Location-Based Language Settings = Traveller Nightmare
Right, time for a rant.
Something which has slowly grown to annoy me is the number of websites which will change my language settings simply because they have managed to work out where I am sitting right now. In short, what I’d like to say to all webmasters who do this is “STOP IT!”
For me, I’ve noticed this problem because I’m primarily an English speaker who happens to be in France. Yes, I make good use of my sudden French settings and get some instant French practise, but by and large I just wish websites and mobile apps would leave language settings be.
For instance, I searched for something on Google using English keywords. I found a site in English which fit the bill. When I clicked on that link it decided I’d prefer the French version of the site. Surely, if I’d wanted the French version, I’d have searched using French keywords and found the French version of the site? I don’t even know if Google or the website is responsible for the switch. What made this even more annoying is that it was a site which I have an account with – and I was logged in! Hello, you guys KNOW my language preferences. What are you doing? I fully expect my personal settings to override your guesses while I’m logged in, thanks.
In fact, many sites I use will override my regular language settings with a location-based language setting. It’s usually the big ones, too: Google & Facebook spring to mind (although with Facebook it’s just the login screen, which is reasonable). Google language settings are seriously annoying: Just when you think the language setting is set for every single Google service (oh yes, different settings for each service – thanks Google), you accidentally click something which changes things back to wherever you are again. What’s really annoying is that these sites which automagically decide on a language for you think they’re so right in their language choice that they go and hide the language settings from you and make it difficult to change it back to what you want.
I used the IMDB movie app on my phone to check out popular movies. It had settings to be able to pick which database the info came from, yet despite my choices of imdb.com and amazon.co.uk it insisted on providing me with the French versions of the movie titles. Movie titles are obscure, you know? They’re translated to be catchy in that language. So, even if you translate them back to English, you’ll have more luck working out which movie it is by recognising the poster. Either way, after deliberately setting these database choices, the app had overridden my choices simply because of where I happened to be. Turns out that they do this on the main site too, and for any app which access the IMDB database. Annoying!
Automatically changing the language is ridiculous! Leave it be and ASK people which language they’d prefer.
I think web-developers in English-speaking countries probably don’t think about this location thing very much. Their language settings stay the same as they travel around the country. In their heads, they’re probably doing everyone in foreign countries a favour – and I can see how they might think that.
Consider the average traveller in Europe. Every day they travel around, crossing arbitrary lines which for some reason change the language of all the big sites they use every day. While they might know how to order a meal and book into a hotel in that language, you can hardly expect everyone to be proficient in all of them.
Think about people in multi-language countries. You are driving them crazy.
Now, here’s a thought: When using a phone or laptop, normally the users have already chosen the language they prefer to use. Now developers, do you think it would be possible to work with that language choice? Thanks.
Here’s another similar complaint: Paypal seem to have divided their customer service by country. So, in France I’m told I can’t access the Paypal help menu in English. Seriously. Not to mention that I only wanted to send a quick email to ask a simple question. I clicked “Contact us” and got this:
I’m not sure why an international company based in an English-speaking country wants me to try and navigate their help system in French just so I can send an email in awful French to some poor sod who will have trouble understanding my awful French and who most likely doesn’t speak English and will pass my email around the office stressing out until they find an English speaker to help answer my very simple question. This makes no sense.
My language settings are in English. Let me access a help system and a “Contact Us” web-form in English. I’ll most likely get all the information I need without bothering you. If not, an English person would be able to answer my question quickly. If it so happens that my question is specific to something in France, I’m sure my query can be forwarded internally to a bilingual helpdesk person in France. In the meantime, monolingual French-speaking customers are able to be attended by the French staff. What a thought!
Seriously web developers, quit making language settings automatic according to country. ASK.
Image Credit: RockCohen
Feeding Facebook – About those bloody Twitter updates
Image Credit: MagerLeagues
Right. Time to get stuck in to a topic that hits a lot of nerves: Why some people import Tweets into Facebook. I’m not trying to start a debate here, rather to cast light on why some choose to do this.
