There is constantly issues with sites like Facbeook, YouTube, Myspace, where people are bullying, trolling, or just being tools (for one of a better term), however to be a mennace on these sites, you had to create  fake profiles and email accounts, and it is time consuming. Formspring allows its functionality with no prior screening.

So, in essence, it’s a pretty pointless site. However, people start using services like this, and get people asking questions. The first kinds of questions you’ll see straight away, are have you had sex, or are you gay, pointless, immature questions that are only there to antagonise or upset the author.

What’s more frustrating is to see people use this service, then finally wake up and realise, hang on, this totally stupid and then start to bag the application as if it caused the bullying or harassment that went on. Even though the authors knew specifically what Formspring was doing, and not doing.

I like the following quotes on gawker.com

Formsping.Me should come with a warning label you have to check off before you use it: BEWARE. WILL CAUSE LINGUISTIC, INTELLECTUAL, AND EMOTIONAL DIARRHEA.

This is a dangerous, mischievous platform of oversharing that is, at best, indulgent, and at worse, the most self-serving experience one can create for themselves on the internet from every which angle you approach it. For the people asking the questions, it’s an anonymous comment box that they can inundate their interviewees with candid interrogation after interrogation.

For the people answering the questions, it fulfills so many awesomely narcissistic desires: you’re on a stage, you’re interested in by people asking the questions, or if asked about any number of various topics, the desire to feel like some kind of authority on something. At the very least, someone wants to hear something from you, and you get to sit there and think of an answer. And if there’s anything better than being desired, its having someone take some kind of interest in you.

Read the rest of the article here.

Hello, my name is Bill and welcome to my guide to the internet. Basically, everything on the internet is rubbish but I will try to pinpoint the main areas to avoid.

Read more here

Foursquare allows you to continue to Check in every time you’re at a venue / business and if you happen to be the most frequent person there, you will be awarded the position of Mayor. It’s a new take a loyalty programs basically. Businesses are encouraged to reward their Foursquare mayor’s and encouraged other users to checkin on Foursquare and reap the rewards.

Foursquare also allows you to share tips, feedback and make going out, even more social. It’s able to tell you that if you checkin at the local bar, one of your friends are also at the same venue, so you can check in with each other.

I’ve been using foursquare on my day to day life in Hervey Bay, and at this stage, there are only a very small handful of people who actively use it, however, where I think foursquare would become more useful is in larger cities where you’re able to see more users feedback about venues, and to make it easier to catch up with other foursquare friends.

So at this stage, I’m still interested in continuing to use foursquare, I think as technology rolls forward, and more and more of the general population services like foursquare are terrific as they combine smart technology and social media, making it even more useful and enjoyable to use.

You can follow me on foursquare here.

This video also sums up what Foursquare is all about for those who still have no idea after this short intro.

After facebook really boomed in Australia by about 2007-2008, it was already pretty popular elsewhere, and since the growth of facebook was so enourmous they have been able to continue to build, re-tweak and redesign many elements of facebook as it continues to evolve with it’s users.

On a recent update facebook have added new features, things like the ‘live feed’ which like all updates, annoys a certain group of people who don’t really like it, and will create groups to try reverse it. The latest update also included more social connection tools that facebook want to you try “connect” with more people by trying to guess new friends (yes that’s been around for a while) but they have now introduced the concept of ‘Re-Connecting’ with friends.

From what I’ve seen it basically looks for contacts (friends if you will) that you have not made any contact with, or not posted, commented, liked anything to do with them, and suggests you “write on their wall” to reconnect.  This is almost as bad as your mother forcing you outside to play with friends you don’t want to be around.

I think Stephen Colbert put it best, “Facebook is a service that can let you see what all your friends are doing, and within the same three seconds, stop caring”.

Google Wave is only in BETA / Preview at the moment, and only open to a very select few. After using it for some tests, I can see how Google Wave will be the next thing in online collaboration and communication.

But what is Google wave? For those who don’t know, here is a terrific video explaining it in only a couple of minutes