Lifestreaming is a term that refers to the aggregation of various streams of content that a person creates on social media sites.
Between Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Blogs the content a person creates can be spread out in many separate places. The promise of lifestreaming is that you can pull together all of that silo-ed content into one stream that you can share with others. For people like me, an added benefit is that you can have a blog that doesn’t seem out-of-date.
The downside is that I haven’t found a great way to integrate all of that content on my Wordpress blog. I’ve added a lifestream page that pulls in most of the information but I haven’t been able to integrate that with my blog entries. So, I’ll keep playing with it and let you know what I find.
I’m using the Wordpress plug-in Lifestream right now.
Note: I had to upgrade my database from MySQL version 4 to version 5 to make it work. While’s it not a hard process it’s not something you’d want to do without a backup in case something goes wrong.
For most companies, the best reason to have a social media strategy is to play defense. The effort to effectively use social media to influence sales or conversations requires commitment and time. Most companies aren’t ready to put in that effort.
Your Social Media Defensive Strategy
- Create a basic presence on major social media properties.
- Assign someone to post small pieces of new content once a week.
- Monitor feedback and comments.
- Let other customers and users carry the conversations.
This strategy allows feedback and conversations to flow through official channels. You can observe and, if needed, participate in the conversation, without being locked out or caught unaware. In addition by establishing a presence you are able to be the authoritative voice in the channel instead of ceding that voice to someone outside the company.
This isn’t an ideal use of social media but it address immediate needs and provides the opportunity to grow into a fuller social media strategy at a later time.
Posterous Logo
Posterous is a service that should appeal to people who want to post things online but don’t want to deal with the technical details. It works by simply emailing what you want to post to post@posterous.com. You don’t even need to create an account to get started, just email them. The contents of your email whether text, pictures, or a video are automatically uploaded to a page that is created for you. After your first email, you have the option to visit the site and customizing address and settings for your content. If your looking for an incredibly simple way to post content or blog on the web try Posterous.
My Posterous page: jamesvandyke.posterous.com
The Posterous Website
Linux Penguin
I want to love Linux but it doesn’t share my feelings. To be honest, I think it’s hurt that I’m only looking for a fling; a trophy of geekdom to casually flaunt at parties. “Yeah, I”ve got a Linux box at home.” We both know that when I’m done experimenting I’ll head back to the Mac.
I think that’s the problem with Linux, even all dressed up in Ubuntu’s latest, it wants a serious commitment. Linux is a idealist and I’m looking for practicality. The little penguin even lectures me when I try to have a little fun with Flash.
“You know that’s not open source. We can do it if you want but I’m not going to enjoy it.”
“Lighten up a little. I’m just looking for some fun,” I reply.
We’re ships passing in the night, exchanging glances, thinking what could be but ultimately knowing nothing will come of it. I can tell this spunky OS has features and the ideals it pushes are mesmerizing. Sadly, those ideals aren’t as easy to live with as they are to listen to. Sure, I want information to be free but the cool stuff, it’s not free, and Linux can’t compete.
So every once in a while I’ll keep looking back over my shoulder at the little preachy penguin, wishing that it could live up to it’s own dreams; but sadly, I’ll walk away with Mac because I can live with Mac.
Testing Jott. I’m testing the new Jott voice messaging service where you call a phone number and have your messages transcribed anything, and even posted to a block blog. listen
Powered by Jott
Update: As you can see there were some small errors in the results but it’s still a neat service.
James VanDyke is the author of this blog. During the work week you can find me in the E-Marketing team at SMU in Dallas where I create presentations and do assorted web stuff. I recently completed my MBA with a concentration in Marketing. At night, I hang out with my wife, read magazines and walk our dog Tigerman.