Firstly, I’ll mention that due to Facebook changing the news feed, Twitter and Google getting friendly and Twitter introducing lists, both services are currently undergoing a bit of change. This means that users of both (especially those sending tweets through to Facebook) will be making adjustments. For starters, tweets get indexed by Google and Twitterers might have more luck keeping track of their real friends (thus also negating two of the main reasons for things like “Daily tweet” digests).
Anyway, there’s plenty of people wondering about the differences between the two services and what sort of status update goes to where. Danah Boyd also had a rant recently about the difference in status updates between Facebook and Twitter status updates. There are definitely differences between the two in regards to audience and conversation.
When I tweet it goes to thousands of people – some who are followers, some who see RTs and some who are searching hashtags or words. That audience is largely professional in nature. It’s public, immediate and it’s instantly part of a larger conversation. Twitter is about what’s happening throughout the world. It’s about news, thoughts, ideas, conversation and random funny things – but it’s also about everyone. You see humanising snippets of lives that remind you that you’re talking to real people. It’s the world talking to the world. People dip in and out as it suits them, talking to whoever is interesting or on-topic while they’re there. You miss some things and you catch others – It’s not important. When I’m online I see Twitter updates via Growl, constantly showing me interesting new stuff. Twitter is ubiquitous information gathering. Twitter is ephemeral. Twitter is about NOW.
Facebook is, due to the reciprocal friending practices, all about friends. Real friends. Yes, some people have also friended contacts and networkers as well as their friends. But largely, it’s about real friends. It’s like a one-stop shop for friend info. Facebook seems to be trying to branch into the worldwide-info market as well, but that’s not the point. For now, Facebook is the go-to place when you want to find out what your real friends have been up to.
I have no idea what you’re up to these days – you never post to Facebook.
I have to admit, when I first saw people bringing tweets into Facebook I was thinking “You’re doing it wrong!”. It still irks me that the Twitter app doesn’t work like it used to any more. The official Twitter app used to bring your tweets into your wall sweetly with a little Twitter logo. It was part of the news feed and if people didn’t want to see it they could just hide stuff from that app. But the app doesn’t work like that any more and none of the current working apps seem to do that – they all post as a status update. So, it was a big decision to cross the line and become an evil Twitter-Facebook crossposter.
Now, across many social networks I maintain separate information. Each network serves its purpose and has a different audience. I wanted to keep Facebook as a separate social network and not to replicate information – duplication is annoying! But the point is, Facebook is different for two very important reasons. Firstly, because information created in Facebook is largely stuck in Facebook (unless you can find the magic RSS feed) – it’s a walled garden. That doesn’t encourage people to create original content in Facebook. Secondly, because it really is the one-stop shop for friend info. Not many of my Facebook friends bother to follow RSS feeds – especially not now that Facebook is the place to go for friend info. And why would they go to Friendfeed and set up an account there, when they really want to see everything in Facebook with everything else? So, it’s up to me to make sure that all the stuff they might like to know about me is in Facebook where they’ll find it. In that respect, I’m treating Facebook as a lifestream. In goes a selected stream of stuff I do online, picked for relevance to my real-life friends. This is the general mentality of the people importing tweets and RSS feeds into Facebook. We have simply started to see Facebook as more of a lifestream for friends.
I’m actually quite glad that so many of my Twitter friends import their more interesting tweets into Facebook. If they didn’t I’d probably never see them. Even when I’m actively following Twitter I tend to miss things said by my own friends. This makes sure I don’t.
As for content, I guess it’s a constant adjustment to ensure just the right stuff is coming through. Twitter can get pretty chatty and it would be crazy to update your Facebook status that often. Some speak of Twitter as a mind-state versus Facebook as a life-state. That’s true for some. And for some, it’s only true sometimes. Humans are a pretty diverse mob. But for me, whether it’s something interesting I thought, saw, read or did, the final decision to send it to Facebook is largely about whether I think any of my friends will be interested. Also, since I don’t yet have an iPhone (or in fact a phone with internet or email access), I can’t update my Facebook status when I’m out and about. I can, however, send an SMS to Twitter and have it go through to Facebook if it’s relevant to my Facebook friends. So, Twitter is essentially the best path to get information from me to the internet at large. In that sense, things that I might have posted purely to Facebook are travelling through Twitter as well.
