Social Networks You Can’t Live Without - Micro Blogging Social Networking Sites Mini Review Part 3 -Jaiku

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Continuing on with the micro blogging “mini” reviews. Mini seems to be the wrong word to use for these reviews but it’s already part of the title series so it will just have to be ok.

As I mentioned before Jaiku is becoming one of my favorite micro blogging social networks. Jaiku, currently in private beta, offers a number of ways to connect with other people. Like Twitter, Jaiku only offers 140 character entries but unlike Twitter you can comment on each entry. Commenting on entries through Jaiku is similar to a forum thread. This makes following your conversations easier. Just yesterday I was introduced to a web app that allows you to follow your conversations (Quotably). Great app, but I think it’s a shame that this feature is not already within Twitter. Seems there are a lot of apps being developed to fill in the holes within Twitter.

Here is my pros and cons list for Jaiku.

Pros

1. You can follow conversations easily.
2. You can find and add contacts very easily.
3. You can see who is currently online.
4. You can join and create channels. Channels are similar to groups but with channels you can add feeds (from blogs, Twitter, etc.) so the content can be active without conversations taking place. Another great thing about these channels is that conversations taking place on other parts of the site can be directed to your channel if you place the #channelname in front of your text. I created a #womenbloggers channel if you want to check it out. I am offering all channel members a chance to have their blog feed added upon request.
5. You can add your Twitter updates to your profile as well as to channels you have created. I am finding the Twitter updates are becoming almost too popular. Many of the micro blogging sites such as Jaiku allow you to post Twitter updates which is causing a lot of duplicate content. A lot of Twitter users are feeding their updates though Jaiku, Pownce and Tumblr. This is not a problem for those that do not already follow Twitter updates through Twitter but those of us that do, it appears as duplicate content. Many Twitter users sign up to other micro blogging social networks and only offer their Twitter updates (I am guilty of this).
6. You can explore conversations. I really like this feature because it is sometimes really difficult to think of things to write. The Explore section allows you to search for and comment on conversations already started. This is the big difference between Twitter and Jaiku. The way Jaiku is setup encourages more interaction than just a one sided conversation. The threads make conversation following much easier.
7. You can add icons to your text entries. This feature allows your content to be somewhat categorized. For instance, if your entry is about what you watched on television you can add a little TV icon to your post.
   When people are exploring conversations they can be offered a quick visual of what you might be you are talking about.
8. You can customize your profile page.

Cons

1. The number one complaint I have about Jaiku is that it’s not active enough. Many of the members have not yet utilized all the features. In fact, I see many members just using Jaiku as a portal for other feeds. This means they rarely, if ever, visit their Jaiku profile to see if there are replies to their content. This problem is occurring in most of the other non-Twitter micro blogging sites not just with Jaiku.
2. Because the site is less active the follower count is not as easily increased when you follow others. I have made 87 members contacts and have 34 followers. It’s actually not a bad count it’s just reciprocal following doesn’t seem to happen as quickly as it does with Twitter.

So that’s it. (new)This wasn’t meant to be a Twitter vs. Jaiku post but I wanted to offer you a comparison of the two best social micro blogging networks. Jaiku seems to offer what Twitter doesn’t but not as much as Pownce. Depending on your preferences, this style of social micro blogging site could be the perfect mix, too much or too little. Either way it’s is a useful network that can help increase visibility if you use it as a Twitter feed and/or blog feed portal.

I wish I could say I had invites for you but I don’t. Just check my invite page and I have 20 invites available. Contact me if you want one. You can also go to the Jaiku invites page and request one. If you are not already a member you could try asking for an invite through Twitter. This is how I was offered an invite.

The last micro blogging review will be on Tumblr. If I get to it you I will post it tomorrow but it’s very possible it won’t be posted till next week.