Justin Wright » Social Media

Use FriendFeed As A Lifestream

Justin Wright — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:42:43 +0000

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been doing some cleaning up on my blog over the last week and a half. I’ve removed a few things from my single post pages, as well as made some changes to my sidebar. The main thing I did with the sidebar is integrated a lifestream showing all my updates from various websites and social networks. Here’s how I did it:

1. Decided Which Tool To Use For The Content

There are a few programs out there that will create a lifestream for your blog or website. However, none of them are as easy to use as a simple FriendFeed widget. I actually used the same widget I was using in the past, which looked exactly like this:

As you can see, it’s a bit ugly. The border didn’t match anything else in my sidebar and it looked a little out of place. The major drawback to using the FriendFeed widget it that it doesn’t give you many options for customizing it when you set it up. Luckily they do have some custom CSS settings you can use. Which leads us to the next step.

2. Styled The FriendFeed Widget

The next step was a little tricky since I couldn’t get it to work at first. FriendFeed gives you some CSS codes to use, which can be added to your active WordPress theme stylesheet. I messed around with it for awhile and ended up adding the follow code to my stylesheet:

#friendfeed { border: 0px !important }
.widget { border: 0px !important; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times;}
.feed { border: 0px !important; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times;}
.body { border: 0px !important }
.logo { border: 0px !important }

As you can see, I went a little overboard with the “border: 0px” but it managed to remove it. I also added the font-family my theme uses so it matches the rest of my site.

Here’s what the finished widget looks like:

It looks a lot better in my opinion. I’m a big fan of no borders because it makes it look a lot cleaner.

3: Added Some Links Below The Widget

As you can see in the picture above, I also added some links below the widget. This was simple html code that I added directly below the widget. For the subscribe link, I simply pointed it to my FriendFeed page since I prefer people going there. You could also make the link go directly to the RSS feed of your FriendFeed.

I also decided to add a “view full lifestream” link, which I’ll talk about in the next step.

4: Created A Lifestream Page

After debating for awhile about whether or not I wanted to have a lifestream page, I decided to go with it. It allows me to list a lot more content for those who want to view it without forcing everyone to see my super long sidebar on every page.

To do this, I simply created a page titled Lifestream. I then embeded the same widget code I used for my sidebar into the page, which looks like this:

(If you want to use the code, make sure to remove the line breaks.)

If you look closely, you’ll notice I set the number (num) to 300. This will set the widget to list 300 of your latest items. However, I have noticed there seems to be a limit on how many items you can list. I’m not even sure if it’s listing all 300 of my latest items or not. Either way, it’s listing a lot more than I am on my sidebar.

Here’s what the finished product looks like:

Of course, the main page lists a lot more stuff. Overall, it looks pretty cool.

All Done!

So that’s everything I did to get my lifestream up and running. It’s fairly simple to implement and makes a good addition to your blog or website. As to how useful it is, we will see. I’m not real sure how many people really use lifestreams but I figured it was worth a shot.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions. I’ll try and help you out.

TweetDeck Vs. Tweetie

Justin Wright — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:45:14 +0000

I’m hanging out at WordCamp Dallas (Live Stream) and it seems like everyone is using desktop applications for Twitter. However, when it comes to which one is the best it’s a mixed bag. People seem to all have different opinions based on how they use Twitter.

Some people prefer TweetDeck while others prefer Tweetie. Someone even told me about Nambu which is a brand new application that’s still in beta. I gave it a quick try but wasn’t feeling it so I uninstalled it right away.

I’ve been using TweetDeck since it first came out and have been really happy with it. I like the fact you can monitor everything using columns and it has a boatload of features.

However…

Since I arrived here in Dallas, I’ve been stuck using my 13″ screen (which is a pain in the ass). At home, I have a 24 inch monitor and have no problems with screen real estate. I can have TweetDeck up all day and it doesn’t bother me since I have a lot of desktop space.

As soon as I opened TweetDeck on my MacBook, it took up my entire screen. So I narrowed my columns and hid some of them. It fits fine on my screen now, but I miss seeing all the columns for my various Twitter accounts.

Tweetie Test Drive

So I installed Tweetie yesterday and decided I would give it a test drive. I previously used it when it first came out but I was so used to TweetDeck that I decided it wasn’t worth my time. I uninstalled it and went on my way.