If you’re reading this and still all riled up that your friends are posting things to Facebook and it’s all just getting too much, I have an idea for you. Create a Facebook friends lists for “People I don’t follow elsewhere” and filter out the noise. Or just follow them via Facebook.
The point of all this is that there are many people out there who have realised that Facebook is where people go to find out about friends and that if we’re to supply these friends with the information they’re looking for then it’s best put on Facebook by us. There’s no point expecting people try to keep track of their own friends – we just have to take the information to where they’ll read it.
Image Credit: MagerLeagues
Lifestream me
I’ve been messing around with social networks for a long while now, so I was quick to see the need for a lifestream before most of my friends. In fact, most of my friends still don’t see why they would want one. Because of this, I thought I’d delve into some thoughts on why having a lifestream is useful and then explain which ones I use and why.
The comprehensive picture
The main reason I can see people wanting a lifestream is to be able to supply any interested person with a comprehensive picture of you via your activities online. Sure, it’s never going to be quite like meeting you in person, but it’s far more accurate then them viewing just your Twitter or Delicious links alone. And when you stretch out and find networks with the perfect niche for each of your interests, you find yourself drawn into interesting discussions or collecting unique data which you might then want to display to all the people who are generally interested in you. Rather than repeating yourself (or expecting them to visit your niche network), it’s far easier to use RSS feeds to collect that information and display it in the one place.
Loic Le Meur posted a fantastic post about why he needed a lifestream (with diagrams and video) when he suddenly realised that he had reason for one. Lea Woodward explains in her post that lifestreams are invaluable when maintaining relationships internationally and building relationships with clients online.
Image Credit: Christhomson
Why not just use Facebook?
The main reason most of my friends don’t compile their own lifestream is largely because they use only a few social networks and their only intended audience is their close friends. For these purposes, Facebook is usually enough for them. Facebook is a sort of lifestream – there are lots of ways to get information into the system and it does then give an overview of who you are. But, it’s very limited – only one RSS feed can be imported into the notes (if you have multiple blogs you can pre-mix them together using Yahoo Pipes – but you have to be the sort of person to think of that). Applications can be used to import more things, but most people are then limited by the applications available (not many people really want to write their own app just so something will work on Facebook). And then Facebook controls the layout and you’ll probably find no-one will see what you want them to see anyway.
But that’s not even the most important part – it’s about having something public. Due to privacy issues, people are locking down their Facebook profiles and generally sticking to friending people they actually know. That means your professional contacts aren’t able to quickly look at a page which gives a nice overview of you and links to relevant networks where they might find common interests and interact with you further. You need to create that yourself and do it somewhere public.
So, what can I use to lifestream?
There are lots of lifestreaming services out there. Yes, you can go to the effort of creating your own lifestream, but most people won’t bother or don’t have the skills. It’s far easier to use a ready-made lifestreaming service.
There are two different sorts of lifestreams available: Pull or Push. Both have their merits, and technically I use both. Pull lifestreams are where you can collect all the RSS feeds of stuff you do online and display them in a pretty page for people to see, like Friendfeed, Plurk or Soup. These are great for people who are active on lots of social networks and blogs.
Push lifestreams are a one-stop shop. You post directly to the site and it will sort your content and send it on to the various networks for you. These are great for people who want to have a presence in a lot of places, but don’t have the time (or don’t want to navigate the tools) to visit or use each network individually. They’re also great for people who are mostly offline and want to be able to update the various services they use via email (even if those services don’t directly support that) – they’re similar to services like Ping.fm. I’ll talk more about surviving offline in another post. A good push lifestream example is Posterous.
