“Pinyadda is not just an excellent news aggregator, it is a doorway to a community of people who care about the news as much as you do.”

This week in no user left behind we’re happy to spotlight John DiGilio. John is a professional researcher, writer, and educator who is well known in info-centric circles for his blog iBraryGuy (you can follow his great content on Pinyadda here). You will find John pinning news and blog posts on everything from books and libraries to technology to healthy living and spirituality. Since joining the Pinyadda community in July, he’s brought a wealth of knowledge (both from the articles he pins and the commentary he provides) and has already amassed a solid following.

A self-described newshound who is a magnet for both information and new technology, here’s why Pinyadda is such a large part of John’s news routine:

How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

Before Pinyadda I used a cumbersome and complex conglomeration of RSS feeds (via various readers and aggregators) combined with constant surfing on the major news sites. Getting the news was like doing mental calisthenics several times a day. It sure was tiring!

Why do you use Pinyadda?

I use Pinyadda because not only can I get the news that matters to me, but I can combine it with a thoughtful network of similarly-minded news chasers. Sure, with other news sites and RSS comment feeds you can get a bit of a social aspect with your news, but have you seen the comments people are posting there? They range from the ridiculous to the absurd. I want real commentary from people who care about the news… people whose opinions I value on a topic. I get that kind of interaction only with Pinyadda.

What’s your favorite aspect or part of Pinyadda?

My favorite aspect of Pinyadda is the multi-platform “pinning”. It is brilliant! Not only can I share a news item with my Pinyadda contacts, but I can post it to my Twitter feed and Facebook wall. This saves me a great deal of work and, again, keeps me in meaningful conversations with my chosen audience. It has made my professional networking much easier.

What’s the most important thing a new user should know about Pinyadda?

New users should take some time to fully explore the sites and topics that Pinyadda makes available.  There are soooo many.  By thoughtfully suibscribing available sources and even adding new ones, you create the environment by which you will not only stay informed, but also meet like-minded users.

How do you describe Pinyadda to friends and colleagues?

Pinyadda is not just an excellent news aggregator, it is a doorway to a community of people who care about the news as much as you do. With Pinyadda, you can have your news and share it too – WITHOUT the crazy that makes commentary on news sites so unbearable.

__________

Thanks John for all you bring to the Yadda community — we love the great articles you pin as much as the value you add to them through your commentary! I’d recommend you follow John on (he’s a well-deserving Maven of all!):

• Blogging
• Books
  
• Tech (he’s a Maven!)

“Pinyadda is a news platform that combines the efficiency of an RSS reader with the community of a social network.”

This week in no user left behind we’re happy to spotlight Rob Nicewicz, who works at a private equity firm in Boston and has been on Pinyadda since we launched in open beta back in January. Reflected in his profile pic and pins, when he’s not crushing deals you’ll likely find him watching and reading about the Celtics and Bruins. Here’s why Rob’s on Pinyadda:

How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

My delivery of the news was previously somewhat limited. I really would only see the headlines that showed up in the CNN and Boston.com sections of my iGoogle homepage. I didn’t really want to devote any time in my day to searching for news.

Why do you use Pinyadda?

Pinyadda enables me to find articles and posts that are both interesting and informative. Pinyadda provides me with the latest news but also highlights articles that I’d be interested in based on my preferences and friends. This feature gives me access to information that I would have otherwise never found since I’m not willing to spend time searching around for news.

What’s your favorite aspect or part of Pinyadda?

I like the social networking aspect of Pinyadda such that users are able to quickly share their opinions on a given topic by pinning articles. I often find myself reading all the comments on an article before I ever follow the link to get everyone’s perspective. I also appreciate that Pinyadda is frequently my source of breaking news.  I’ve had several occasions where I first learned about a news development or Celtics transaction by visiting Pinyadda.

What would make the experience on Pinyadda better for you?

The only way I think Pinyadda would be better would be if more people used it and could leverage the functionality. This will ultimately occur over time as the network effect covers more and more users. The more people I know that use Pinyadda, the more people I can follow, and the more relevant information I’ll find.

How do you describe Pinyadda to friends and colleagues?

Pinyadda is a news platform that combines the efficiency of an RSS reader with the community of a social network.

__________

Thanks Rob for all your feedback over 2010 and the pins you bring to the Yadda community! I’d recommend you follow Rob on:

• Boston Celtics
• Boston Bruins
• Private Equity

“Pinyadda is the easiest and most entertaining way to learn about current events and spark conversations about it with friends, just with the click of a mouse.“

This week in no user left behind we’re spotlighting Jeffrey Gomer.  Jeff works for John Hancock, which is right around the corner from the Yadda office in Boston — we’re always thrilled when he drops by after work to see what we’re up to, give us feedback, and offer us some laughs!  Jeff is a big socialite, and loves using the relationships he has with people he knows to meet other people. It’s part of why he’s on Pinyadda:

How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

I’d read the paper on the morning commute to work (no easy task when you’re crammed on the train).

