This is me ranting to the webcam about what I usually rant about to people who have written off Twitter, foursquare and social media in general.  There are a plethora additional service that I could go on about, but Twitter and foursquare are good starters for those looking to get more out of social media than Facebook. I truly believe that these apps/services can enrichen our lives by knowing our preferences, interests and surrounding us with like-minded people.

Start with https://twitter.com/search if you’ve never used Twitter before or gave up on it.

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Zite
Flipboard
The Onion
Kindle
The Daily
Ted Talks
ShowYou
Al Jazeera English
NetFlix
WSJ Live
Bloomberg TV+
HBOGo
Spotify
CBC Radio
Turntable.fm
NPR
Infinity Blade II
Evernote
Twitter
Sunday Ticket

It’s only been a few days, but I’m already deeply hooked on 4sq&7yearsago. Sign up and enjoy blasts from the pasts!

UPDATE: 4sq&7yearsago is now Timehop and also includes Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in addition to foursquare: http://timehop.com/signup.

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This is a bit of a selfish way to leave bread crumbs, but also keep in mind that what we post can be found for who knows how many years.

Nothing against Rovio or Angry Birds, I just mean games in general. I approximately spend 400 hours a year on a train. Every day to and from work I see someone playing poker on their BlackBerry, Cut the Rope, or whatever the latest hot game is. Me? Every day I’m watching Ted Talks or reading the TechDygest app, my Twitter feed, my Kindle books, Flipboard headlines, or whatever else I can get to cache before I leave my house/office.  Compare their 400 hours of consumption vs. mine. You are what you eat?

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If you’re playing games in bed every night, STOP. I’m very guilty of doing this for a few weeks with Angry Birds last year. I felt so behind not only in my industry, but with my family life as well. If you are, then you probably haven’t stumbled to this no man’s land section of the internet.

To be fair, I do try all the extremely popular games out for the sake of conversation and knowing what the hotness is. And games do stretch the imagination and work the mind. Truth is that I love them, but I spent way too much time as a kid mastering Nintendo games instead of reading.

Those that have kids will not delete Angry Birds for obvious reasons…so they can watch football or Boardwalk Empire.

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I like to have Foursquare connections wherever I may travel or if I move to a new area. This way you quickly find out what’s happening around you (although Explore, Trending does this well from the Foursquare mobile app) and meet new folks who are in the same geographical region as you. These connections may lead to, well, who knows. I can’t tell you the amount of times my life was slightly altered by the recommendations that Foursquare provides through my connections and social graph. The butterfly effect to the extreme!

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Anyway, simply use http://search.twitter.com/ and enter “foursquare brooklyn” (obviously, replace “brooklyn” with city, state, country, conference, etc. of your choice). Then click on the Foursquare link and click add friend.

Always have a transient profile bio that is updated with wherever you are travelling to, conference you’re attending, or hashtag that often tweet about.

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The story mentioned in the video

(originally posted on Google+)

Front Page of Zite

A few weeks ago, +Alan Berkson and I were discussing the new ways in which to consume content. I was explaining how the iPad has completely changed my habits during what many refer to as leisure time*. This topic has come up during conversations several times since, during what +Melissa Fudor (better half) refers to as my “iPad pitch”.

When there is nothing that I am specifically working on, I pick up Paddy (yes, we named our iPad) and head to either the Zite or FlipBoard app. After a months of using both, I have refined a really nice experience of creating my own newspaper /magazine of topics that are of interest to me in all types of facets. I’LL READ FOR HOURS. Like many, I like to read books, but rarely “have the time” to really dig in. However, on the iPad I find myself reading more than I EVER have in my life. Not only am I reading particular articles of interest, I am also flipping by hundreds of headline to keep me in the know of what’s happening in Tech, Collaboration, Online Journalism, New York, Photography, E2.0, Philadelphia Sports, etc. Time flies when you’re learning and staying informed…I mean, having fun.

Throw Away Your Television – For Real This Time

What is missing during my new love for reading is flipping through the channels as we don’t own a television. I love “TV” a much as the next guy and still regularly get my fix of Colbert, The Daily Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm via other iPad apps, but only on demand and at my convenience. Of course, I may be missing some fabulous shows that I hear about (My Gypsy Wedding and Whale Wars seem to be hot at the moment), but the time spent looking around for “something good” could better be spent on reading something good, in my honest opinion. We all know that we should read more, the iPad gives us that opportunity and makes it very enjoyable.

The only problem of not owning a television is when NFL season rolls around and I’m on the hunt for the Eagles game. It usually ends up driving me to a more social experience anyway. (Looking for fellow Eagle fans in NYC!)

Has your consumption habits changed since having an iPad? If so, how?
Or, are you on the fence of purchasing a tablet?

* “leisure time” I don’t like using that phrase, mostly because I believe work/personal separation is a relic of the Industrial Age, but that’s another discussion I am happy to dive into upon request.

FlipBoard Tech Section

How I use Foursquare to connect to like-minded individuals on Twitter using Rapportive and AgoraApp on Gmail.

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Localmind – Ask someone who is checked-in a question. “Is there a long line at Rudy’s tonight?” or “Do you know what is a safe and reasonable way to get to Newark Airport form Manhattan for a tourist” (both questions that I’ve answered recently). I love this one and use it all the time. It makes me feel helpful, but also helps me find realtime info.

Don’tEatThere - Texts you if the place you check in to has a low health code rating. Helpful in NYC.

Bonapp – Texts you the most popular tip as soon as you check-in. Good when on a date and you don’t want spend time looking through 100 tips. Impress your date/friends by always ordering like a regular.

Look behind the text, you see that @Brett and I have mutual Facebook friends.

Sonar – Tells you who you are connected to via your your social graph. ie, “Joe Jones, a friend of your Facebook friend, Pete Peters, is also checked-in at X conference.” Currently it’s built more for Facebook of what I see. It’s a really nice ice-break when I meet someone and say, “Hey you’re friends with Joe Jones, how did you know him?”

Agora App (Gmail screenshot below)- A service like Sonar that sends you an email to show who else checked-in where you did and how many similar followers you have on Twitter. When I have time, I usually go through and follow those on the list as we’re likely to be connected in one way or another. It’s good for someone is new to a city as I connect to my fellow New Yorkers this way even though I’m new here.

Another cool one to keep an eye on is When Should I Visit. - This one is meant to tell you the best times (or least trafficked) to visit a museum based on the number of checkins by others. Imagine how else this data could be used for other industries.