Steve Rubel has a great post on the difference between push and pull lifestreams and he’s got some easy-to-understand diagrams which tell the story very clearly. You can easily use a combination of both types of lifestream. In fact, most lifestreaming services are their own social network, lending even more confusion to the whole thing. In the end, all you have to do is decide where to send people when they want the full picture. Which service has the best picture for you? Do you want customisation? Do you want people to connect with you? Do you want to host it yourself?
Posterous is very customisable and can be hosted anywhere. Also, the content goes back out to the networks, so if you’re cunning you can pull that back in to a ‘pull’ lifestream as well. There’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t.
Friendfeed is gaining in popularity and is a great way to connect with other people. Customisation is fairly limited, but exposure is high. It’s like a fleshed-out Twitter. People can follow you without you needing to follow back and people dip in and out of following as it suits them. Members can filter who they follow into lists, which means people can be selective about their viewing. There are also Friendfeed groups, which you can add RSS feeds to if you’re an admin, but member content needs to be re-posted to the group (which I personally find to be annoying).
To fill this niche is one of my favourites, Soup. This little gem is relatively unheard of, which is a great shame if you ask me. Soup allows you to customise your lifestream entirely. The available themes, however, are generally good enough for most people as they look great. Soup’s groups work in a slightly different way to Friendfeed’s groups. Feeds can be set up by admins and content can be pushed by members (same as Friendfeed). But the joy comes from the ‘member’ tab, which supplies a comprehensive mix of everything each member imports into their own lifestream. This is GREAT for clubs and small groups of people (like families). Each member can set up their own lifestream as they wish and the group display can show what everyone is up to. If you want an example of Soup group ‘member’ tabs in action, see my soup, my family soup and the LabF soup.
So, uh, what?
Okay, so I may have just confused the issue further by giving you too much choice in the way of lifestreams. The point is that they’re all different – They achieve different things. But no-one said you had to use just one service. Join Friendfeed for exposure (if that’s what you want) and so your friends can find you. Then pick (or make) at least one lifestream service that looks and behaves the way you want it to and call that your landing page from now on.
Image Credit: Christhomson
Social networks: Hermit or herd?
Facebook is changing us. We use it to stay in touch with many people from all areas of our life. Often these aren’t people we know well – they’re just people we knew from one thing or another. But we can see into their lives: see what’s bugging them, what bands they like, who they’re dating and what sort of person they’re after. It’s not usually life-altering information, but it’s enough to feel like you have an idea what their day-to-day lives are really like. This is kind of voyeuristic in terms of workmates and old school friends, but when it comes to close friends or family separated by distance it is an absolute godsend. To stay abreast of the little things means you feel closer to that person’s life.
But it also changes normal relationships with friends who are in the same town. You get invited to lots of stuff via Facebook. What if you don’t log in often? What if you’re not savvy enough to set up an iCal feed for Facebook events in Google? Well then, you miss out on the party. Tough. Now, what about those that did make it to the party. How do you explain that fancy dress costume to the boss? Your workmates all saw the photos before you even got over your hangover the next day.
But wait. There’s more. There is actually a good side to this networking business. It’s like what they always say: It’s not what you know – it’s WHO you know. If you know a whole lot of people and they all know you’re looking for a new job (Status update: “Bob is finished the degree and officially looking for a graphic design job!”) then that’s a whole lot more eyes and ears and “I know someone..” conversations to get you started. Much better than searching the papers, finding only courier and snack bar assistant jobs.
Of course, this status trick can backfire too (Status update: “Tim is sick of his boss and his whiny voice.”). Teachers have been fired for saying what they really think of the kids. Not a smart move. Or worse, you could get sprung taking a sickie. You might also get fired just for lazing away too much of your day.
So, educate yourself and your friends/kids/whatever on how to lock down your social networks. Keep your address and other personal info safe, keep your secrets locked to close friends. Seriously, how much do you want your high school friends to know? Think first. Share later. Then, make sure you are happy with your conduct going public. Don’t bludge, don’t pull sickies and don’t do dumb things in front of cameras. If you do accidentally get caught on camera then chat to the person who owns the camera ASAP. Preferably ask them to delete it, but at least ask them to lock down the photo for the sake of your job.
