noviembre 6, 2009

BUG: Twitter Investigating Elevated Errors

twitter-errorsThis is potentially minor as none of us at Team Mashable have spotted any, but Twitter reports looking into the source of elevated errors on the site currently.

There appear to be more folks retweeting the status post than actually reporting errors themselves as well, so if you’ve run into anything suspicious you should let us know what you’re seeing in the comments.

Are you seeing any errors either on the main Twitter site or via clients? We’re wondering if this is at all related to the missing mentions issue from yesterday, but it’s hard to speculate too deeply at this point. We’ll let you know if we hear any updates on these.

[UPDATE]: Luckily, that was quick — Twitter reports the issue is now fixed, although they don’t say what the cause of the errors were.


Reviews: Twitter

Tags: bugs, errors, twitter

noviembre 6, 2009

LUNCHTIME POLL: What’s Your Favorite Twitter Photo Sharing Service?

poll-imageGather ’round, social media lovers, for ’tis time for this week’s Lunchtime Poll! As you may know by now, the way it works is simple. We’ll throw out a poll question, start off with some responses from the staff here at Mashable, and let you fine folks have at it in the comments.

Last week we looked at your favorite Facebook applications — stay tuned later today for a recap of those results. Today we’re curious about what Twitter photo sharing service wins your heart, mind, and pics. Ready to have your say? Head on after the break and let us know!

What’s your favorite Twitter photo sharing service?


Mashable Faves


Adam Ostrow: yfrog … love the new webcam integration.

Jennifer Van Grove: Posterous: I use it in lieu of anything else for Twitter photo sharing, because I can also share all media types – video, music, text – with Twitter (and Facebook/YouTube/Flickr), and it’s all collected in one place. It’s the perfect extension of my Twitter account and it’s become a content repository/livestream that gets really great traffic.

Ben Parr: Posterous also.

Barb Dybwad: As an old skool Flickr user I use the Flickr2Twitter feature to automagically post pics to both when the need strikes.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography


Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Posterous, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

Tags: flickr, Photos, posterous, twitter, twitter photo sharing, yfrog

noviembre 6, 2009

La gente joven se va a Twitter, los mayores a Facebook

grandma

Disclaimer: Ella no es mi abuela – (cc) kxande2

Hace como un año, mi abuela, que tiene 72 años, se hizo una cuenta en Facebook. Aunque al principio le costó un poco, ahora sube fotos, les pone tags, comenta en los muros de sus amigas y es amiga de todos sus nietos (a los que también nos comenta cosas).

Tal vez mi abuela sea un caso un poco extremo, pero la verdad es que Facebook está acogiendo cada vez más a personas mayores, mientras que los más jóvenes están concentrándose en Twitter.

De acuerdo a un estudio realizado por Pew Internet, el promedio de edad de los usuarios de Twitter es 31, mientras que el promedio de los usuarios de Facebook es 33. A primera vista podrá no ser una gran diferencia, pero el dato importante es este: Twitter rejuveneció en un año, mientras que Facebook envejeció.

En Mayo de 2008, el promedio de edad de Facebook era 26 años – lo que implica que envejeció 7 años a la fecha, incorporando a más usuarios mayores.

En Twitter las cosas andan al revés. En Diciembre de 2008, un 19% de los usuarios de Twitter tenía entre 18 y 24 años. En Septiembre de este año, ese porcentaje subió a 37%. Entre 25 y 34 años, el porcentaje pasó de 20% a 31%.