But now that I’m using it again, I like it far more than TweetDeck. I can add all my accounts and monitor them in a super easy way. From an interface point of view, Tweetie is amazing. You simply click on your avatar for the various accounts and you get all the features you need.

What I really like about Tweetie is how they have managed to do everything in one column without making you feel limited. I feel like I can do everything I can in TweetDeck without the huge command center window. Plus it looks so much better and reads like an iChat conversation.

Which One’s Better?

It’s a tough call. After using it all day yesterday, I’ve decided to stick with Tweetie. It’s so painless to use and takes up as much space on my screen as iChat. But I think it really comes down to what you prefer and what features you use the most.

As far as the iPhone goes, I still plan on using TweetDeck since I really like the interface. For an in-depth review, check out TweetDeck for the iPhone.

I’m interested in hearing what applications everyone else is using.

Which Do You Use?

Austin Tweetups

Justin Wright — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:34:44 +0000

Since I’ve moved to Austin, I’ve been trying my hardest to attend every event related to social media, blogging, and business in general. I even started a Beer and Blog Austin chapter I’m hoping to kick off soon.

Of all the events so far, tweetups have become one of my favorite ways to meet new people that are interested in new media and technology. And it just so happens there are a few tweetups here in Austin that are coming up over the next week that I wanted to share with everyone.

Kickball Tweetup

Date: Sunday, June 14th

Time: 6:00 – 8:30 PM

Location: Clarksville Park

@Daveiam and @AaronMSB are putting on a kickball tweetup that should be a bunch of fun. It’s a BYOB event which makes it perfect for people like me that like to do things on the cheap. So grab some of your favorite beer and head to the kickball tweetup Sunday night. I plan to be there so don’t forget to say hi.

If you plan to attend, send your RSVP’s to @AaronMSB

Statesman/AustinTweetup.com Tweetup

Date: Thursday, June 18th

Time: 6:00 PM – ?

Location: Opal Divine’s on 6th Street

@Statesman along with @AustinTweetups are putting on this event so it should get a great turnout. There will be drink specials until 7 PM so get there early if you can. And don’t miss “The Twitter,” a special margarita that Opal Divine’s is having for the event. It sounds pretty good so I’ll do my best to try it out and put a post up about it.

See You There

I hope to see some of you at the events. I will continue to post the Tweetups as they come along and will try to do a recap of each of the events and let you know how it was.

If you know of any other tweetups happening here in Austin, please let me know and I will add them to the post.

Search Craigslist Like A Madman

Justin Wright — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:16:16 +0000

I’ll admit it, I spend a TON of time on Craigslist. Just yesterday, I managed to sell my old iPhone and a computer desk. However, the most time consuming part is searching for gigs and temporary jobs. Since location doesn’t really matter when dealing with freelance web work, I usually search all of the big cities since they are more likely to have new posts.

The thing that sucks is manually going between all the cities and searching. Half the time I forget which city I am in and do the same searches over and over again. It can take a lot of time, especially if you are looking for a lot of jobs and gigs.

Introducing Crazedlist.org

I managed to find Crazedlist.org a few weeks ago and have been using it ever since. It lets you do a search in multiple cities and then returns the results in separate frames. It definitely cuts back on the time I spend.

Here is a quick screen capture of what it looks like when I search Phoenix and Tuscon at the same time:

Pretty cool huh? It’s a pretty cool tool and I highly recommend it if you do a lot of stuff on Craigslist. It will really cut back on the time you waste looking for stuff.

Prefer Email Updates?

Another cool tool is Craigslist Watch. Instead of searching multiple cities, it allows you to set notifications so that you get an email when something gets posted that relates to your search. For example, I could do a search for blogging and then paste the search results URL into Craigslist Watch. I would then get notified whenever a new post goes up that contains those keywords.

This is a great way to automate it so you no longer have to spend time searching for everything.

So Give Them A Shot

The next time you find yourself on Craigslist, give these tools a shot. Eventually you will form a habit of using things like this because it really frees up your time to work on other things (like actually doing work lol).

Anyone know of some other cool tools for Craigslist? If so, please post a comment and let me know.