Why do you use Pinyadda?

I use Pinyadda because is the easiest and most entertaining way to learn about current events and talk about them with friends and new people.

What’s your favorite aspect or part of Pinyadda?

My favorite aspect of Pinyadda is how it uses my interests and friends to funnel never ending information right to my doorstep (computer screen).

What would make the experience on Pinyadda better for you?

Having the ability to pin articles to other individuals Facebook pages.

How do you describe Pinyadda to friends and colleagues?

Pinyadda is the easiest and most entertaining way to learn about current events and spark conversations about it with friends, just with the click of a mouse.

__________

Thanks Jeff for letting us know how you use Pinyadda!  I’d recommend you follow Jeff on:

• Hockey (he’s a Maven!)
• English Premier League (also a Maven of!)
• Boston

“I use Pinyadda because it is an easy way to get direct information through the two channels that are most important to me: reliable websites and my friends.“

This week in no user left behind we’re please to spotlight Mike Perkins, who works at the economic and financial consultancy, Charles River Assotiates.  Mike has been a phenomenal member of the Pinyadda community, joining way back in our infancy in November of last year.  He’s seen and taken part in our product development over the last 9 months, contributing to user testing sessions, emailing feedback, supporting us at events and meetups we speak at and generally just dropping by our office to say hi and see what we’re working on.  Here’s how and why Mike has been on Pinyadda all this time:

How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

Since high-school I’ve used the internet as my source for news. Television news networks are a good place to turn for pretty faces, but overall it’s too sensational and I find it easier to bring up websites such as CNN.com and Boston.com to find what I needed or wanted to know.

Why do you use Pinyadda?

I use Pinyadda because it is an easy way to get direct information through the two channels that are most important to me: reliable websites and my friends. Whereas I might spend an hour reviewing 5 of my favorite websites, I can get the same value out of 30 minutes on Pinyadda.

What’s your favorite aspect or part of Pinyadda?

My favorite aspect of Pinyadda is that it can be a very unpredictable user experience. To be more specific, I may log-on with simple intentions, such as to check the latest UConn Husky news. I have a direction, I log-on, a few clicks gives me what I wanted to know and I am satisfied. Other times I log-on with no real direction. I can aimlessly click through my home feed and discover a few new blogs and contribute to a discussion. Either way it’s satisfying my goal of avoiding boredom.

What would make the experience on Pinyadda better for you?

I would like to utilize the My Topics navigation more, but it seems like the available topics are too broad and hence I don’t spend much time using it. Maybe the ability for this feature to act like Google Alerts would be cool?

How do you describe Pinyadda to friends and colleagues?

It would depend on the person’s sophistication when it comes to the internet, but the way I pitch it is basically it’s an easy way to get a lot of value out of surfing the internet.

__________

Thanks Mike for giving us insights and all your support over the last year! I’d recommend you follow Mike on:

• Connecticut (he’s a Maven!)
• NFL
• Economy

“I regularly share articles of interest to my colleagues if I think it is relevant to their clients and current PR efforts.  I’ve seen, first-hand, how Pinyadda can help working professionals get better at their job.  In my opinion, Pinyadda is one of the most useful resources for a public relations professional and business owner!”

Brianne Barrett is an Account Director at public relations/integrated marketing firm, marlo marketing/communications, based in Boston, Mass. She leads the agency’s consumer teams, with a focus on both national and local beauty, fashion, fitness and lifestyle accounts. She also serves on the Executive Committee for the Emerging Leaders of the United Way Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley.  Oh, and did I mention on top of all this she is the co-owner of an innovative women’s clothing boutique, First Date Boutique, located in Andover, Mass.?  Needless to say, we’re thrilled to learn more about how Pinyadda helps Brianne stay on top of what’s important in her busy life and all she’s involved in leading:

How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

Before I was introduced to Pinyadda, I spent a lot of unnecessary time visiting some of my favorite websites to catch up on their posts and updates. There were many instances when I wouldn’t visit certain sites for weeks and found myself missing relevant or timely news.  In addition, I followed some sites RSS feeds on a homepage and googled topics occasionally but, again, it was all time consuming and pretty unorganized.

Why do you use Pinyadda?