Generally, the benefits of social networking outweigh the dangers. You might even manage to teach yourself to be a more upstanding citizen. Out you come hermits! Come play with the herd.
What trends can we see developing online?
Today we’re going to get a little more serious about analysing current online trends. This should give you something to chat about with the lawyers at that dinner party this weekend, k? Right, let’s get into it…
Social
There has been a huge uptake of people using social networks in the past few years. Facebook may not be perfect, but it has certainly made a difference to the way many people use the internet. Despite calls that Facebook is merely a directory it still proves popular and there are still a lot of people who haven’t joined the social networking revolution, so we’re likely to see even greater expansion in Facebook and other networks in the future. I think this is great as network size really matters. Social networks are also great for teens “trying on” identities for size. However, this might not be such great news for those wanting privacy, or wanting to avert social or social networking disasters, but that’s life.
- Image by via CrunchBase
The divides are building between the various networks and the haves and have-nots (not to be confused with rich and poor), with significant evidence to prove that one is better off when utilising social networking habitually compared to those who don’t use online social networks. Use of social networks also seem to be teaching poorer kids essential web-based skills, such as basic html and graphic manipulation, thus helping them gain basic skills for future employment. Other studies are merely keen to note the changes in writing as a person realises they are in the public eye.
Web 2.0 Networking
We will see further interoperability between websites as there is currently a movement away from the “walled garden” syndrome. No-one wants to be seen as the only site that won’t share. That is, of course, except Facebook which is the reason the term “walled garden” was brought into web 2.0 usage.
Twitter hashtags are a great user innovation, co-ordinating disasters with ease. I’m sure we’ll see far more of this as time goes on.
Entertainment
The recent popularity of social bookmarking has paved the way for entertainment via RSS feed. And while more everyday people realise why the geeks have relied on RSS feed readers for so long, there is a sudden explosion in RSS aggregators, such as Popurls.com, which take popular feeds and show you what’s interesting on the net today.
Easy to find MP3s online – Still Alive by Jonathan Coulton
Even more exciting is the developments in internet radio, TV and movies on demand. With Last.fm working to create a personalised radio for each user, plus social network video such as Youtube, Vimeo, Hulu and Blink.tv.
Access
Cloud computing is becoming the norm, as people want access to their email, files, bookmarks from wherever they are. Combined with this, there is a massive increase in people using mobile phones, iPhones, PDAs and wirelessly connected laptops to access the internet. This convergence and subsequent increased mobility drastically increases the connectivity of the average person. It will lead to demand in web apps specifically designed for the mobile-connected person, which will ultimately be a whole lot of fun.
Business
Finally, we are seeing businesses and politicians getting involved with social networking. It is giving them the eyes and ears they have sorely needed for decades, however there are a few bumps and wrinkles still to iron out. All the really fun developments are in looking for work, virtual job interviews and online freelance jobs.
Is this news for real? 3-Step Check!
- Image via Wikipedia
You’re faced with a vast sea of information on a daily basis. Some are reputable news sources and others are definitely not. But what about all those sources in between? How do you choose whether it’s believable or a complete waste of time?
Most people make these decisions without really analysing how it’s done. That’s great, because it shows you have good common sense, but it could still leave you suckered in by something one day.
Don’t fret! This decision really comes down to a few very simple points:
- Credentials – How credible is the author? What authority do they have? What are the credentials of the publication? What do the peer reviews of the author or publication say? Does the publication have advertisements? Is the publication well organised?
- Currency – How current is the source?
- Content – How objective is the article? Is this primary or secondary content? Is this article written for a particular audience? Is it well written? Is it accurate? Does the article reference their sources? Are the sources reputable?
But, there’s value in the blogs and less reputable sources, too.
Newspapers, magazines, professional blogs and citizen journalists are generally considered to be a good source of:
- current information
- facts and details
- excerpts and quotes, such as first hand accounts
- reflection and analysis, showcasing what was important at the time of printing and how events were perceived.