¿Están los jóvenes escapándose hacia otros lugares, a medida que los papás (y las abuelas) entran a las redes sociales que antes “eran de ellos”? Sólo hay teorías respecto a este fenómeno, pero lo que sí es seguro es que las redes sociales están incluyendo cada vez a más personas, sin importar la edad, y jóvenes y adultos están interactuando en un sólo espacio digital, lo que viene a romper en parte la brecha digital – generacional que ha existido durante tanto tiempo.

youth on twitter

Link: As Facebook Ages, Gen Y Turns to Twitter (Read Write Web)

octubre 23, 2009

Las redes sociales nos estimulan o nos atontan

Tracey Alloway, científica adscrita a la Universidad de Stirling, Escocia, ha realizado una investigación sobre el impacto que tienen en nuestro desarrollo cognitivo el uso de las redes sociales partiendo de que la capacidad de aplicar la información aprendida (a la que llamo “memoria de trabajo“) es más importante para el desarrollo de un trabajo, una actividad, un proyecto… que lo mucho o poco inteligentes que seamos; algo así como que sabe más el diablo por viejo (experiencia) que por diablo (inteligencia).

Según Allovay las interacciones entre amigos, comentarios, etc que realizamos en Facebook tiene un efecto positivo en la memoria y el aprendizaje; mientras que el modo en que interactuamos en Twitter (con mensajes breves a modo de sms) o en Youtube (con visualizaciones rápidas de videos) son tan breves que no estimulan el cerebro y tienen un efecto negativo en la “memoria de trabajo”

Twitter se reduce la concentración y el usuario no usa el cerebro al manejar la información que está recibiendo

http://fernandgonzalez.com/2009/03/28/y-twitter-%C2%BFcrea-adiccion/

Y la científica va incluso más allá afirmando por sus investigaciones que el uso de mensajes de texto, sms, y la exposición prolongada y continua a la TV pueden reducir la inteligencia, atontarnos vaya…, tal y como siempre han afirmado nuestras abuelas cuando nos veían horas delante de “la caja tonta”.

Así que si aún tienes dudas sobre qué red social usar, quizás te interese seguir desarrollando tu “memoria de trabajo” en Facebook, que atontarte en Twitter… ahora cabe preguntarse ¿y si usamos las dos redes, somos más listos, más tontos o compensamos una cosa por otra…? ;)

[Vía DiarioTi: Facebook incrementa la inteligencia pero Twitter y YouTube la reducen]

ACTUALIZACIÓN:

Mario Núñez comentó en su momento la noticia y amplia en su post algunos comentarios de la investigadora, los argumentos de ésta cuando le preguntan por los datos que corroboran su teoría no tienen desperdicio.

octubre 13, 2009

Twitter Adds a Report Spam Option

Twitter spammers have been put on notice. Starting today, each profile on Twitter now includes a “report [username] for spam” link. When clicked, the feature alerts you that it will immediately block the user and report them to Twitter for review.

To-date, Twitter has been using the @spam account to allow users to quickly report spam messages via direct message. The “report spam” link should make this process a bit easier and more readily apparent for users of the Web interface.

Spam has been an ongoing problem with Twitter as it’s grown in popularity. We’ve discussed how spammers frequently target trending topics, as well as mass follow users in an effort to get them to click on links. Hopefully, this will be another step in alleviating the problem.


Reviews: Twitter

octubre 13, 2009

Web Faceoff: Twitter vs. FacebookMashable!

If you’ve been surfing Mashable the last few weeks, you probably have already have already seen a few Web Faceoffs, our new weekly series where we let two popular web apps duke it out via reader vote. Two enter, only one can claim the title.

We have some great faceoffs already. Nearly 9000 of you voted in our web browser brawl, while only 31 votes separated Last.fm from Pandora. But now, in our fourth installment of Web Faceoff, we decided to up it by a notch.

In the entire web and social media industry, two platforms have captured nearly all the attention: Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is the world’s largest social network, while Twitter is considered by most the hottest.

We’ve compared the two, discussed when most people use Twitter versus Facebook, and even analyzed who will win in real-time search. But we’ve never actually put them head-to-head. We’ve never asked you which of these two powerhouses you prefer.

That’s exactly what we’re going to do today – right here, right now. Facebook or Twitter: which one do you prefer? Cast your vote in the poll below. You have until noon EST on Friday October 16th before the polls close. Let the great battle begin.