I use Pinyadda to help me in my professional life. I work in PR, representing a variety of national and local companies, and I also co-own a clothing store business (First Date Boutique). It’s crucial for me to be “up” on trends and industry news and to be a source of information for others. I use Pinyadda every day to see what types of stories the media are covering, see what competitors are doing, get ideas for cool programs my agency’s clients could implement, learn better ways to promote my clients, etc.  I regularly shares articles of interest to my colleagues if I think it is revelent to their clients and current PR efforts.

I’ve seen, first-hand, how Pinyadda can help working professionals get better at their job. In my opinion, Pinyadda is one of the most useful resources for a public relations professional and business owner!

What’s your favorite aspect or part of Pinyadda?

My favorite aspect of Pinyadda is being able to streamline my search process by topics of interest. I’m provided with relevant news from media outlets all over the world that I may never have come across before using Pinyadda. I also love the ability to follow a media outlet’s specific sections that are of interest to me (like The Boston Globe’s Style section, for example). It automatically eliminates topics that I, honestly, don’t care about or aren’t relevant to me and my profession.

What would make the experience on Pinyadda better for you?

How do you describe Pinyadda to friends and colleagues?

Pinyadda is the perfect site for the “news whores” out there – the person who loves to know the latest announcement, obscure fact and/or trend before everyone else. It’s an easy-to-use time savor for those who care about what’s going on in the world.

__________

Thanks Brianne for giving us insights on how a PR professional uses Pinyadda!  I’d recommend you follow Brianne on:

• Celebrities
• Fashion
• Boston

“Pinyadda is the love child of Pandora and Foursquare – but for news.”

This week’s ‘no user left behind’ is Josh Nespoli.  After completing the AmeriCorps program when he graduated from Babson College (a far from normal track for a business school student), Josh is now the community organizer for the Boston area for Cradles to Crayons – one of the largest volunteer organizations in Massachusetts and which provides clothes, toys and other necessities to low-income and homeless children.  He has also co-founded his own charity, the Nespoli Family Foundation For the Cause.

Josh uses Pinyadda to follow philanthropy and nonprofit news, but has plenty of other interests: he moved to Boston from Pennsylvania because of the Celtics, enjoys “shakin his tail feather,” and believes Pearl Jam is the greatest band in the history of ever.  His wide range of interests have a lot to do with why he uses Pinyadda every day:

How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

Before Pinyadda I used to waste hours sifting through thousands of tweets, going directly to dozens of different websites searching for relevant articles, and visiting different chat forums just to see what people were talking about.

Why do you use Pinyadda?

Pinyadda is a one-stop shop where the news I need meets the random topics I enjoy, while making it easy to see what’s got my friends’ attention.  It has also proven to be a valuable work tool for sharing my organization’s message.

What’s your favorite aspect or part of Pinyadda?

That’s like asking me what my favorite bite of last night’s pizza was.  Sure, one bite might have more cheese, but it doesn’t capture the full level of satisfaction achieved by eating the entire 8 slices.

The best part of Pinyadda can’t be narrowed down to one aspect.  It needs to be looked at as a whole.  From a work standpoint, it gives me access to the news that I need to know, then allows me to share that knowledge with my social networks by a click of a button – thereby helping me build my credibility in my field.

But that’s just the beginning.  The Pinyadda community is loaded with knowledgeable people who connect on these items to create some really powerful conversation, share new ideas and offer new sources of info.

And that doesn’t even begin to touch on the fun, personal side of Yadda.  Where else can I learn about Lindsay Lohan’s latest police charge, who won last night’s game, what a single coke will do to my body, and what James Cameron is doing about the Gulf oil spill – and what my friends think about it all – in a span of about 10 minutes?

What would make the experience on Pinyadda better for you?

A current list of topic Mavens that can be found on the site.  Searching for topics has been made a lot easier with the Newsstand, but within these topics it would be helpful to know who the very top pinners to follow are.  The random list of people who follow the topic is nice, but I want to know who the most active are.

How do you describe Pinyadda to friends and colleagues?

Pinyadda is the love child of Pandora and Foursquare – but for news.

Thanks, Josh for all the feedback — those Maven indications on topic pages are on our roadmap!

I’d recommend you follow Josh on:

• Philanthropy
• Nonprofit
• Boston Celtics

*Josh is a Maven of  the three topics above.

Bill McBain pinned this.

One week into my Incredible and I love it. It’ll be interesting to see how aapl responds this month.

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Aaron Gerry, Bill McBain, Punit Shah.

I will be seriously considering an android phone in the next month — curious about the monthly fees vs. the iPhone. I will switch if they’re considerably less. What do you guys pay? And does the Incredible have a video camera?

