jono.blog

I see a big problem with the semantic web and social networks. We have all these great tools like twitter, last.fm, youtube, etc, but it becomes time consuming and unmanageable to update them all. For instance, you want tweet on twitter, you have to login in and post your update. You then update your facebook status, same thing - login and post your update. The process repeats. As soon as your list of social services grows, this can take quite some time. Wouldn’t it be easier if this was streamlined from your desktop or mobile devices? In my opinion, yes! There are a handful of apps already developed to do so, and many more to come in the future. Here’s a list of some tools to help you streamline your social updates.

Multiple Use Applications

Feedalizr - An Adobe Air app to allow desktop updates for facebook, twitter, friendfiner, flickr, and jaiku. If you need help installing, read the FAQ on their site for more information on installing Adobe Air.

Twhirl - Another Adobe Air app which posts to multiple networks. From their home page:

• runs on both Windows (2000/XP/Vista) and Mac OSX
• connects to multiple Twitter, laconi.ca, Friendfeed and seesmic accounts
• notifications on new messages
• shorten long URLs (using snurl, twurl or is.gd)
• cross-post twitter updates to Pownce and Jaiku
• post images to TwitPic
• search tweets using Twitter Search and TweetScan
• timeline filtering
• color schemes
• automatically check for new versions

Posty - Posty will automatically deliver your message to the services you selected.

• browsing of personal, public and friends’ timeline
• posting of replies (Twitter, Pownce, Friendfeed, Identi.ca)
• browsing and posting of direct messages (Twitter and Identi.ca)
• support to favorites (Twitter and Identi.ca)
• search of past messages (Twitter and Friendfeed)
• automatic, as-you-type, spellchecking of messages
• built-in url shortening service
• configurable notification of recently posted messages (Twitter)
• automatic notification and installation of new versions
• visualization of multimedia items (Youtube and Vimeo videos, Tumblr audio, Flickr/Zoomr/Smugmug galleries)
• automatic management of internet connection (works behind proxies!).

Alert Thingy - A simple desktop app which pulls in updates from Twitter, Flickr, and FriendFeed.

Twitter

Snitter (Mac OSX/Windows) -  A simple twitter app built on Adobe Air. Here is a list of features from the site:

• auto-updates tweet list
• highlights messages sent to you via @ syntax (and makes a chirp)
• clear current list of tweets
• refresh list of tweets
• displays last time it tried to request an update
• view 20 most recent items in your timeline
• view 20 most recent replies
• view 20 most recent direct messages
• view and filter friends list by name and screen name
• view and filter followers
• links to easily @reply and Direct message users
• keyboard shortcuts to access each panel
• add favorites tab and allow tweets to be set as a favorite
• will notify you of new versions of Snitter
• audible notification of new tweets
• will remember previous window size and location
• will minimize to system tray
• auto-login

Twhirl - (See Above)

TwitterBar - A slick Firefox plugin which utilizes your address bar for twitter updates. It lists the characters remaining then enables you to post directly to twitter. This is my personal favourite twitter update tool.

Twitter From Mobile - Posting from your mobile device is an effective and easy way to keep your status online. Here is a comphrensive guide on how to use twitter from mobile.

TwittyTunes - A very cool firefox plugin which easily allows you to twee music updates, reading, what your looking at, watching, etc…

Facebook

FizzBook (Windows) - “This application takes care of almost each and every feature of Facebook. It notifies you friend, groups, events, pokes, wall messages etc. It lets you view the updates from your friends and lets you update your status too. You can create new albums and directly upload photos to your facebook profile. It syncs your twitter account with facebook’s status, so if you use twitter then you don’t have to worry about updating the status on facebook, it takes care of that.”

Facile (Mac OSX) - “Facile interacts with your Facebook account, allowing you to view your friends’ statuses as well as update your own.”

Wordpress Desktop Blogging

Wordpress can be setup to blog simply be writing an email to a specific address, but your also limited to just plain text if you go that route. Here are some tools to enable you to blog directly from your desktop:

Wbloggar (Windows) - Wbloggar is a portable app meaning you can plug in into USB key and literally blog from any internet connect device (with USB of course). Wbloggar supports posting to a long list of blogs: Blogger, MSN Spaces, TypePad, BigBlogTool, Blogalia, TheBlog, Blog-City, EraBlog.NET, Upsaid, UBlog, SquareSpace, BlogWare, DearDiary.Net

BlogGTK (Linux) - “BloGTK is a weblog client that allows you to post to your weblog from GNOME without the need for a separate browser window. BloGTK allows you to connect with many weblog systems such as Blogger, Movable Type, WordPress, and more.”

