Things You Should Use
Filed In: Technology, google, reader, rss, twitter, twitterific
“Things,” as I use it, refers to technological tools. Most of them have a social component, which is why I want you to use them, too. They’re not very useful without other folks to play with.
Facebook. I’ve been harping about this for a long time, but nobody really listens. That’s ok. All social networking sites are toilets, but if you have to take a dump you might as well enjoy it. I won’t bore you with another detailed treatise on the virtues of Facebook over MySpace, but I will implore you to make an account and join me!
Twitter. You all know what a blog is, right? Well, Twitter is like a blog and an instant messenger in one. Some are calling it a microblog, because no post can be longer than 160 characters.
Why such a seemingly arbitrary limit? Because that’s the maximum number of characters for most text messages! It’s made to operate inside the parameters of your current text message usage - you post a Twitter and it is broadcast to all of your “followers.” Likewise, if one of the people you follow posts a Twitter, you can choose to have it delivered to your phone. iPhone users will find it even easier, with a little program called Twitterific.
You should join this, too, and join me and my sister and a bunch of her friends in our never-ending conversation! I’m jamesforeman. Follow me!
Google Reader. If you already have a Google Account, then you already have access to one of the most useful apps I’ve ever used. Do you know what RSS is? You see it all over the place on the web, but you might not know what it is. Well, RSS is a means of delivering content, just like the web is. You get a feed reader and “subscribe” to RSS feeds using that feed reader. Most feed readers are separate applications you run on your computer, but the best one is built right into Google.
RSS feeds are like newspaper subscriptions, except for reading blogs and other sites that are updated frequently. With one click, you can share interesting articles with the world at large or email them to your friends.
You can read about it more here.
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