I still haven’t decided if it is a boon or a bane. My synapses still bog down with all my usernames and passwords. Even my Excel masterlist of accounts with their corresponding usernames, passwords, security questions and answers gets mangled every now and then.
Add to these accounts the various devices. Facebook I access on four different devices plus the accounts I have connected it with.
Sync feature was created to make life easier, right? Connectivity of different online accounts should make the virtual world seamless, right?
It doesn’t on mine. Or maybe my mind just haven’t caught up yet. But there is no network/app Ihave discovered which can absolutely connect everything.
Consider Flipboard. It cannot connect WordPress. I have moved over to WordPress from Blogspot/Blogger because there seems to be no android app for the latter and no connectivity feature. What is nice with Flipboard though is the feed. Connecting my various accounts with it, I can access all my social networks’ newsfeed and recents news on a variety of topics on a single platform.
Do I need all of these accounts? I don’t know. Especially now that all social networks are styled into a do-it-all unlike before that each has its own specialization. Tumblr used to be only for pictures. Twitter used to be only for short, snappy tidbits.
With the proliferation of social networks, won’t there be something out there which can connect everything? I know it is too much to ask for only a single thing that can do everything because the name of the game is competition with profit as the bottomline. But it’s a circus out here in the virtual world.
Posting on Tumblr, it can automatically be posted on Twitter and Twitter can automatically post it on Facebook.
Posting on WordPress, it can automatically be posted on Facebook and Twitter and Twitter can automatically post the same on Facebook resulting to one blogpost posted on one’s timeline twice, once via wordpress and the other via Twitter.
The downside is they only both post links. A reader has to click on the link which will bring him outside of the Facebook site. Majority of the Facebook users in the Philippines access it via a free mobile browser or promo which prevents going outside of Facebook. Ergo, most of one’s facebook friends won’t read what you have posted. Solution? Post the blog entry as a note on Facebook. Another problem: a lot of people do not read nowadays. I know of a lot of Facebook users who just clicks on the like button without ever reading the post he clicked on like to. But that is another story altogether.
Instagram. Post a picture on Instagram and it can automatically be posted on Facebook under the Instagram album. But posting a picture on Facebook, won’t ever be automatically posted on any other site.
The picture above is a screenshot of my Flipboard account. Upon taking it, I automatically thought to post it on my Faceboom timeline. When I clicked on the share button on my device, it presented me with a list of more than two dozen sites where I can share this picture to. Choices include Picasa (which I cannot ever remember I created an account with but since it is a google app, i guess it was automatically created), WeChat, Whatsapp, Viber, Skype, (why no Tango and Fring?), Google Drive, Windows Skydrive, Dropbox, Tagged, Samsung Chaton, Messaging (yes! plain old mobile messaging!), along with several picture editing apps like Pixlr Express and Paper Artist, plus of course the mainstays Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flipboard, WordPress, GMail, Yahoo Mail, combined email app, and of course Bluetooth and Wifi Direct. And lest it be forgotten, the list included SNote and Google Keep.
With that menu of choices, where do I now post this screenshot? I chose Facebook. Started tapping away a few words about the picture. Changed my mind when the few words became two paragraphs and closed the Facebook screen. Clicked on Instagram. Closed the screen after unsuccessfully thinking of a few words with hashtags. Clicked on Flipboard. But I haven’t posted anything there so I do not know where else would my post be automatically posted. Clicked on Google+. But I only have a few friends on my Google+ circles besides, all of them are on Facebook anyway. Also, posting it there won’t bring it automatically to Twitter and or Facebook. Tagged? Nuh-uh. I only go there to play Pets.
Just one lousy screenshot and it made my mind go on a loop and this resulting rant.
Connectivity, boon or bane? For me, it couldn’t be a real and true connectivity if it cannot absolutely connect everything and does not make my mind go on a loop everytime I need to post something.
joey magno-sotto 