"When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something that won't compute." - Wendell Berry

I joined Twitter in the summer of 2006 (when it was still called Twittr) and immediately fell in love. I encouraged all of my friends, colleagues and students to hop on board because I thought it would change the world and become a standard (like POP or IMAP email or HTML). Then I made a video in early 2007 called "How To Use Twitter" (that still ranks first for that term) because I was so hopeful about the platform's future. I was wrong. Twitter stayed proprietary. Twitter is now looking to monetize by leveraging user data with inserted ads and more cookie-based "optimization." The whole scenario is incredibly frustrating. The whole "social media" or web2.0 scene is blood-boiling to me because instead of creating open spaces (or a web), we're locking ourselves and our data down into proprietary walled gardens that are much more interested in making money by observing our behaviors to maximize "relevant" advertising than creating sustainable platforms for human development. So, I killed my Facebook, Google and Twitter accounts last night. Don't get me wrong... I don't blame them. Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple etc are corporations. Corporations are inherently out for themselves and their stock holders. I blame myself for falling into the trap of shiny and nifty free/freemium services in exchange for my data and my online identity. I want my children and students to grow up in an era that includes an open web that isn't based on advertising or 3rd party cookie data mining. I'm doing what I can to make that happen.

I've fallen in love with Pinboard (for bookmarking) and Simplenote (search for it on the iPhone app store) this week. I've been testing out both services for a little while but decided to take the plunge this week and use them more heavily.

And they rock.

Pinboard is Delicious from 2004 with more goodness baked in. It's fast, easy and private.  That's right... in an age of rival-bookmarker Diigo's communities, Evernote offering sharing of notebooks as a Premium feature and RememberTheMilk touting their social features, I'm finding myself leaning back towards sites like Pinboard that take advantage of the web2.0 goodness with a nod towards those of us who want to bookmark without worrying about what the neighbors might think (not that I'm bookmarking anything scandalous, but I don't have to worry about crossing the education/tech/marketing/science/music streams with Pinboard). 

Simplenote does exactly what I want a note taking app to do... it takes notes quickly, easily and syncs automagically. I love Evernote, but I've found myself overwhlemed there as of late since there are so many features (and since I do have so much data there).  Simplenote is... well, simple. And that's refreshing.  The same with Pinboard vs Diigo. I love Diigo, but I honestly don't make use of all their community and bookmarking features enough to pledge allegiance. 

So, will we see a rise of anti-social media apps that take us back to a "much more civilized time" of elegant and simple lightsabers rather than social blasters? I'm not sure. But the evolution of media is definitely fascinating to participate in and ponder.