Bill McBain pinned this to Cheryl Morris.

I have a redic cheap because it’s a low min plan that VZW doesn’t sell anymore and I have a corporate discount. All in voice, unlimited data, and 1000 txts I pay in the neighborhood of $70.

The incredible does have a video camera. I haven’t really used it much, but I have used the regular camera and love it. Here’s a shot of Duxbury beach from the other night straight out of camera (no photoshop cleanup). I love the slick interface where you take it and hit “share” on the camera to upload right to flickr, twitter, facebook, email, etc. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbill/4657231125/sizes/l/

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Bill McBain.

Thanks Bill. Yeah, the share to multiple platforms for photos is great. Maybe I just don’t have an app on my iPhone for it yet… but some of these basic sharing mechanisms I’d just like to have built in at this point. And I’ve yet to see Dux beach in person – so great pic!

Kristin Maguire pinned this to Bill McBain, Ryan Strack.

Ryan, Thought you would enjoy. I would do anything for tethering & multi-tasking … & the ‘Google integration’

Bill – That picture is unbelievable. I can’t believe the resolution is high enough for the photo to be displayed at such a size w/ such clarity

Anton Fewa pinned this.

1: Verizon Wireless = Fail in New England when compared to At&T, my mom’s droid does not get service in her home, yet I get full coverage.

2: The iPhone can do tethering

3: Multi-tasking can be done on the iphone as well.

4: The Sense UI: I hate it when people try to end a sentence for me, the last thing I want is for my phone to do that.

5: The Google integration – there’s an app for that.

6: Google Voice – ok ok this is cool, now you don’t have to hide that second cell phone from the wife.

7: Voice input – just as glitchy as Apple’s

8: Facebook contacts – the facebook app on the iphone can do this, plus a jail broken phone can sync with other services such as twitter and flickr.

9: Good apps – AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA No.

10: Scenes vs. folders – if you really want all that extra jazz jailbreak your phone…

Conclusion: Not worth the switch, give me a phone with full-processing power. I want to run Flash 10, and Silverlight, that’s the iphone killer.

Greg Gomer pinned this.

Top 10 reasons I have a blackberry and haven’t bought an iPhone or Driod:

1: I have never broken my screen, and dropped it plenty of times.

2: Blackberry Messenger

3: Full Keyboard

4: Email is efficient

5: I can go 3 days without a charge

6: I sit in front of my computer all day, so I do not need anything else.

7: These phones are changing so fast, I am holding out for the clear winner

8: All wireless carriers support BB

9: Makes me feel corporate

10: Chicks dig a berry

Bill McBain pinned this to Cheryl Morris.

Cheryl (and anyone else)

If you’re looking for a great iPhone App you NEED to check out my friend Chase’s called The Best Camera. (his idea is that the best camera is the one you have with you aka your phone) The App allows you to edit, crop, and apply filters. It also has one-touch upload to twitter, facebook, etc. Chase created the app when trying to come up with all of the features he’d want as someone who posts several iPhone photos to the public every day.

Chase Jarvis is a pro photographer based out of Seattle who has clients like Apple, Nike, Microsoft, Volvo, REI, Emirates Air, Reebok, Nikon, Hasselblad, Mt. Dew, Sandisk, etc. In addition to being at forefront of design, he is a social media maven and keeps a really cool blog about trends in photography, communication, art, and technology. He posts about techniques, behind-the-scenes of projects he’s working on, and also videos of his personal projects.

Let’s put it this way….He’s the guy that Nikon went to have him tell the world about when they first did a video camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVQX1rC-fRA
/>
Oh yeah, and he and his whole team are absurdly nice and host parties in cities when they’re there for work.

App site & community: http://thebestcamera.com/
/>Blog: http://www.chasejarvis.com/blog
/>Twitter: @chasejarvis

Rob Gonzalez pinned this.

For me, the Droid is just better than the iPhone already. Tethering (without requiring Jailbreak, which is unrealistic), SIP integration for my office, Google Voice integration for work (my work # is my Google Voice number), Verizon (Anton: Verizon is better in New England for the vast majority of locations in my experience, having been an AT&T customer for 4 years and switched to Verizon a couple months ago), a terrific speaker phone, the typeahead functionality…great stuff, and now an Audible.com app!

V. jealous of the Incredible.

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Bill McBain.

App sounds amazing, as does Chase Jarvis. Will definitely be downloading it. I’d love to be able to post to Facebook pages I’m admins of, too – does the app by chance do that, or does FB not allow for this yet? (Side rant for you Bill: in general, control of FB pages is awful. My biggest annoyances: (1) when doing an event from FB page, you can not message event attendees, only the entire “likers” of the page (2) I cannot comment on anything as Cheryl Morris if it is on the Pinyadda page.)