Brand Yourself With A Twitter Background

Justin Wright — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:09:49 +0000

Over the last few months, I have started to use Twitter (follow me) more and more. I think it is a great tool to stay in touch with friends, share links and information, and meet new people. I even wrote a post explaining 13 reasons you should follow me on Twitter.

The key to being popular on Twitter is setting yourself apart from everyone else. And what better way to do that then to make a sweet Twitter background to customize your profile. I first noticed this in action when I saw Darren Rowse’s Twitter profile, which features a huge picture of his face in the background. It sure made his profile stick out.

Generic Backgrounds Are Lame

Although people are starting to create custom backgrounds, it is still early in the game. I still see a good portion of people using the generic backgrounds provided by Twitter. People may argue that it isn’t worth spending the time to create a custom one but I disagree. By spending a little time now, you can have a custom background up and running for some time to come. If you do it right the first time, you may never have to go back to edit it.

Besides, who wants to be normal? It’s the same concept as a MySpace page. People love to customize them because it sets them apart from everyone else. Which leads us to the next section…

Brand Yourself

Creating a custom image for your Twitter profile is a great way to brand yourself. This is especially useful if you have a blog you are trying to promote. By creating a custom Twitter background that relates to your blog, you can set a first impression that makes people want to find out more about you.

You can also add text your background, such as an about me section. This allows you to write a short description about who you are and what you do. You can even list your blogs below it to try and generate a little extra traffic.

And best of all, it is far easier to remember someone by placing an image in your head of that person. It’s sure easier to remember a Twitter profile with a custom image versus one using the default blue background. Who doesn’t want to be remembered?

Time To Create A Background

I have had a custom background for some time now, but my first attempt was pretty lame. So last night, I sat around in Photoshop for a little while and started brainstorming some ideas for my Twitter profile. I wanted to find a way to brand myself, promote my blog, and have it somewhat similar to the look and feel of this layout. Here is what I managed to come up with:

Pretty cool huh? Like I mentioned above, I already received a few messages from people saying they liked my background. Not to mention a few of those people are now following me.

As far as how I created it, I simply opened up Photoshop and created a new image. My resolution ended up being around 1475 x 1,554, since this was the best size to get the layout to fit the screen correctly.

So Get To Work

Even a simple Twitter background with your name, bio, and blog works better than nothing. The key is just to make something instead of the default background. The more time you spend, the better result you are going to get. If you need any help in creating a background, feel free to leave a comment or send a tweet my way.

Follow me on Twitter @jjwright85.

Add Me As A Friend Buttons

Justin Wright — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 06:45:29 +0000

After looking for well…2 months, I have still not found a good add me as a friend plug-in or button for any major social networks.

I have been looking pretty intensely and even tried making a drop down list (I hated it). So after looking non-stop, I decided to create my own buttons. I wanted to keep them simple but still wanted them to look cool. So I incorporated the logos from each network into the button along with the normal “saying” for that network.

Time To Share Them

Not only did I create them for my blog, but I would love more than anything to share them. I figured it would benefit you as well since a lot of people like to add these to their blogs. So without any more introduction, here are the first three buttons I created:

How To Use Them

Simply right click and save the image as (name it whatever). From there, you can upload them to your website and set them up to link to your profiles.

Looking For Other Networks?

Leave a comment and I can try and put together a button for almost any network. Hey, it’s what I do so no worries…

13 Reasons To Follow Me on Twitter

Justin Wright — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:17:25 +0000

Lately I have been getting a lot more in to Twitter. Or maybe I am just that much more bored at work and need something new to waste time on. Anyways, I like how easy it is to use and really makes staying in touch a lot easier. So, I decided to come up with a short list on why you should follow me:

1. The sheer randomness of my tweets

Yes, there about as random as the posts on this blog. But hey, it makes life interesting.

2. It lets you know where in the world I am (I travel a lot)

Life of Justin has a lot to do with my adventures, so I tweet as much as I can while I am on the road.

3. Because I’m hilarious and you like to laugh

At least I try to be. You could always laugh at the fact that I actually thing of myself as being hilarious.

4. Get notified of new posts on Life of Justin

Whenever a new post goes up, I make a tweet to let everyone know about it.

