The right Vibes? Netvibes – my media?

Once again I came home to late to see the news, once again I missed the dinner and the afternoon tea. And once more I seat and stare at my “To do list” which is not getting any shorter. I check the commercials, if there are any new companies that could sell me perhaps, I don’t know, an extra hour or two per day? Haha. Perhaps commercials offer all sorts of things, they promise wonders, changes and experience extraordinaire, but none of them can offer you to buy time. From all the things, time I miss the most.

So, what’s the recipe to stay tuned even if you don’t have time to kill? For me, personalization and customization do the trick. What do I mean with that? It’s simple, make some filters and get only the news you want or are interested in. How? With feed readers you can easily get all the new posts from your favourite authors. Ok, but what if you want some general news also? Some time ago, I found the perfect solution for me – Netvibes. I bet you all know it, but for those of you who don’t; Netvibes is as Wikipedia says: “… a multi-lingual Ajax-based personalized start page. ” It means you can choose which content you would like to have on your “personal page” – which feeds, which news… I use Netvibes, but am also trying out the similar platform Pageflakes.

Both, Pageflakes and Netvibes are very similar – They both allow almost complete customization of the layout and you can even choose between the color themes. But if you like to read about the differences between both of them, here is a link

http://www.rotorblog.com/2006/05/05/netvibes-vs-pageflakes-design-and-basic-functions/

HOW CAN I ASSIST?

Netvibes is doing great for me. At first I used it as an alternative to my FeedReader, but now I use it as my start page. And it’s great that you can access to your “personal page” from any computer. So, if I’m at work, drinking my deserved coffee , I can check if there’s something new on my favourite blogs, access my Gmail, check the stats on both my blogs and more. No wonder Netvibes and also Pageflakes are getting so popular. In May 2007 Netvibes had more than 10 million users as Josh Catone mentioned in his post. The number has definitely drastically increased since May. And that’s why Josh Catone, Richard MacManus and others pointed out that Netvibes and Pageflakes could become the next Facebook or Myspace regarding popularity. I agree that it is only a matter of time, when they’ll introduce full social networking support. Pageflakes already made the first move with Pagecasts and today it says that there are already 135718 pagecasts. Pagecasts are similar to Myspace and are a personal page, which can be seen as you profile or “web page” to everyone. Netvibes also introduced something very similar – Universe, but Universe is not available to all users – yet.

WHAT ABOUT GOOGLE?

Yeah, what about iGoogle, My Yahoo and others who provide exactly the same platform? Why don’t they enjoy the same success? And hell, we are speaking about the great Google and Yahoo? What have Netvibes and Pageflakes offered SO distinctive or special? The answer is not simple, and neither is it definite. It’s not that iGoogle for example is not good enough, it also offers almost the same (maybe even more or better) widgets and modules, but…

CONLUSION?

Is Facebook really endangered by the likes of Netvibes and Pageflakes? It’s hard to say, but I don’t think they intend to directly compete with Facebook, Myspace, Cyworld and others. Because, for example, Netvibes offered a module to connect through it to you Facebook account. But, I think that with Pagecast and Universe they can start to compete with Myspace, because Myspace is (at least I think so) the weakest, or better said the most vulnerable player on the field, although it has still the biggest “home base”. Why? That’s another story. But it desperately needs modernization and a change in design and functionality.

But with every day, I am more certain that platforms like Netvibes are the future of Media. The trends say that, the media will become more and more user generated and if Netvibes is not the definition of it, than I don’t know what is. Ok, maybe I’m to enthusiastic, but, that’s how I see it. I ask for your opinions, I provoke you to participate and counter my arguments. And… the most important thing – take a break, relax and take it easy (stolen from Mika ).

Friends face…

Because I’m ill I have time to kill. I can’t go to work, I can’t watch TV, I can’t even play games on my PSP. All I can do is watch the ceiling and think about things I otherwise never think about. To hell with it. Take a cup of tea with two aspirins for my headache and turn on my sisters laptop (so pretty – laptop, not my sister:-) ).

I could easily survive without TV, without sun light and vitamins, but I woul’d survive a day without internet. Why? Because I am addicted, because I feel like I’m on a deseted island. There are mails from my friends, mails from people who owe me money (yes, Ebay could be tricky), mails from work… And there is Facebook - a place for friends (ok, the slogan belongs to Myspace, I know). It’s funny, that I signed in to Facebook only a couple of weeks ago, not earlier, although I proudly present myself as a social networking techno geek.

Facebook is a tipical social networking platform – founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. It was first meant only for students in the US, than opened for students across the globe and now, Facebook is inviting everyone. The main purpose is connecting with friends in your trusted network. You can share photos, videos, documents, intimate thoughts, whatever. It’s fierce rival is Myspace, but I think they differ in many ways. But I’m not going to talk about pros and cons of Facebook – perhaps some other time, without the headache. If you are interested in debates about Facebook vs. Mysapce you could try here:

- MySpace v. Facebook: “It’s not a decision, it’s an IQ test” by Michael Arrington

- “Facebook Hammers Myspace on almost all key feature” by Ben Gold

What I would like to point out, is the fact, that more and more I think that applications like Facebook are those who help me maintaining realtions with my friends. I even dare to say, that it has come to the point that those friends who are online are better friends or different said; closer friends. Because I’m always busy, I can’t stay in touch with everyone, and that’s a shame, because I don’t want to lose my friends, BUT, with just one click in Facebook I can make the difference. I can for example superpoke all the friends in my network. That means I haven’t forgoten them, that means they mean something to me. It’s much easier to interact through Facebook, than inviting everyone to a drink. But is it the same? Is it really the same, if I send Boštjan an “interactive” beer or if I invite him on a genuine Zlatorog beer?

Social networking platforms like Facebook and Myspace are a great way to interact with friends and they say, that they should strenghten realtionships between friends. But is it so?

Yes, I know, I’m annoying with moral questions, but recently I’m thinking a lot about friends, because friends are the best thing you have in life, they are sometimes even more important than family. And that’s why I’m asking myself if it is the same if I interact with them through Facebook. Yes, it’s better than forget about them, but what about those friends that don’t use internet that often.

Because of my headache, I must end my philosophical thinking… Perhaps it’s better so, perhaps I’ll even delete this post tomorow. But that were the toughts running through my aching head. Your thoughts, arguments and anything else about my moralization are of course welcome.