Who would win in a fight: Facebook or Twitter?(poll)


Web Faceoff: Overall Results


Week 1:
- Mozilla Firefox vs. Google Chrome
- WINNER: Firefox, 4600 votes (Chrome: 3310 votes, Tie: 911 votes)

Week 2:
- Tumblr vs. Posterous
- WINNER: Tumblr, 1809 votes (Posterous: 1496 votes, Tie: 256 votes)

Week 3:
- Pandora vs. Last.fm
- WINNER: Last.fm, 1187 votes (Pandora: 1156 votes, Tie: 122 votes)


Reviews: Chrome, Facebook, Firefox, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Pandora, Posterous, Tumblr, Twitter

Tags: facebook, social media, twitter, web faceoff

octubre 10, 2009

Our Favorite Tweets of the Week Oct 4-Oct 10, 2009

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow us on Twitter, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the best tweets that we sent out this past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that we tweeted about, so don’t miss out.

To keep up to date with all the cool links, simply follow us @DesignerDepot

Is there a perfect web design width? http://bit.ly/2yqi2

The Ultimate Round-Up of Print Design Tutorials: http://bit.ly/2StxG8

Guaranteed to make you dizzy: http://bit.ly/3pRJ3v

Most Used and Abused Web Design Trends of All Time: http://bit.ly/2XhtP1

Alfred Hitchcock Vanity Fair Photoshoot: http://bit.ly/DWdp

The Top 10 Signs You’re A Twitter Addict: http://bit.ly/3foAso

iPhone App Design Trends: http://bit.ly/l9OR6

Heavenlike: http://bit.ly/cplpc

15 Common Mistakes in E-Commerce Design: http://bit.ly/1GF5ve

Showcase of Stylish & Crazy Mouse Pads: http://bit.ly/4kN67E

A Leaf’s Life: http://bit.ly/pNlyT

Fun Cartoon Illustrations by Juan Molinet: http://bit.ly/xU5YL

That’s a Table All Right: http://bit.ly/4mQeLW

Four Ways to Be More Interesting: http://bit.ly/dGhuc

Top 10 Most Common Errors Made Using Photoshop: http://bit.ly/O7EcX

CSS Font-Size: em vs. px vs. pt vs. percent – http://bit.ly/VIl1k (via @smashingmag)

8 Unique RSS Readers for Mac: http://bit.ly/tUhui

The myth of the page fold: http://bit.ly/2wWB9Z

10 Most Incredible Giant Hill Figures in England: http://bit.ly/133ruE

The 3D wallpaper that brings the outside world into your home: http://bit.ly/GYeew

10 User Interface Design Fundamentals: http://bit.ly/Cbfe3

Creative Photoshop Tutorials for Manipulating Photos: http://bit.ly/1z1Fx6

Design as a Differentiator http://bit.ly/3CzG4m * great article by @brandfreeze (via @buysellads)

50 Ways to Enhance Your Browsing Experience in FireFox: http://bit.ly/hB5pL

Tools for sketching user experience: http://bit.ly/mUG8D

34 Excellent Punctuation Inspired Logo Designs: http://bit.ly/POZlA

Want more? No problem! Keep track of all our tweets by following us @DesignerDepot


If you find an exclusive RSS freebie on this feed or on the live WDD website, please use the following code to download it: Y0TU8Z

octubre 4, 2009

Our Favorite Tweets of the Week Sep 27-Oct 3, 2009

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow us on Twitter, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the best tweets that we sent out this past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that we tweeted about, so don’t miss out.

