Ping.fm Might Just Save Me [Ping.fm Review]

Lately I have become overwhelmed with all of the social networks that require "status updates" or have a "microblogging" component. Whether it's the old standard, Twitter, or new upstarts like Plurk, I'm constantly having to jump from one network to another. Some have said to me, "Why do you even bother? Microblogging is a fad anyway." Well be that as it may, I get a lot of great links and ideas from these sites and keeping up to date has paid off so far.

To solve the problem of updating multiple networks with the same "status," a new service has just launched (still an invite-only Beta) to keep everything straight. It is called Ping.fm and it's a great little app that links all of your networks in one simple interface, letting you update them all together. I have had an amazing experience with the Beta and I want to share that experience with everyone.

The first step is to get an account. While you could hunt down a Beta invite code, why not use MINE:

masontechbeat

Go to Ping.fm, start a new account and enter the code. After this run though the list of available social networks and see if yours are listed. Almost everything you've ever heard of (including Plurk!) is already part of the system and new networks are added as user demand dictates.

The sign-up for each of the services is simple and usually works right within their AJAXy services page. Some services, like Facebook, are finicky and make you temporarily authorize Ping.fm on their site, but it all leads back to where you started, so no harm done.

Another thing to get set-up is their chatbot. They support a variety of IM networks like AIM, Google Talk, and Yahoo! Messenger. All you have to do is friend the relevant chatbot for your IM network and whenever you want to update your statuses, simply IM it with the message and it will let you know it is posting for you. If I had to have a complaint, I guess it would be that when you use the chatbot to post messages, there is no character counter to guide the process (I'm not sure how this would be done, just thought I'd throw it out there). The main site does have one though.

There really aren't too terribly more features to Ping.fm right now. It does what it does remarkably well and all of the little API goodies you have come to expect are right there for you. Also, it truncates URLs just like Twitter and other services.

I HIGHLY recommend this service to anyone who is crazy about status updates. They can take over your life if you use several services and there must be better things to do with your time. I suggest a Tower Defense game like GemCraft!