BlogniX (Linux) - BlogniX is a simple blogger client for Linux.

Qumana (Windows/Mac OSX) - A great tool with multiple blog support. Qumana allows for multiple ad insertion right in your posts which is pretty cool. Here are the support blogs: Angelfire, Blogger/Blogspot, BlogHarbor, Blogware, Bryght, DiaryLand, Drupal, LiveJournal, MovableType, MSN Spaces, Tripod, TypePad, Roller, SquareSpace, Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org

Deepest Sender (Firefox) - “Deepest Sender is a blogging client for Firefox. What does this mean? Well, it means that instead of having to go to the Update page on LiveJournal/WordPress/Blogger/whatever, or loading up a separate client program, all you have to do is hit Ctrl+\, or click the button in your toolbar, and you can start posting.”

For a more comprehensive list of tools available for desktop blogging, check out hongkiats post.

Flickr

FlickrFox (Firefox plugin) - “Flickrfox lets you browse flickr photostreams in a sidebar in firefox. It makes managing groups, searching tags, and keeping up with your contacts easy, and it’s a fun way to explore flickr.”

iFlickr (iPhone app) - Allows you to easily submit your photos to flickr from your iphone as well as use all of flickrs web services.

1001 (Mac OSX) - “1001 not only uploads photos to your Flickr account, it notifies you anytime new photos from either your contacts, everyone, or your favorite tags are uploaded.”

picturesSync (Windows /Mac OSX) - “Upload your images, with metadata, from iPhoto, iView MediaPro, and files with or without IPTC fields. Includes resizing and metadata options.”

FlickrSync - (Windows) - “FlickrSync is a photo synchronization application for flickr users. It displays your local folders and your flickr sets and it can establish synchronization rules between them. This way you can manage all your photos locally and FlickrSync will keep them updated in flickr.”

Flishr - (Windows) - “Flishr is a Windows application which covers all your needs with Flickr. You can download in bulk, upload and search photos with just a few clicks. You can also create and add photos to your local collection and export it as an XML file. This way, you may browse hundreds of photos in a short time and select the photos you like and finally download in just a few seconds. Finally Flishr is Free to download and use.”

FoldrMonitr (Windows) - Simple folder to flickr uploader

For a more comprehensive list of tools available for flickr, check out flickrbits.com.

Digg

DiggTop (Windows/Mac OSX) - “DiggTop is an application for Windows and MacOSX that lets you view a blended list of your favourite Digg topic or keyword feeds. In addition to the full Digg submission information, it will also display a slideshow of images it can scrape from the linked article.

View video submissions from your favourite Digg video categories, and preview some videos right in the application. You can also set up keyword and Digg count filters that will notify you with a sound and icon when new stories match your criteria.”

DiggUpdate (Windows/Mac OSX) - Updates to your desktop

Hulu

Desktop player (Windows/Mac OSX) - Adobe Air to allow you to play Hulu videos directly on your desktop.

FriendFeed

MySocial 24/7 AIR (Windows/Mac OSX) - Adobe Air app which pulls in multiple services such as Twitter, friendfeed, flickr, youtube.

Feedalizr - (see top of page)

Alert Thingy - A simple desktop app which pulls in updates from Twitter, Flickr, and FriendFeed.

Posty - (see top of page)

twhirl - (see top of page)

Check this list for more information on these applications: http://mashable.com/2008/10/01/desktop-applications-for-friendfeed/

Last.Fm

Last.Fm - Last.Fm has developed its own software to allow you to control all the site features onto your desktop, as well as iPod and iPhone.

Amua (OS X) -  Stream and control most functionality from last.fm on you mac, using itunes.

Jaiku

Jaiku Widget for OS X - A Jaiku dashboard widget for OSX.
Jaiku Windows Vista Widget - A Jaiku dashboard widget for Windows Visa.
Juhu - OS X - A OS X dekstop app.
Jaiku - More information on native mobile support.

More comprehensive list on Jaiku tools: http://mashable.com/2007/05/08/jaiku-tools/

Sphinn

Lastest OS X - The latest updates from Sphinn put in your dashboard.

In Conclusion

If your a facebook user, and an app your seeking isn’t listed here, something to check out is the facebook apps. Many apps are still being developed, and many services simply don’t offer API’s to build upon.

In my previous post I mentioned lifestreaming which centralizes all your updates in your blog. All the tools above listed will make your life a lot easier for posting updates which will go into your lifestream. In a few days I will be releasing my first free lifestreaming template.

Know of a good app not listed? Post it in the comments and I’ll add it!