Many people may have noticed that Facebook released a revamped version of their groups application on Wednesday. Over here at micromobs, it got us thinking-- what’s up with Facebook?
Groups are important (duh: micromobs), but something feels a little off about Facebook’s new groups. Consider the fact that my inbox is full of spam. Without even accepting a group I had received a ton of emails just minutes after Facebook’s announcement. Apparently you don’t get to chose which groups to accept and which to decline. Odd...that’s not how groups should work. (on a side note, it's an awesome way to piss off your friends) Don’t worry though, the Facebook gods have blessed us with the ability to leave a group. Lucky us.Facebook has been a great tool for me since 2004, I’ve used it to keep in touch with so many different types of people, my freshman year roommate to elementary school crush. I use it to kill time when I’m bored and check out what my friends are up to. But it’s starting to confuse me. Now, each of us have a number of feeds: news feed, most recent news, different groups, pages, event walls, yikes. Their implementation is getting more nebulous by the day. Also, the problem remains--what if I’m in a group with people I’m not yet friends with? I don’t want them to be able to scope out my Facebook profile. micromobs remains the easiest way to create a group discussion. It’s private, simple, and makes sure not to spam you. You can use micromobs as a tool to get things done quicker in a group, or as a way to have fun and share with a group. Don’t fret about friending, just worry about what matters--your group.
I come from a family of computer programmers. My mom, dad and brother all code for a living. Yet the only way we communicate is by using a phone tree. Did I say phone tree? Yes I did. How 2000 and late of us. If my tech-savvy family can’t move away from the archaic communication methods then how can the “regular” families keep up? Families need to communicate on a regular basis. I communicate with my immediate family on a daily basis (pssst I live at home, don’t tell anyone.) I talk to my other relatives (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc) on a weekly basis. The funny thing is that with family, the majority of the decisions need to be group decisions that involve group discussions. It doesn’t stop at one on one conversations. Families need an easy to use, private and secure way of connecting online and this is where micromobs comes in. #1 Family communication should be efficient
Everyone in a family needs to be on the same page. And the page should be short and sweet, not long and ridiculously inefficient. (wait a minute, that didn’t make any sense...but keep reading.) Lets assume my immediate family consists of 6 people. If I’m picking up dinner, I shouldn’t have to call 5 other people to make sure that they don’t cook/pick up dinner as well. When I use micromobs, I make ONE update to my family mob and everyone is on the same page. You got served! With delicious pizza that is. #2 Relatives are family too and they miss you
My dad has 5 siblings. My mom, with her true propensity to always win, beat him with 7 siblings. That leaves me and my brother with 12 aunts and uncles. Thanks to those 12 lovely people, I have 21 first cousins. 60% of those 21 cousins now have significant others. After some fun calculations, I just learned that I have 66 relatives that I must keep in touch with. Sigh. Who has time for second cousins? But wait! You do-- with micromobs. micromobs makes it easy for me to update my entire family at the same time. We remember to wish each other on birthdays/anniversaries, plan vacations together, share pictures and links, and enjoy some daily banter. It makes life a lot easier for us. I don’t like having my family on facebook. There’s a distinction between the content my family needs to see vs my friends vs co-workers. #3 Control what you share with your family without worrying about complicated privacy options
I love facebook. I’ve been a user since college and I don’t think I’d ever give it up. But I hate that there’s no distinction between the data my different social-groups see. I don’t always want to share the same content with my family that I share with my friends, let alone co-workers. micromobs allows me to share relevant information with my family and doesn’t spam the rest of my friends/co-workers. And, there are no complicated privacy controls. You control what you share at all times. #4 It’s so easy, even a caveman can do it.
Remember when I told you my parents are computer programmers. Yea, except they’re not web savvy. They still use hotmail for Pete’s sake! Same with tons of my other family members. But, they use micromobs. Why? Because it’s user friendly and they don’t need to read a manual to figure it out. It’s so easy, a caveman can use it.
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