionality natively on my iPhone. Instead I get a list of my 'friends' updates and (admittedly quite a nifty) interface for replying to them or twittering to my account. But comparing it to Hahlo  (a Twitter iPhone Web App) I think it's a poor imitation.

And the Facebook App. I've become increasingly frustrated and annoyed with Facebook over the last few months, and their iPhone App kind of sums it all up. There's the Facebook web interface which we all log into using a browser that gives you everything (although it's getting increasingly cluttered and hard to find specific options - like my feed and privacy preferences). There's the iPhone Web App which was a stripped down, bare bones, this is your status, this is your feed (with only native Facebook app updates), you can view someone's contact info, or write on their wall - pretty much it. Well the new native iPhone version is actually pretty much exactly the same as the Web App (which was pretty poor lets be honest). Oh there is one thing - using it for around 10 mins last night it managed to crash around 4 or 5 times, lovely!

Their not all bad, take the game iPint - 'the application that turns your iPhone into a virtual glass of ice cold lager'. You have a pint at one end of a bar, you tilt your iPhone to slide your pint to your friend at the other end of the bar, trying to miss the various obstacles along the way. If you complete that you are rewarded with an iPint - your screen turns into a pint glass and it reacts (with the motion sensor) so you can drink it, etc just like a real virtual pint! Its a simple concept (I'm just not too good at explaining it - this Youtube video is better), and it doesn't serve any real purpose - but what it does do is show what can be achieved by iPhone developers, and it is executed brilliantly. I need to point out that I haven't tried any other games (I'm not going to pay £5.99 for Super Monkey Ball...) and I know they will probably be better than iPint.

So games work on the iPhone, but regular apps don't. Maybe its because they are trying to port concepts I already know and use to the iPhone? Maybe because I'm used to their online versions I expect to get the same, if not more out of them on the iPhone?

Either way I think there'll be many changes and differences between the iPhone Apps available today, to the ones available in a few months time - after all its a new platform, and a radically new interface - somehow I just expected a better first shot.

Facebook Errors

Am I the only one getting 'The server dropped the connection' error on Facebook?? Virtually rendering the site useless as it's mostly by their ajax calls. After trying Safari, Camino and Firefox... no difference. Shape up Facebook =D