Cheryl Morris pinned this to matt gross, Jonathan Kardos.

Wow… Thank you everyone for the info – Matt & Jonathan, thought you might enjoy skimming the device loyalty here!

Jonathan Kardos pinned this.

Don’t get me wrong, I use a Droid at work every day, think its sweet, and love android phones in general. But Ill still be dropping 200 bills at the apple store shortly after the 4th gen hits shelves. Android has done a great job at catching up and even surpassing the iPhone’s features in some cases, but as an entire package, the iPhone is simply a better device IMHO. The hardware is more solid (even than your chick-magnet berry, greg) and the OS/App platform is way more polished, usable, and capable. When OS4 is out with the new iPhone, the two platforms will be nearly at feature parity… so most of the stuff listed above won’t be an issue anymore. Google cares about spreading, Apple cares about the details.

Verizon is perhaps better for voice, but ATT has a better 3G network… although they are screwing customers with data pricing now… Bastards.

Jeff Cutler pinned this to Twitter.

Like this article because it mirrors the review I did of the Incredible a few weeks ago. That phone is FAST! Can’t wait to see what Apple brings in the next update for iPhone.

Austin Gardner-Smith pinned this to Twitter.

Killer convo about iPhone vs. Droid Incredible. My ATT contract is up in a few months, really making me think about the next move…and I’m a diehard fanboy.

Timothy Kelly pinned this.

AGS, I agree. My AT&T contract ends in July, I think I’m going to make the switch.

Click to read the full discussion on Pinyadda.

_______________

Follow breaking news from thousands of sites & blogs across the web in one feed on:

• Mobile
• Apple
• Google

Follow breaking news from this source in one feed: Tech Republic

Featured Top Yadda:

Click to read the full discussion on Pinyadda.

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Twitter.

BP turned down Cameron’s deep sea expertise and contacts…

Bill McBain pinned this.

Good. I’d be furious if I were an engineer that had spent decades in the environmental or energy sector and my bosses (or the Obama administration) forced me to try to implement the pipedream ideals of some hollywood blowhard. I really like James Cameron’s movies, but I think he should stick to what he knows.

I’m not going to ask Ellen Pompeo to scrub in on my grandfather’s kidney surgery.

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Bill McBain.

Really? I’ve been reading more about it. He (and by he I mean his friends, many of whom are engineers, too) actually have a lot of experience in depths even lower than the well. Robots and underwater vehicles and moving things really precisely in that context.

My take is that BP turned it down because they don’t want Cameron grabbing unbelievable footage (perhaps to make a movie with down the road) if he were to help.

Not sure what BP’s reasons were for declining his help and contacts, but in my personal opinion they should take the time to vet ideas and brainstorm more since they clearly are at a dead end. And especially considering they’re taking the time to put together and execute on a huge social media strategy to help their reputation… would much rather they spend the time and energy solving the problem and sitting with Cameron’s top-notch contacts and highly creative people.

Ben Jewell pinned this to Cheryl Morris.

The Abyss was cool but I think his real expertise is now in mining on other planets.

Anton Fewa pinned this.

The fact is BP refused his help because they still hope to get all that oil back. We have microbes that can break down the oil and turn it into food for marine life rather than killing them… BP’s engineers are being payed to think of ways to collect the oil and STILL make profit off of it. People should be furious, yet I still drive by and see people buying gas at BP.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/oil-spill-idea-microbes-can-eat-the-oil-in-six-weeks

Josh Whinery pinned this.

this is just terrible James Cameron is the perfect person to help solve this problem. You can read my rant on another article I responded to yesterday dealing with the same..

Colin Kennedy pinned this to Twitter.

Hmmm. Anton, I don’t know much about the bacteria, but it DOES sound like something out of a Cameron film… Maybe the creatures in The Abyss are just colonies of them?
Releasing a non-native species always has risks – microbes could have an unforeseen risk on the environmental system – but does it outweigh the damage the oil will do?

As for Cameron’s assistance, even if he were to get down there with a camera to monitor the situation, or he knew some top-tier ROV pilots, he’d be making a difference.
Refusing resources is often a bad move.

Chris Ercoli pinned this to Facebook.

BP turned down Cameron’s deep sea expertise and contacts…

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Anton Fewa, Colin Kennedy.

Do you know by chance if these microbes have been featured in larger media outlets, or if there is a particular group advocating for their use? I am surprised I haven’t read about it before. And you’re probably dead on in regard to BP trying to collect the oil.