To keep up to date with all the cool links, simply follow us @DesignerDepot

A Look at Absolut Vodka Poster Designs Over the Years: http://bit.ly/11u4lP

15 Cool Urban Art Projects and Dreamy Product Designs: http://bit.ly/NYxIs

15+ amazing anti IE resources: http://bit.ly/sLODa

The 50 Greatest Space Photos Ever! http://bit.ly/zZzmd

Showcase of Designs Optimized for iPhone: http://bit.ly/K9M09

10 Reasons why I prefer Fireworks CS4 to Photoshop for Web Design: http://bit.ly/JfrGK

Stunning Architectural Visualizations from the 2009 Architectural 3D Awards: http://bit.ly/TDMSG

Dirty Car Window Drawings: http://bit.ly/lDY9k

Pepsi To Cease Advertising: http://bit.ly/hQj1G

Luxury Hotel And B&B Web Designs: http://bit.ly/OaDLO

Inside the Brand: Q+A With Skype: http://bit.ly/z8QM5

What happened to this room? http://bit.ly/RWvcy

33 WordPress Plugins To Power Up Your Comments Section: http://bit.ly/11JxJ9

Amazing Cityscape from various objects: http://bit.ly/10nJMO

Men paint themselves to blend with nature: http://bit.ly/21trZq

The future of social networking – a concept investigation: http://bit.ly/6OP6Z

20 Apple-inspired Tutorials: http://bit.ly/ovgll

How To Respond Effectively To Design Criticism: http://bit.ly/1BChGo

9 Top CSS Essential Skills That Every Web designer Should Learn: http://bit.ly/l1rMR

Want more? No problem! Keep track of all our tweets by following us @DesignerDepot


If you find an exclusive RSS freebie on this feed or on the live WDD website, please use the following code to download it: e8fY4b

octubre 2, 2009

Twitter Labs Coming Soon?Mashable!

Most Gmail users are familiar with Google Labs, a nifty set of experimental features which aren’t quite ready to be rolled out to all users, but are good enough for a select subset of users who like to try out new things.

According to Cnet’s Natali DelConte, Twitter is planning a similar feature for the near future. At the FOWA conference in London, Twitter’s user experience and front end engineering lead Britt Selvitelle said that it’s coming “soon”. The idea behind it seems to be a bit different from Google Labs; while Google is using it to test their own ideas, Twitter will let developers create add-ons for the site.

While tech-savvy users can already browse through the hundreds of available third party Twitter apps, various add-ons, plugins and scripts to try out something new, Twitter Labs could help the rest of the user base, who don’t have time to do that much digging.

Tags: Google, labs, twitter

octubre 1, 2009

Twitter’s Geolocation API Appears To Be Live. But Most Of You Are Lost.

IMG_0561I noticed something interesting tonight. In the new build of Tweetie 2 (not out yet), a bunch of little red location markers started appearing next to tweets in my stream. Knowing that this new version was built using Twitter’s new Geolocation APIs, I inquired if this mean they had been turned on. Sure enough, they have, developer Loren Brichter just confirmed after talking to Twitter.

But there’s a slight problem. Apparently, the reason these geotags are showing up for all tweets (even those not actually geotagged) is that the documentation was a little unclear on how to handle non-geotagged tweets, Brichter says. The result is that every single tweet is tagged with a location somewhere just off the coast of Africa, south of Ghana. Either this is Atlantis, the Island from Lost, or we have a problem. [Update on the location below]

Brichter is aware of the issue and has already resolved it, and has resubmitted Tweetie 2 to the App Store for approval. Since no one officially has Tweetie 2 yet, this probably doesn’t affect you at all. But you have to wonder if other Twitter app developers were confused by this as well. If so, we could see a lot of apps with some wonky geolocation data.

Twitter hasn’t yet responded to my request for more information. It’s not clear if they meant to turn this on tonight. We do know that they had originally planned to launch it last week at the Twitter Conference in LA, but it wasn’t quite ready yet.

Earlier today, Twitter announced the new Lists feature, which will also feature an API. And of course, everyone is waiting for the Retweet API as well.

Update: As our apparently geography major readers have informed me, the area just off the coast of Ghana is lat/long 0,0. This makes sense — there is no location data attached to these tweets, so apparently they default to 0,0.

IMG_0562 IMG_0563

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