So, there you go. It’s not that hard! Now you can continue to browse the internet for new info, armed with the knowledge of exactly what you should and shouldn’t believe from each site.
Spammerick
Facebook Fallout
Two teenage girls fought bitterly over their reputations in the Adelaide Magistrates’ Court today, serving as a reminder to choose your friends wisely before friending them on Facebook.
The court heard that Ms Michelle Jenson, claimed that Ms Heidi Roberts owed Ms Jenson $1000 in damages after Ms Roberts damaged her reputation on the online social network, Facebook.
A detailed report supplied by Ms Jenson showed that Ms Roberts had repeatedly and routinely embarrassed her via the social networking site.
Ms Jenson claimed Ms Roberts had deliberately mis-tagged photos of her, by tagging photos of Ms Jenson’s cleavage with comments such as “Look at this enormous slut!”.
Further questioning of Ms Roberts revealed that the dispute occurred after Ms Jenson had failed to invite her to a party she was hosting, just after she had been the victim of profile pic cropping.
Magistrate Mitchell questioned Ms Roberts further about the cropping.
“There was a fantastic pic of the two of us and she just cropped me out. I was heaps offended”, says Ms Roberts.
Magistrate Mitchell pressed Ms Jenson for further details surrounding the resulting feud.
“After I cropped that photo Heidi just went off. She stopped inviting me to stuff, spread all of my secrets and started mis-tagging me in photos”, says Ms Jenson.
Ms Roberts confirmed that her photos had been mis-tagged, but denied any wrongdoing.
“That wasn’t me. The girl must have a collection of enemies”, says Ms Roberts.
Magistrate Mitchell reasoned that without proof of who mis-tagged the photos that the girls were recommended to settle the dispute in a recess.
After a brief adjournment, Ms Jenson and Ms Roberts returned to the court and agreed to settle the dispute themselves.
Notes:
This is a satirical piece designed to mock the latest trends in social networking. Written in the style of a court report, the piece shows the feud between two ex-friends as detailed on Facebook. All characters are completely fictional and any resemblance to real persons is unintentional.
.. And the magic 8-ball says
Will iPhones take over the world?
.. And the magic 8-ball says: Hmmmmm… Outlook good.
Well, iPhones and millions of similar phones trying to achieve the exact same thing will take over the world.
It seems only yesterday I began to wonder how I would live without a mobile phone. Now it seems I’m handicapped by not having an iPhone or similar, with me wherever I go.
- Image by via CrunchBase
Internet and phone technology is converging so rapidly that they’ve nearly swapped places. I use my phone to update Twitter and my computer to make VOIP phone calls.
It’s all to do with timeliness and price. There’s no point telling twitter “Hey, I went to a great place this afternoon.” Twitter is about NOW. You want to be saying “Oh wow. I”m at this huge castle and it’s fantastic!”. You’ve got to stay current. Plus, you’ve got to give those cubicle-dwellers something to be jealous about.
As for phones, who would pay commercial rates when you can pay AU$15/month to call anywhere in the world via Skype? That’s cheaper than the line rental on most landline phones. As long as you can get your internet access without needing a landline, you’re pretty much set*.
But it’s even more involved than just this. People are posting audio blog posts via mobile phone, iPhones and Blackberrys let people easily** check email, bank accounts, social networks and just about any other website. So, the conversation is not just one-sided anymore. People stuck in bars can conveniently talk to their real life friends online while they wait for douchebag real-life friends to turn up late. All this rather than talking to the hottie at the bar. It makes so much sense now that I put it that way.
Pointlessness aside, this really means that people can stay somewhat mentally connected while physically roaming the world. No more Saturday nights staying at home waiting for the phone to ring – oh wait, that’s the 80′s. No more Saturday nights at home messing around on Facebook! Time to get out there and live a little!
* Although Skype do state that they are not a replacement for a real phone and should not be relied upon for emergency calls. So, keep a mobile handy.
** It’s true that you can do this on old clunkers too, but it’s just EFFORT.
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