Also, have you read anything about Halliburton’s involvement? I know BP is getting the brunt of the blame, but weren’t they contractors in the gulf well when it exploded, doing the cementing.

Colin does pose a good question – have there been any long term studies on the microbes? …Perhaps they could move on to eating the plastic in the Atlantic when done with the oil. : ) Regardless I presume microbes would be safer than pouring on more chemicals that have been shown to make rats eyeballs fall out after several mins of digesting the chemicals. YUM- count me out of eating seafood.

Chris Ercoli pinned this to Cheryl Morris.

And now enters common sense (although large-scale applications sound a bit far fetched)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SxX2EntEo

Cheryl Morris pinned this to Chris Ercoli.

Wow. Thanks for sharing that – it does look too easy/good to be true. I like the idea of cleaning up oil and concurrently providing farmers with some much needed revenue.

So this video was posted May 5th and has 1.5 million views… 2nd most viewed video on YouTube when searching for “bp oil spill” or “gulf oil spill”. I’d like to say this is the power of social media, but has the idea moved past the video to be implemented/tested at a larger scale? Doesn’t appear so looking at the comments.

Chris Ercoli pinned this to Cheryl Morris.

I actually came across that video through an email from my father… and let me say… my father is never on top of the news! So it’s making it’s rounds.

But from my understanding, the oil isn’t just located on the surface, but in larger pockets underneath the surface. I’m certain it’s not so cut and dry.

Anton Fewa pinned this.

“But from my understanding, the oil isn’t just located on the surface, but in larger pockets underneath the surface. I’m certain it’s not so cut and dry.”

That’s their excuse for continuing use of a chemical dispersant to collect all the oil. What a joke.

Ben Jewell pinned this.

I don’t think the math adds up for caring about collecting surface oil. Current estimates are that 46 million gallons have been spilled into the gulf. There are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil, so ~1,100,000 barrels. Current price estimates for a barrel of crude are 75$. So say they could gather all the oil currently on the surface, the value is only around 85,000,000$ Seeing they have already spent over a billion trying to clean up and lost billions in market share from falling stock prices, I doubt they care about collecting the oil on the surface for profit. They need to worry about collecting the oil coming from the leak so it doesn’t get any bigger. Not that I’m defending BP, I think they are a bunch of fools, but to think James Cameron could come in and magically fix everything is about as believable as Avatar…

seth hayward pinned this.

I think BP probably turned down Cameron’s offer because they had to know Cameron would go rogue with the fantastic footage he would shoot. Cameron’s underwater cameras would/could capture evidence that BP is lying about the flow rate. At the very least, it would provide more publicity to the spill.

BP is desperately trying to control how this spill is spun – note that they got the White House to straight up believe the spill was only doing 5,000 barrels a day for a whole month. BP had to know it was far more than that, but they needed to keep it quiet.

If I were Cameron, I’d give BP the finger and send the subs down myself.

Phil Arscott pinned this.

I don’t care who they’re talking to, but they need something new. FAIL, FAIL, FAIL, FAIL is not a good track record for the BP engineers. I think that they have the best ability to come up with a solution, but that doesn’t mean that no one else has it.

Austin Gardner-Smith pinned this to Twitter.

Should BP have taken James Cameron’s help?

Chris Ercoli pinned this.

Honestly I think BP would have gotten more negative press if they did take his help.

Anton Fewa pinned this.

If you believe the current estimates for the amount of crude oil you are being naive. BP has not once been truthful about the amount of oil leaking.

Linda Smith pinned this.

I know that on the surface it sounds absurb to have a film director solving catastrophic environmental problems but what Cheryl points out is accurate, as the result of his film efforts he has done much research and information gathering with experts in the field. Why not, at the very least, tap into and explore his contacts. BP is keeping everyone at arms length because they do not want to control what information gets out and what doesn’t to protect themselves both financially and legally. It’s a clear cut case of the rat guarding the cheese, and I cant for the life of me understand how it has been allowed to continue.

Linda Smith pinned this.

make that “BP is keeping everyone at arms length because they want to control what information…” I get so exorcised when I even think about this my fingers go nutty!

Will Flanagan pinned this.

Cameron just wants to plug his poneytail into the hole.

Anton Fewa pinned this.

“Cameron just wants to plug his poneytail into the hole.” Funny you say that, hair actually can absorb oil rather well

History shows us that BP will avoid paying for this disaster as much as possible:

http://climateprogress.org/2010/05/27/exxon-valdez-bp-oil-disaste/

sanj k pinned this.

cameron’s ideas can’t be any worse than what bp has come up with! though cameron should have just used google to upload his story…http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/

Click to join the full discussion on Pinyadda.

