SocialOnTheWeb

There are a ton of social news aggregators.  The most famous, of course, is Digg.  The most used at this point is probably Yahoo! Buzz.  Then there's Reddit, Fark, and a whole slew of niche sites devoted to socially aggregating online news.

So why do we need another one?  SocialMedian is just such a service that is currently in Alpha.  I've been a member for awhile, and while I don't use it every day, I use it a lot more often than I tend to use Digg or Reddit.

You see, I'm just about Dugg out.  I've Reddit all.  (Okay, I'll stop with the Farking puns now).  SocialMedian, is, to me, a change from the other services.  First of all, it's cleaner.  I like the way it looks and feels.  But that's not the only reason I like it.

You see, on Digg and Reddit, I have to work REAL hard to get anything to the front page.  I don't feel that way at SocialMedian.  Of course, part of that is because it's in Alpha, so not as many people are there.  But that's not the only reason.  You don't have the cliques that you have on other social sites.  At least, not yet.

My favorite feature is the ability to receive emails about what is being dugg, err, "clipped", in the categories I find interesting.  You can also create your own categories, which are called News Networks.

SocialMedian is a work in progress, and I check it out every few days to see how it progresses.  I really like the direction it is heading, and I hope that it possibly slips under the radar and gives the larger social news aggregators a run for their money.  There's plenty of room for innovation there, and SocialMedian might be just the people to do that.

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Imagine, for a second, that you have bought a new car.  It promises to give you good gas mileage, it gives you more headroom, and it is very, very shiny.  Sounds nice, doesn't it.  Now imagine that everytime you put your three best friends in it, it dies.  Sometimes it sputters its way along, but most of the time, it just out and out shuts itself off.  You take it to the mechanic, and he says "It's a known issue, and we're working to fix it.  Have patience"  The mechanic also says "or you could trade up.  There's this nice van over there, and a jet plane in that hangar."

And that, in a nutshell, is Twitter.  It's the shiny new car that just shuts down whenever it's carrying too much of a load.  So why do users put up with it?  What is it about Twitter that prevents people from trading up for the van or the jet plane, or in this case, competing services like Jaiku, Pownce, Plurk and Kwippy?  Would these same people put up with similar behavior from a store, an airline, a doctor,  or even more to the point, an email or IM service?  The answer is, of course, no.  So why do they put up with it at Twitter.com?

While I think there are probably a lot of reasons, I think there is one reason that just keeps people coming back:  Twitter is where the community is.  Sure, Pownce works better (and allows you to attach files), Plurk has that cool timeline and lets you comment on "plurks", and kwippy looks nice (and also lets you comment on "kwips".)  But no one is there.  See, everyone is afraid to make the jump entirely away from Twitter, because they've built up relationships there.  Leaving Twitter would be like graduating from a really cool high school and not everyone gets to go to the same college.

I really want to graduate from Twitter.  But I can't.  I can't leave my friends behind.  When I lost internet for a few days, it was Twitter that was chief on my mind.  Whenever I got access to WiFi, I tweeted.  It's not because it's addictive (though it seems to have a slightly addictive element to it).  It's because it reminds me of something from long ago:  the communities that used to exist on Usenet and IRC.  Those have largely vanished (even though both services are still used, the sense of community is long gone.)

I've heard Twitter called "The internet's water-cooler" (and I'm not sure if it was Cali Lewis or her husband, Neal Campbell that I first heard say it.  Sorry guys), and Twitter does have that feel to it.  I care about what happens to people that I follow on Twitter, and I care about what happens to Twitter.  I have accounts on most of the other microblogging services, and I've dabbled there, but I always return to Twitter.  The others don't feel at all like the water cooler.  They feel almost cold.  Twitter is alive.  Yes, it crashes constantly and that annoys me to no end.  Almost daily I'm saying "I am done with Twitter."  But obviously, Twitter isn't done with me.  And somehow, I'm okay with that.

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