There is a dynamic that has developed within the social web over the years which I find disturbing yet pervasive, and about as hard to eradicate as an infestation of cockroaches. But the future of the Social Web depends on a close examination and realignment of thought regarding ingrained user expectations. Facebook is drawing fire from users for recent (some say misinformed, inaccurate?) news about plans to sell user data to market researchers, and I think this illustrates my point beautifully.

After one of my own social startup experiments failed to gain traction with its intended audience, I had some time to reflect on my interactions with social web users, and here is a list of some of the expectations and (often contradictory) attitudes I encountered regularly (I have shared these views at times myself):

• I should be able to sign up and use Social Web apps and services for free.   If you cannot figure out how to monetize the service without bothering me, I will leave.
• Ads bother me. So do requests for donations.
• The publicly available personal information posted on my pages is mine, mine alone, and should not be used in any way I did not intend for it to be used. I don’t care if it’s public, and your commercial use of it is actually anonymous.
• I should not have to look at a lot of on-page advertising in “my” pages. They are mine, and I do not want them cluttered up.
• The free services I use should remain free, remain up, available, and working as expected 99.9% of the time. Service interruptions should be scheduled for the hours I am not online.
• Delays, slowdowns, and interruptions to service are intolerable. Figure out your infrastructure and scalability issues before you bother to launch.
• My features wish list is reasonable, and should be implemented, even though I do not plan on using the features regularly; they should be there because I think the ideas are cool.
• Web apps should not have too many unnecessary features.
• I think there should only be one or two Social Web apps and we should ignore all the others, so that it is easier for me to manage my digital life and connect with the world in the context of my favorite social app.
• There should be a mobile version that does exactly what the full web version does, and works in exactly the same way. Screen size, operating systems, phone model and carrier contracts be damned. Make it work. Now.
• Once my favorite app gets so big and successful as to a be an obvious target of criticism, I will openly blast them for their successes and work to destroy any attempt they make to monetize the service or use my anonymous data.
• When a dumb service I loved at first, then wanted to change, then criticized for changing, doesn’t succeed in meeting all my above expectations, I will place them in the deadpool, and tell the world I knew they wouldn’t make it all along.

There is another side to the user experience; it’s the side of the brave people who dream up and actualize cool Social Web technologies. This is the environment in which they have been asked to launch, develop and prove commercially viable their free services. Perhaps we need to tame down certain unrealistic expectations, mmm? How else will the Social Web find its path to sustainability?

This was a great video presentation someone just sent me, which outlines an amazing slew of facts about the pace and growth of technology in our world. Worth a view.

Wired is on to something with their recognition of how the new v2.7 of WordPress is a step toward a more fully fleshed out Social Networking platform, or at least tight integration with one.

So far, I am having a hard time coming up with any reasons to NOT like this update. The Flash uploader still doesn’t work with Flash 10, though.

This week Automattic rolled out WordPress 2.7, and in many ways, it is the largest update of the year, even eclipsing 2.5. The administration panel back end got most of the attention, and it is beautiful and functional and… quite different. Harkins Creative is already putting it through its paces on this blog, checking out plugin compatibility and the many new features. We will steadily begin deploying it across all client sites with whom we have an ongoing maintenance relationship. Our early report is incredibly positive. Some of the “under the hood” changes mean that WordPress will be certain of enjoying a prolonged life as the front runner of the blogging platform community.

Also look for new WordPress tutorials to cover the layout changes and new features soon.

Much speculation has flown in recent years and months about Google’s plan for world domination. Okay, maybe that’s overstating it a little, but only a little. And taking on a crowded and arguably entrenched marketplace of internet browsers is a clear signal that Google really does intend to move in and settle down in desktop software applications.

Google is calling it Chrome, and I’m sure this is seen as a shot across the bow for IE6 and Firefox (my personal favorite), although they do tip their hats in Mozilla’s direction, acknowledging that some of their horsepower found its way under the hood. Who the heck knows what this might do to smaller projects like Opera or Flock.

Personally, I drink the Google Kool-Aid. They have proven that, while they’ll never win any fashion awards, power, ubiquity and forward thinking are always front and center on their runway. Quietly, Google has for some time been acquiring startups with promise (something everybody else does, too) and assembling talent and ideas. Google likes the long play, so not every company it has snapped up has been an obvious choice. But the release of the new browser beta, followed by more mentions about its JavaScript engine called V8, they clearly have the next generation web squarely in its crosshairs, and fully intend to be the browser to bring it to us.

Of course I have already downloaded Chrome, and am testing it as I write this post. It is living up to its stripped down, severe aesthetic, but for once, I appreciate it immensely in a browser. The design choice really promotes the web site content, not the window through which it is delivered. Curiously, however, there is a startling lack of the elements that have found their way into nearly every other browser experience; namely the Google Toolbar and the Title Bar. The latter is so entrenched in SEO practices, specifically because of how Google uses and views them, it is a little unnerving not to see it at the top of the window. It makes me wonder if Google has plans to deprecate its importance in upcoming page rank algorithms…Nah…Right???

I think the browser community, and hopefully the open source community, will be taking notes for a long time to come.

Go Google.

We are glad to finally be able to swing wide the doors of learning and opportunity and invite the public in to see the new site! We have renewed our vision for making the Harkins Creative site a place for small and medium-sized businesses to come and learn about how audio, video and web services, when combined, can generate huge, quantifiable returns. In addition, we are reaching out to other professionals in our industry, to be, if nothing more, a meager repository of knowledge about the trade.

Please leave us a comment or a suggestion, and if you are a professional content creator, be sure to contact us. There are always opportunities when we need to source additional hands for a project. (Do you like to write about our field? Get in touch and let’s arrange a guest article on our pages!)

Welcome!

I finally took the time to build the workstation I have been needing for quite some time. Now, at my fingertips I have everything I need for the growing amount of audio production, video production, audio editing, video editing and motion graphics production I am doing for clients. I am loving the work, AND the new editing suite, too!