My Network Is My Search Engine

We are always looking for the next big thing in search. I myself have written a number of posts on the subject (socially connected search, tagging search system).

Something I've noticed lately however, is that more and more my network is actually becoming my search engine. I don't have time to go through my 350 feeds every day and let's face it...on a good day maybe only about 20% of the newest posts are really all that interesting. So what's a girl to do?

Use the network at the filter of course. How?

Well firstly there is delicious. For the most part I only bookmark stuff that I think is really great or something I can use later. As well, there are a few people's feeds that I follow on a regular basis as people who find stuff that I might find interesting.

There is Google Reader. I regularly go to Mathew's Google reader and let him spend the time to sift through his gazillion feeds to find the stuff that is the most interesting. I mean after all, it's part of his job so he can spend the time at work to do it when i can't.

Friendfeed can work - particularly the feature that allows the most talked about links to come up to the top of the list.

Twitter and Facebook both are becoming filters where my network are kind enough to only tweet and link to the most interesting content. And Twitter in particular has become a place where I can ask a question and in no time flat have my questions answered in the form of links, referrals and juicy bits of insight.

I can't think of any others of the top of my head, but I'm sure I'm missing a whole bunch of other services as well.

In our time starved world, where digital overload is starting to fry our brains, we need to remember that we can also use our network for good and let it become our own personal search engine.

I Am Context, We Are The Network

I was intrigued by a conversation in the video below where the hosts all discuss the elevator pitch by Daniel Ha the CEO at Disqus.

Feel free to watch the entire video below, but what struck me was a few quotes from the guys having a somewhat philosophical discussion on comments in general.

Let me paraphrase one part in particular. Ezra (the guy with the glasses) says, "Comments are usually pretty tightly intertwined with whatever the content piece was but if you start to abstract them away from whatever the symbiosis with is with that piece of content they begin to really drift…." to which the other dude starts talking about the continuity of the conversation. Because it starts with the publisher, they view the community and ecosystem from that perspective.

What I found interesting from a relatively new disqus user's perspective, is that I don't view it at all like they do (ok it's an ugly diagram but you get the idea).

They talk about context. Context can be important but comments are so much more to than that. They start to shape and form a piece of one's online identity. I can't tell you the amount of times I have linked from a disqus profile from a blog comment to read through their other comments and further link from those to other posts/conversations. What they say on an on-going basis is a key to who they are. They become an accumulation digital memory by digital memory through the myriad of Web services (disqus being one of them) that they utilize.

I'm not sure if this post is being that clear, but I think what struck me as I watched their discussion on the video is how they seem to be applying traditional linear offline mass models of publisher/reader to the interconnected hyperlinked blogosphere. I don't think the old rules apply.

To me it only makes sense that comments will drift and much like my own digital footprint will. It seems right that they will ebb and they will flow. As for context and continuity which the two guys in the video discuss? I think the whole point on the Web is that it isn't the content that provides the only context. Equally so, I am context and I am continuity. After all, we all are the network, aren't we?

Protection Good....Lack Of Service Bad....

Glad to hear Ebay/Paypal are trying to do something about the myriad of Phising scams.

However, as a user, I have to say, I was pretty pissed off earlier this week when PayPal suspended my account to ensure that I was verified as a 'real' user.

Now why did this happen? Because I am an idiot. I sent a Phising scam email to PayPal to their Spoof@paypal.com. Next thing you know I have three verification things I have to do, the last of which tells me that until i get a letter IN THE MAIL I will not be able to use my Paypal account.

The mail? What the hell is the mail?

Argh. Well anyway, once they fix this problem if they could only move on to fix the problem with their ridiculous fees. ;-)

The Reading On The Toilet Replacement: Daily Lit

Just bumped into DailyLit, a site that Fred Wilson mentioned in a posting on platforms.

What is it? A site that basically gives you snippets of books through email..

According to the site:

"1. Why read books by email?

Because if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don't find the time to read books. DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read."

I still remember complaining to my ridiculously well read older brother that I couldn't get through James Joyce’s Ulysses ...he suggested that I try reading it five minutes at a time on the toilet. I never did get to that (i know too much information) but I'm thinking maybe Daily Lit could be a good reading on the toilet replacement?

To Be A Sheep Or Not To Be A Sheep

Scott sent me a good article from wired (actually that’s the third good article from Wired this week)

Netvibes talks about their choice not to force a google ad style model for their 10M users. Co-founder Tariq Krim
states:

"We break all the rules," says Krim, his dark eyes smiling beneath abundant black curls. If advertisers -- attracted by Netvibes' 10 million users around the world -- want access to Netvibers, they need to create a service in the form of a Netvibes module. If the module -- such as eBay's auction-tracking module -- doesn't benefit the user, forget it. That's Krim's rule.

Two things that I find interesting: Firstly, the whole dark eyes and abundant curls part (Wired does Vanity Fair?) and secondly that a company so successful chooses to focus on building long term value for its users vs. short term monetary gain. Success stories like this go a long way to prove that following just makes you a sheep. Baaaaaaaaaaa.

Amazon's Technology Leadership: The Long Tail of Web Services

Vanessa has a must read post on her site talking about the technology leadership of Amazon vs. Google and the The Long Tail of Web Services.

While most people think of Amazon as a bookseller, or retailer in general, that really isn't what they have been up to underneath it. Similar to say a Walmart who might be a retail brand but has as much value in their supply chain processes, Amazon is becoming a leader in technology. I remember being surprised a couple years when a friend of mine who owned a small Web shop here in Toronto, lost a major retailer piece of business for building a dynamic content management and e-commerce site to Amazon. I had no idea that they were selling their process to other retailers.

When we consider the extent to which technology choices can become competitive advantages for corporations, and where the streamlining of business processes can impact and affect margin and profitability, it is easy to see Vanessa's argument that it will be Amazon that will emerge as the leader in the coming years.

And what about Google? Vanessa says:

"For Google to become the sort of web services platform so many people seem to expect, they'd have to radically change their business model."

Centralizing eyeballs or even centralizing the data around the eyeballs forces Google's technology hand while Amazon's are free and clear to innovate.