5. It’s the easiest way to get in touch with me

Lets face it, I try to respond to E-mail as often as I can but it’s tough. Calling my phone is a waste of time since I never answer and am looking to get rid of it soon. Hello Skype…

6. Reply to me with links to your latest posts (I’ll get some traffic for you)

Shoot me a reply whenever you have a new post up and I will Stumble, Digg, or Reddit it if I like it.

7. Find out what I ate for lunch

This one doesn’t need an explanation.

8. Ask me random questions (I’ll probably respond)

Trying to solve something such as a blog issue? Or have no idea what to eat today? No problem, send me a tweet and I will answer with the best possible solution.

9. Great way to get to know me (I think?)

Umm yeah I don’t know about this one. I guess you could ask me what color my hair is or something?

10. Get daily insights to help you through the day (probably not)

Or at least get a tweet that makes you laugh everyday.

11. You like having followers and I’ll most likely follow you

I usually follow anyone that follows me. So it’s a great investment to follow yours truly.

12. It’s easier for you to follow me first

It’s true, I could go around and follow interesting people in hopes they return the favor. But, it’s a lot easier if you follow me first. Then I can just click the follow button instead of having to seek you out.

13. I made this unlucky list of 13 faboulous reasons to follow me on Twitter.

So please, head over to my Twitter page and follow me. I suppose you could click the Follow Me button on my sidebar under My Tweets. I’ll leave that decision up to you. But just remember, there is a surprise waiting for those that follow me…

Facebook Slapped Me On The Wrist

Justin Wright — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:55:25 +0000

Facebook is mad at me, or so it seems. I think they want me to take a timeout…

It seems that Facebook likes to put limitations on certain things. Earlier this week, I was accepting a few friend requests and requested a few friends when I received the “strike 1″ red alert message. It basically said “Stop! You are making friends too quickly!.” And then it rambled on about how I would get disabled for a few days if I kept going.

I suppose this started happening since I created this blog and have been meeting a lot of new people from around the world. I get a few friend requests everyday but nothing I would consider “too much.”

So this got me to thinking, why would a social network as big as Facebook have to apply such limitations. I mean, isn’t the point of a networking site to meet new people, regardless if you have actually met them in person? I have a lot of friends that I have never met in person but still talk to them often, does this mean they are not an actual friend? I think not.

I decided to do some research and see what I could bring up about these Facebook limitations that no one seems to actually know about until they get a warning.

I managed to find a ton of people complaining about the same types of messages. I even found a great article, “13 Reasons Your Facebook Account Will Be Disabled,” which talks about the common reasons peoples accounts get disabled.

Now some of these reasons I can agree with. For example, I can see why not using your real name might cause some suspician and get you banned from Facebook. But adding to many friends and poking too many people? Come on!

It turns out, they even have a friend limit of 5,000 people on Facebook. Once you hit the magic number of 5,000, people will recieve the “So and So already has too many friends” message when trying to add you.

The creators over at Myspace have set no limitations on things like friends, messages being sent, or how many people you can send things to. I think this is the way a social networking site should be. Why limit anyone from getting what they want out of a networking site?

So I am interested to see if this happens to a lot of other people. If it has already happened to you, please drop me a comment and let me know how it went.

Is Web 3.0 Just Around the Corner?

Justin Wright — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:26:56 +0000

As I was surfing the internet this morning, I stumbled upon an article written by Tony Dokoupil over at Newsweek.com. The title of the article was “Revenge of the Experts” and it was looking at the trends that seem to be happening on the internet lately.

Tony starts by saying:”By any name, the current incarnation of the Internet is known for giving power to the people. Sites like YouTube and Wikipedia collect the creations of unpaid amateurs while kicking pros to the curb—or at least deflating their stature to that of the ordinary Netizen.”But what it also points out is that many sites are now starting to lean more towards hired professionals rather than user-generated content. Accuracy always has been an important but often overlooked element of the web. Many sites allow users to post information with little or no accuracy checks. This can lead to misleading information being found all over the internet.

