I’ve been researching Social Software for a few weeks now, first hearing about it via an invite to Friendster. I’m intrigued because the whole “revolution” is based on a concept that flamed out personally for me 3 years ago. At the height of the dotcom boom I was the lead UI designer for an internet startup named “Who2Trust”. Our model was to build a directory of recommended service businesses (doctors, dentists, financial planners) through people you trust. We had the whole 6 degree of separation thing. We wanted to make money from businesses buying profiles, just like they buy Yellow Page ads. Our competitors included iThought.com, Servicelane.com, and others. We failed for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was motivating people to make connections and recommend businesses for the shear joy of it. Anyways, it’s very interesting to read a designer’s view of his own little startup from 1999 called epinions.com. In Peter Merholz’s view epinions is the Social Software website that’s got it all.

I wrote a few epinions and certainly got into the pay per review earnings model. It was cool to see how many people read and liked my reviews. And there certainly was some competition to get more friends into my web of trust and keep doing better and better reviews to make more money. The thing is that the affinity is very loose. I knew none of the people in my web personally, and I don’t feel bad for having left the site unused for 3 years. My point is that I don’t put too much stock in Social Networking as a primary means of maintaining relationships unless I’m getting relevant information. I think that the social networking caused by interlinked blogs has some potential to get me there. Is there a way to have an RSS feed with 6 degrees of separation from the friends list in my blog?

Thanks to Mark for pointing me towards this website put together by Jessica Helfand, William Drenttel and others. Dana, my roommate during my NY Internship, worked for their studio. I hereby pledge to read more design writings, and I’m now seeing why Walt is so in love with RSS Readers.

I should also be reading this design blog more frequently.

Gawd does my site need a redesign. I’m sick of it. It’s like a pair of fahionable shoes that I’ve worn well past their expiration date. What with my smattering of home made Christmas gifts in process, my ongoing contributions to religious society, and the raising of 2 babies, this site is doomed to come back into style like a good Salvation Army find.

Can someone please explain to me how Microsoft discontinuing Internet Explorer for the Mac is a good thing. I thought the browser war was over 2 years ago. How does Safari, that has been around for a year, scare Microsoft away from the platform? I’m just not in the mood for web design that looks different on my 2 favorite platforms. Sure Safari is a McGeek’s dream. But I just want standards support. I do not want any more bells and whistles. Just give me a big white window that gets painted with a web page inside it. And if Yahoo would just build a Mac Compatible Companion that stays docked there, so I can access my unversal bookmarks, yipee! I guess I was very easily converted to the iApps, so why not Safari?

I don’t know when it showed up on the bottom of the Monster home page, but there is now a link there for “patrons of Monster cable”. I’m surprised that Monster acknowledged another Monster. I wonder how many support calls they had received from customers looking for a new S-Video cable.

Thank God it’s over. For the past 6 months our team at TMP has been working to put together the Savoy Professional Networking Series. The first event was held last night at the W Hotel in Chicago. It brought together top African American professionals to network, while we sold our clients the ability to set up a table at the event and recruit from this talented pool of people. I’d say that the event was a huge success. There were many happy networkers, free drinks, groovy music, and a fascinating keynote speaker – George Fraser. The amount of work that went into this – building a website, coming up with sales sheets, inviting participants, stuffing folders, and helping the team just establish the ground rules for the event was daunting. Luckily, we get to do it all over again for June 5th in NY. For now I’ll revel in the nice party I attended, and the really cool people I met. Yawn… back to work.

Pure genious. I promise, when I get a chip on my shoulder about something, I will make this blog into something that is more than my daily blitherings about my personal life. I really admire people that add value to Internet content. Tanya b at F*ckthatjob.com has spent her unemployed days rooting out the most demeaning, underpaying, slaveJobs for no money that are out there. I love how many of them are from the visual arts. And we all thought that by using Quark and Photoshop, we’d never be a starving artist. Here’s a sample: (And read the comments! Funny, funny, funny.)

Indentured Servitude
Mr. Lincoln can’t help us now. This almost seems too bad to be real. You think it’s just flame bait?
Well, let us know if you’ve interviewed for this exciting opportunity and what fabulous benefits they offer.

Reply to: job-9671437@craigslist.org (forwards to an @aol.com address)
Date: 2003-03-22, 11:38PM

Full time graphic/web designer wanted for design studio in lower manhattan. Two to three years experience, plus bachelor’s degree.
Must know HTML, Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark Xpress, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and Flash.
Director, Premiere, PHP/SQL, Indesign, and 3D Studio Max a plus.

$6.50/hr to start. Mondays to Saturdays 8am to 6pm.

Send resume and cover letter in body of email, along with a link to your online portfolio (url) for consideration. all attachments will be deleted

The web never ceases to amaze me. I was perusing my comments at Haloscan which I hardly ever do cause no one comments on my drivel, **sniff sniff**, when I found a very curious comment in my archive. He got a hit on “job post to multiple websites.” on ziprz.com because my resume says “All 3 applications involved complex data-driven templates and interactions to accomplish productivity tasks like distributing a job posting to multiple websites, scheduling and maintaining recruiting events, and building Powerpoint presentations online.”

Well, I sent an email tonight to Ross Grossman to see if he still had a need, and to let him know that my employer -TMP in fact does have a product that does this. I’m eagerly waiting to see if my humble little blog generates millions, ok hundreds of dollars in sales. Then I’m going to write a thesis on ‘Blogging from work as an essential revenue generating activity’. Stay tuned.

Do you ever have so much to do that rather than work you just sit there with a blank blood-shot-eyed stare and ask yourself whether your computer is a loyal friend, or the abusive, wife-beater wearing root of all of your psychological torment? Nah, me neither.

Monday night in NY with all of my homies from the NY office was great! Here’s the best recount of the events, and specifically of karaoke to too many Bon Jovi songs. I love NY. Thanks guys! And thanks Dana, for coming out. It was great to catch up!

Tuesday I came back on a 3 hour delayed plane to a mountain of crap, then yesterday my train was way late getting to Union Station because of busted brakes. So here I sit today, normal, and finally recovered.