Links 3-7-11: Facebook comments, Alice returns, Twitter in Manhattan, Ask Me Anything in USA Today
Image via CrunchBase
Top of the Interwebs:
The big controversy of the day is Facebook comments, stemming off the big post on TechCrunch looking at their own use of Facebook comments. The result of the switch up are less comments but the comments made are of higher quality. It’s clear that the comments roll out is part of their larger strategy to be your primary web service for pretty much anything, which means they are basically taking on Google.
Some people are not too happy about Facebook’s latest attempt for ‘global domination.’ The other big objection is that Facebook is killing your authenticity. The idea is that since you have to use your Facebook ID across the web, you are going to sterilize it and your own actions online. Anonymity is not authenticity. This whole ‘killing authenticity’ argument is complete foolish bullshit. Hey look, Robert Scoble agrees with me.
A better argument against it is that Facebook is essentially stripmalling the web, pretending to care about us when they really just want our money. They pretend to help us communicate, but the network, by its nature, misses out on the reality of social interactions. This is a great point. However, it’s not news to anyone. If you haven’t realized this for the years you’ve been a member of Facebook or any other social network. The sudden arrival of Facebook comments has done little to change the fact that Facebook is a business and trying to sell you a service.
Facebook comments does have a number of advantages for publishers. That being said, good comments have a lot more to do with the publishers than the platform. Comments are good, but only as good as the blogger interacting in them.
Some folks, of course, have no interest in switching.
Self-aggrandizement:
Watch this!:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRm01IruyWA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Worth looking at today:
Reddit’s Ask Me Anything forum makes it big with one post being featured in USA Today.
Skype announces that it will be running advertising in the home tab of its application.
Twitter is searching for an office in Manhattan.
American McGee’s Alice comes back to gamers in the newly released trailer for Alice: Madness Returns.
Screen reading before bed is bad for you, but we all still do it.
USAToday finds that 1,610 schools probably helped students cheat on standardized tests.
According to the NYT, Fox is considering dropping Glenn Beck. If only.
Text messages to replace stamps in Sweden.
While you were weekending:
The continuing influence of Clarissa Explains It All.
The strange powers of the Placebo Effect.
Did you visit the website of the guy who hacked the PS3? Congratulations, you might just get sued.
Nifty infographic explains why you should secure your smartphone.
How screwed is RIM? Pretty screwed, considering that their last hope is a tablet.
Is Last.fm innovating fast enough to keep up?
How to host your website on Google for free.
Halo Wars is getting a sequel. I actually liked the first game quite a bit, so I’m looking forward to the next one.
Alan Colmes is apparently sick of Fox calling people Nazis.
