Andrew Wirtanen is a usability specialist in Cary, NC More »

Google Reader in Plain English

If you don’t use Google Reader or don’t know what it is, then you should watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPZ2Uu_X3Y

This video is by the people at Common Craft, who are experts at explaining technology. One of their best and most popular videos is Twitter in Plain English. I actually think that video helped increase Twitter usage!

Facebook Crosses the Line (Again)

Facebook is notorious for launching features seemingly without any user research. In 2006, Facebook launched the “News Feed”, which led to an unprecedented backlash in social networking. Ironically, two years later it seems that all Facebook users have gotten acclimated to the News Feed and now enjoy the feature. (It was actually the lack of [...]

Top 5 Election ‘08 YouTube Videos

The 2008 election is the first to harness the power of user-generated content. The Internet is causing a renewal of interest with young voters unlike any Rock the Vote movement could provide. I thought it would be interesting to compile some of my favorite pro-candidate YouTube videos.

“We Are The Ones” by Will.i.am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSJsEVf0pU

Will.i.am was the [...]

Most Popular Social Networks Around the World

This (French) visualization shows what the most popular social networks are around the world. I’ve always found it interesting how some regions will rally around a certain social network, even though others have clear benefits.

(larger image on Le Monde.fr; via Neatorama via Geek Like Me)

The Death of MySpace

Today, I am deleting my MySpace account. I’ve had it. There is no reason for me to be on there. There is a quote that has been long attributed to Einstein (but no one knows if it was him) that sums up my situation:
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different [...]