So the question is, will the internet be looking for a change soon? According to Tony,”The timing could be right for a new era in Silicon Valley, a Web 3.0. It comes, after all, during dark days for the ideal of a democratic Web. User-generated sites like Wikipedia, for all the stuff they get right, still find themselves in frequent dust-ups over inaccuracies, while community-posting boards like Craigslist have never been able to keep out scammers and frauds.” I agree with what he has to say because it is vital to have correct information available to everyone.

At the same time however, I feel the users of the internet deserve our share of free speech as well.Web 2.0 has brought us Facebook, Myspace, Digg, wiki’s, and tons of other social networking sites. They have all made it so much easier to share content with others from around the world. Web 2.0 has changed the way nearly everything gets done on the web. Blogging alone has created a gigantic network of people who enjoy writing about all sorts of topics. It allows us to share our thoughts, opinions, and best of all, knowledge.

I would really hate to see Web 2.0 get tossed to the side in favor of a new platform where hired professionals create all of the content on the internet. The reason the internet is so interesting, is because so many more people get a say. If I wanted to read nothing but articles written by professionals, I would buy a newspaper or magazine. I enjoy the options of choosing from an array of different sources because they all have a unique point of view.

So the question is, who is considered a professional? Bloggers writing in there niche could easily be considered professionals in the industry. So maybe if Web 3.0 does happen in the near future, us bloggers will find ourselves getting offers to write content for larger websites.

Who knows, only time can tell where the internet will be heading. All I can say for now is, I am still your fan Web 2.0.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this and what you hope to see happen to the internet in the near future.

Make Money From Social Networking

Justin Wright — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:11:25 +0000

I created LifeofJustin.com as a way of broadcasting my life to everyone on the internet. Social networking is a hobby I enjoy doing along with web design. I also enjoy writing, photography, and creating videos. So I thought, why not try and make a living doing this?

I have always used other social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and many more. But what I find appealing about my own website is that I can incorporate all of those into one gigantic portal. Plus I can keep as much personal information to myself as I so choose, unlike some of the other sites. No longer do I have to worry about invitations to applications I do not even want. The biggest perk of all however, is monetizing the traffic vs. giving all of it to other sites. The social networking giants make millions in advertising, which is why you see so many ads on MySpace and millions of applications on Facebook. So why not try and get a little piece of the pie?

Using my hosting account, WordPress, and a domain I have purchased, I have managed to build a pretty handy site that is starting to get consistent traffic day in and out. At last check, I have had visitors from 32 states and 11 different countries. At the pace I am at for March already, I should easily hit the 10,000 page view mark this month. Not bad considering the site is pretty much brand new despite a few older posts I rolled over from my old blog. I have shared it with all of my friends from other social networks and I have heard a lot of good feedback.

The main part of my website involves the blog itself. I try and write daily about things I do, pictures I take, or simply informative articles about blogging to help others follow in my footsteps. I have embedded Google Adsense into each post and find that it does not distract the reader from the post at all. This is the easiest way to generate some income from blogging. So if you run a website and are not currently using an advertising program, I highly recommend Google Adsense.

Unlike a typical blog, I have also added a lot of features that make my site feel more like a social networking type of site. I added some easy to use Friend Me links on the left sidebar that allows visitors to easily find me on the other major social networks. And this does work, because I have had friends add me that said they found me through my website.

I also have a subscribe section which allows my readers to sign up for my RSS feed as well as receive E-mail updates whenever I add a new post.

My favorite part is that Flickr has been incorporated into my Photos page, which is actually easier to use than the application Facebook offers. I love that the tags, titles, sets, and collections all get rolled over into my site. What is nice about this is that I can now email my friends and family links to my new photo albums and they will go directly to my site.
Why is this a good thing? If I were to send them a link to say, my Facebook album, how would I make money? Now, every time a image is viewed, I get a small Google Adsense impression at the bottom which gives me a potential of getting a click. Plus there is a chance my pictures get picked up by search engines, which could lead to more traffic coming to my site.

And last but not least, I have taken the strategies I learned from “Get Google Ads for Free” and applied them to my site. The sponsors section contains 6 image ads that I can sell on a month to month basis. This creates more income from the site which I eventually hope to live off of.

The site is nowhere near done, it just went up mid-February so it has come a long way in its short time. I plan to add more features including a YouTube section where I can display my YouTube channel and hope to bring more traffic in.

Please comment if you had any feedback or suggestions.