_______________

Follow breaking news from thousands of sites & blogs across the web in one feed on:

• Oil
• Environment
• Energy Policy

Follow breaking news from this source in one feed: VFZ Filmmaker

1. What news interests do you follow on Pinyadda?

“Twitter, Facebook, Social Media, Blogging – those are my primary interests. I’m also really interested in learning about Mobile technology … so I research a lot of that on Pinyadda.”

2. How did you get your news before using Pinyadda?

“It was all over the place.  There wasn’t an organized place to get it.  It was frustrating.”

3. Why do you use Pinyadda now?

“I don’t have to run around the Internet looking for the news, the news just finds me.”

4. What’s your favorite part about Pinyadda?

“I also like the Mentions feature.  I think that’s a great thing about Pinyadda – the conversations that come from it … You can laugh at YouTube videos or you can get into a really heated political discussion and that’s really why the community is awesome on Pinyadda.”

5. What would make the experience on Pinyadda better for you?

“I would really like to have my friends on it … It’s baby steps with them.  I’ll give them 4 months and they’ll be on Pinyadda.”

6. How do you describe Pinyadda to people?

“News customized for Jennie.  It’s a place that knows what I like, knows what I like to read, knows what I’m interested and gives that to me on a plate and says ‘here you go.’”

Follow Jennie on Pinyadda

Click to read the full discussion on Pinyadda.

Tom N. pinned this.

“What people want isn’t complete privacy. It isn’t that they want secrecy. It’s that they want control over what they share and what they don’t.” Zuckerberg has a point.

Chase G. pinned this to Austin G-S., Cheryl M., Teddy S., Chris E., Georgie S., Joe R., Kevin M., Katie G., Lauren F., Kristin M., Bill M., Rob G., Tom N..

I agree somewhat with Zuck that not everyone wants complete privacy, but people certainly want the option. What Facebook is trying to do is change user behavior which is a hard thing to do, and I am not sold on whether it is good business.

Once a company has defined itself and its strength, in Facebook’s case they are clearly the best in the world at connecting people around their social lives, it is hard to change users’ core behavior. Facebook started as a private network which is a large part of the draw, and many people on Facebook naturally want to keep much of their data private due to the nature of the content that is hosted.

Where the give and take comes in is taking a look at Twitter’s more open system, where users typically engage with larger networks and brands. FB clearly sees value in this sort of behavior which is why they are trying to push people to be more “open and connected”, however what people don’t seem to be talking about is the limited engagement that happens on Twitter. Not everyone wants complete privacy, but a majority of people still don’t feel comfortable/see the need to engage on Twitter, and I personally believe part of it has to do with the public nature of the site.

So, what does everybody think, if you were FB and had two choices – 1. Make the platform more open with more public info but lose some of the deep engagement they currently host or 2. Keep people’s networks more restricted and focus on the deeper engagement – which would you go with. It certainly isn’t this black and white in reality, but figured it could be an interesting theoretical.

Lauren F. pinned this to Chase G., Cheryl M.,Chris E., Katie G., Tom N..

Monetizing the site is dramatically impacting user experience, and the focus is less on the user but more on how Facebook can live up to their valuation. Therefore, whether it is your 1 or 2, it is all about unlocking how they can make money with advertising or brands. Either open or restricted, it will be interesting to see how they execute to make some $, hopefully not at the expense of their incredibly large user base (which has yet to really unite and riot over an issue)

Katie G. pinned this to Lauren F., Tom N..

I pinned Tom because he told me last week, after I set my privacy settings to be as exclusive as FB would allow me, that I’m too concerned with Big Brother coming after me (and began calling me Orwell). But I think he’s beginning to change his mind…Tom, your thoughts?

Rob G. pinned this.

I think you need (2) to ultimately succeed.

e.g. there are things you’d like to be able to share with your friends on the internet somehow that you don’t want prospective employers to see (crazy drinking, that night in AC, etc). If FB doesn’t provide the Friend sandbox at least then users will ultimately go to other, more controlled and more silo’ed places.

The Twitter comparison is a great one, except that adults are very conscious of what they tweet

Joe R. pinned this to Chase G., Cheryl M., Chris E., Katie G., Lauren F., Tom N..

Mark Zuckerberg is doing his best to come across as a visionary, with statements like “public is the new default” and “the age of privacy is over,” but he’s really just an opportunist, bending and shifting his vision to fit his changing business model. Facebook’s core appeal was that it was private.

It’s pretty well known that they are working on an email product to complete with Gmail. Given this latest flap, how many of you would trust Facebook with your email?

