Mar 23, 2009 0
This is My Brain on Social Media
After being sick all of last week and literally not leaving my apartment, I had zero interest in looking presentable. So, I was faced with quite a challenge yesterday and this morning with the daunting task of blow drying my hair. While this is a daily occurence, I am usually not aware of just how long it takes, how detailed I am, and how monotonous it is to stand bent over with a blow dryer in one hand and the world’s largest round brush in the other…
(This isn’t the point of the story, but it is amazing what girls are willing to go through to look like they haven’t rolled out of bed — where guys on the other hand look cooler and hipper the dirtier they look!)
Anyway, while drying, I was suddenly very deep in thought about how I use my phone applications to check my favorite social networks and social media sites more then I check them online. I tweet from my blackberry, respond to facebook invites, and check Yelp requests on my phone all the time, sometimes even while sitting at my desk — in front of a computer. I am not the first to do this, and people have been talking about social networks in the celluar world for awhile, but I am not convinced the applications are at their best, and I’m not happy.
I started college at the height of the Facebook boom, and used to be mildly obsessed with it. Now I am weening myself off, but I still think it has some very important features. Birthdays and pictures are two elements missing from the application and it frustrates me to no end that I feel like I have to get on a computer every couple of days just to make sure I didn’t miss any birthdays and to check in with pictures — I know I can use the mobile site, but what’s the point if I already have an application?
Then there’s the lack of ease while using Twitterberry. Other than DMs and @replies, the application doesn’t make adding URLs or pictures easy, and it certainly doesn’t have a hashtags, retweet or even a fully functioning follow/leave component. And let’s not even get into the fact that there is no Yelp or friendfeed application designed for the blackberry!
While there are monetized options for using such sites on your phone, which may be very well worth the cost, I would think in the changing landscape that social media exists in, it would behoove networks to start rethinking their mobile presence and look to consumers for suggestions on how to better design their applications. Or maybe it’s just me and I needed to rant! And if that’s the case, and I do miss writing on your wall for your birthday, now you know why, and I’m sorry! But if anyone out there is looking for some consultation for better social media applications, I am your girl and I’m here to chat!
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