Meebo doesn’t impress me

Of the following, which is your top reason for instant message chatting?

1)  It’s a quick, easy way to communicate
2)  I can multitask while chatting
3)  It’s less formal
4)  The pigs can’t get me sick this way

If you answered #4, you’re paranoid about swine flu.

While Mexico has more serious problems, the only sickness I have comes courtesy of a browser bookmark that was cool…for about an hour.

That’s how long it took me to realize that Meebo, a social networking tool used for messaging and chatting, was not all it was cracked up to be.

I’ve been using a program called Adium for the past two years.  Adium allows you to combine many different chat accounts into one program, which displays all of your “buddies” currently online from all of your accounts.

I have it synced to my AIM and Facebook Chat account, but it supports Yahoo, MSN, Google Talk and many other messaging services.  It works much like AIM or iChat in the sense that you have a buddy list window, and new windows open when you send or receive a message.

Meebo is very similar, and was, at least according to everything I heard and read, supposed to be the next big social networking connector tool.

It’s not.

Meebo is a program that has to be run from a web browser, giving it a distinctive disadvantage.  Adium only requires Internet connection, and the Growl notification system alerts you when you receive a new message, or when a friend has signed on.

With Meebo, the only thing that alerts you of a new message is an annoying doorbell sound – except more painful than getting up off your couch during the fourth quarter to answer the door.

The other head scratcher was that Meebo doesn’t transfer your “nicknames” from other programs when you sign into your accounts.  Insatead I’m stuck with screen names like LCurlyGirly9 and boingkaloko without knowing who they are.

I should give Meebo some credit though.  After all, you can change the background color on the web page and there are chat rooms.  The technology is just overwhelming.

I’d almost rather spend time with the pigs.

MySpace content featured on FOX

MySpace has announced a new partnership with FOX News that allows user journalists to share their content with the MySpace community and have a chance to appear on FOX News.

The new community is called uReport, and I can already see the possible headlines:

R. Kelly adds teenage girl to top 8

Michael Vick speeds up as stray dog nears road

Condom truck tips, spills load

(Wait…that last one is actually a headline – see it here.)

This could become the most popular/unpopular, necessary/inappropriate, most read/most untrustworthy news site available.  People will want to read about
the latest nightclub brawl or how the local realtor is a crook, but critics will scold these stories, saying they are not newsworthy and lack credibility.

There are other citizen journalism sites, such as the Chicago Tribune’s Red Eye, and the comments are rolling in.  This is the kind of thing people are interested in, and whether or not it’s fair, accurate, or credible, it certainly creates controversy, which in term creates readership and viewership.

And who knows, maybe FOX, who’s slogan (ironically) is “fair and balanced,” may end up being the most fair and balanced because of this.

Links:

MySpace and FOX News Launch “uReport” Community On World’s Leading Social Portal
MySpace launches uReport citizen journalism community

Finally, an electronic credit card!

I knew it was only a matter of time before something like this would come to the states.

“This” refers to Visa’s new mobile payment system, which connects your cell phone to your credit card so you can make payments from your phone.  That’s right, just give it a wave and the purchase is complete.

It wasn’t until January that I actually first heard about this idea.  It was brought up by another student in my Online Journalism class.  He’s a foreign exchange student from Korea who calmly said “we’ve had this method for years” while the Americans in the room had their jaws to the floor over this new technology.

And it’s true, they have had it for a while.  The concept of syncing one’s phone with their bank account information has made shopping much more convenient in places overseas.

Quite frankly, I love the idea and can’t wait to try it (although money may prevent me from buying a compatible phone immediately).  Now that we can pay for anything using our cell phones, the next step is to receive money through our phones too.

If I’m walking past Starbucks on my way to class, I want a “$1 off double shot of Espresso” coupon to show up when I get within 100 feet of the store.  Then I can use that coupon..on my phone, with my payment…on my phone.

When this new piece of technology finally does make its way to me, I won’t have to carry my wallet around anymore.  Heck, maybe women won’t have to carry purses around either.

On second thought…I doubt it.

Links:

NPR:  Visa Inc. Launches Mobile Payments Service
Press Release
Visa Mobile Payments
Japanese Drive Mobile Payments Market

(Special thanks to Missouri Online Journalism professor Clyde Bentley for introducing me to these links)