Tom N. pinned this to Chase G., Cheryl M., Joe R., Katie G., Lauren F..

The thing that gets me the most is this idea that a social media site should be completely shielded. In effect, doesn’t that go against the purpose of having this service? Users need to be smart/savvy enough to keep intimate things off the web. If you don’t want people to know about private/embarrassing/anything about you or that you’ve done or said, keep them off the web. Facebook (and other similar sites) is for SHARING information about you, not holding your life story.

As for the email aspect, I like Facebook and think it is a fun thing, but it was developed in a certain mindset. Twitter, FB, etc. were developed to share information in the open. Blending the open sharing of info and the privacy of email is not a good idea. These communication methods are polar opposites in the level of transparency and the combination of these ideas (and their developers) could have disastrous consequences.

Austin G-S. pinned this.

I’m pretty convinced that Facebook will go as far toward the public end of the spectrum as possible, and I don’t think that they will truly face any real uprising from their users. There will not, at least in the foreseeable future, be any kind of ‘Facebook Revolt.’ Why?
For a couple reasons:

1) It’s almost impossible to delete your account, and probably completely impossible to remove your data from the site. So what’s the point?
2) All your stuff is there. And your contacts. And a whole bunch of ‘your’ photos that, in reality, mostly belong to other people (at least in my case). No matter how much I claim to ‘hate’ Facebook, I’m not willing to give that up.
3) The platform still works. And for its scale, it works really well.

Privacy is important to me, but at the same time I’d rather have my stuff public than not have it at all. And kudos to Tom for pointing out the crucial fact that we all put data into Facebook of our own free will. The privacy policy is there to be read. So in some sense we’re reaping what we’ve sewn.

Joe R. pinned this

I agree. People are apathetic, so I doubt there will be a revolt.

And I don’t think we just want to keep the beer-bong photos private. (I’m so glad I finished college before the Internet, by the way.)

It’s also photos of my kids. If I share those with my friends and family, that’s great. I really appreciate a service that makes that easy, but then when I go in one day and discover those photos are not public on Google because Facebook changed their privacy policy, then I become more guarded. I don’t share photos of my kids any more on Facebook. It’s a matter of trust. Once you lose your customers’ trust, you can’t get it back.

And people don’t revolt. They move on. How many of you “deleted” your MySpace page? And how many of you just stopped using it. How about AOL?

Lauren F. pinned this

Thinking more of a media assault then losing facebook users, but completely agreed people aren’t going to cancel their accounts in mass numbers. Not just for your 3 reasons which are all valid, but because people simply like to creep on their “friends” lives.

Tom, I totally agree with you–wait until our friends run for office. NOW that is a generational case study in the making.

Cheryl Morris pinned this.

What an incredible conversation to see unfold. What interests me the most about Facebook’s shift is how huge the network is — and how we’re really the minority in analyzing why and how it’s going to effect the company and users going forward. My friends from home haven’t really been buzzing about the changes, and definitely aren’t thinking about the info they post as something that FB then moves to monetize. SO, the user behavior changes and effects are just really hard for me to feel comfortable predicting, and why I tend to focus on my own use/reactions.

I do absolutely agree to a T with Lauren that their recent changes (newsfeed overhaul, and now the move to public) is affecting the UX. My use of and interaction on FB has really changed in 2010 when I think about it.

It’s true that being on FB means you want to share SOME things, or you wouldn’t be on there from the beginning. But the underlying reason is TRUST — you want to share those things with people you know and trust. At the end of the day, I do not want weird dudes looking at photos of me, and have taken down hundreds because of that as my “friends” have doubled on FB over the last 18 months (aka they are not very close friends any more). That means less is being shared, and less interactions are occurring around that content. I have taken more of my interests down, too, removed myself from groups and stopped “liking” as many things. That is some of the “deep” engagement they are losing — and that has implications for advertisers. I do not want to make my page (wow.. typing this after I read what I wrote and realized I did not type profile…) completely public. If completely public is the direction Facebook is ultimately trying to go in — which it probably is, as the global web identity — I’m going to share less and less about myself.

And I really believe in social networks in the old school sense of it being a place where you have conversations with friends. As much as I love seeing Pinyadda in my newsfeed and a select few other companies, I don’t want brands who hire consultants who read reports that say “posting X times a day on your page results in the best engagement” mixed with — and definitely not overtaking — the conversations I’m having with friends.

Click to join the discussion on Pinyadda.

Follow breaking news from thousands of sites & blogs across the web in one feed on: Facebook, Social Media, Privacy.

Follow breaking news from this source in one feed: All Facebook