About.me

My About.me page, with Flickr widget opening on top of a personal photoI finally got an invite to the About.me beta last week. I had signed up for an account eons ago (I can't even remember) and had since forgotten about the site, which is supposed to centralize one's persona by pulling in various content feeds from services like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and Foursquare. The site's goals include becoming a person's "single on-line identity."

After setting up my own About.me page a week ago, I'm still feeling underwhelmed. Yeah, my page is visually simple compared with others highlighted in the directory, but I didn't find a whole lotta oomph underneath the skin of some of the more artsy creations. 

I envisioned About.me filling something of a role like Google Profiles, a customized digital business card that'd rank high in any web searches as well as consolidate my social media activity. About.me does some of that with polish -- and the ability to scan profiles is nice -- but after setting up some test links to my About.me page last week, it failed to show on the first six pages of a vanity Google search (I gave up searching at that point). Perhaps the site's too young to be spreading Googlejuice. 

The site also touts a cool metrics dashboard that lets you "understand how many people see your profile, where they're coming from, and what they do on your page." Metrics include your activity on popular sites, who is mentioning and retweeting you, and your social-media reach. There's some value in that, particularly to hardcore posters, but I'm not sure it's enough value to keep me coming back regularly. 

About.me has a fantastic name and a pretty interface, but I'm not seeing a clear business model. I'm asking "why?" when I should be asking "why not?"

Enough hate for "The Daily" already

Updated on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 10:11 PM by Logan Molen

I don't get the hate that's already cropping up for Rupert Murdoch's planned tablet-only news product tentatively titled "The Daily." 

I get that Murdoch is evil in a lot of media circles. But what's the harm in letting someone try something that goes against the grain? In an age where there are no sure things when it comes to monetizing news online, shouldn't we celebrate someone with a big bag of cash funding an experiment that might work? Nope, at least among critics postulating recently at Fast Company, "This Week in Google" and more. 

What kills me is too many of these critics are basing their hate on the idea of a "newspaper" online. In fact, Murdoch is proposing a tablet-only product, which opens up all kinds of fresh opportunities in retooling - but not mimicking - the things that make newspapers authoritative and valued. The guys at "This Week in Media" said as much this week. Oddly, none of them have print backgrounds. Hmm. 

OK, a little background on the drama for newbies. 

Click to read more ...

Don't be a dick

When adversity strikes, sharp people see opportunity. Others struggle, often resorting to anger as they search for comfort.

That scenario unfolded Sunday when I received a mass email from a New Jersey real estate marketer. I have no idea how I got on the list (it was addressed "Dear Editor") but I get lots of spam so just deleted it. However, a few recipients soon "replied all" and asked to be taken off the list.

OK, I wouldn't have "replied all," but it's an understandable oversight.

That's when things went haywire. When you "reply all," everyone gets the response. People who don't grasp what's going on freak out, "replying all" to be removed from the list, only compounding the problem. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Within minutes, and after probably a half-dozen panicked replies/unsubscribe requests, a person from a Jersey web-design company chimed in, using an expletive in ALL CAPS admonishing anyone reading to stop replying to the email.

I understood his anger, but dropping an F-bomb attached to your business signature isn't too smart. Neither is adding the phrase "Actually knows what's going on" in signing off.

So, here's what umpteen people learned from this Sunday:

Click to read more ...