We’re probably being too kind to Facebook, and, in particular, to the third party applications that plug into it. They’re abusing user trust and committing sins we castigate others for, so we should be consistent: Many Facebook applications are spam. Take this one, for example, illustrated above. It’s called ATTACK! and upon accepting an invitation… Read More »
Jaiku, the presence, Twitter-like-but-better tool, has been bought by Google. Great news, I would have thought. But then I thought again. Google? The guys who already know too much about me? With access to all my stream of consciousness? Knowing where I am? So I checked out the Jaiku Privacy Policy. What data would/might Google… Read More »
Before Facebook, we had to find our friends on FriendsReunited, a very successful UK site that achieved critical mass but had one flaw: users had to pay to communicate with each other. It only struck me now that there’s something a little unethical about that. Take, for example, what just happened to me: someone… Read More »
Scoble makes some good points in a blog posting about why Microsoft, and more specifically his old boss Steve Ballmer, doesn’t get Web 2.0. I don’t agree with everything Robert says, but he has an understanding of this era of the web born of living and working in its eye the past seven years: “There… Read More »
This is the latest despatch from Loose Wire Service, a sister service to this blog that provides newspapers and other print publications with a weekly column by yours truly. Rates are reasonable: Email me if you’re interested. Jeremy Wagstaff discusses how the Internet has redefined journalism and the emergence of “hyperlocal” news The Jakarta Post… Read More »