Idea Of The Day. A new Idea Each Day. Some Don't Suck.

We post an all new idea every day. If you find an idea you like... do something about it. Make it happen.

Our Latest Posts About: Social Media

We Need Political Filters on Facebook

Sunday, August 13, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

I'm sick and tired of all the political posts on Facebook.

Remember when social media was... social? It seems to me that the majority of the posts I see on Facebook are about politics, and frankly, I hate politics, and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one.

The biggest problem with all these political posts is that you have no way to turn them off, and that's the inspiration for today's Idea of the Day. What I'd love to see is an option to turn off posts that you're not interested in. Don't like politics? Why not click a button that turns it off? This would have a huge impact on my Newsfeed... bye bye politics... hello cat videos.

Flooded With Free Music Spam Comments on YouTube.

Thursday, August 10, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why are there so many spam comments about free music on YouTube?

I'm not sure why, but somehow I've been getting a ton of spam lately about royalty free music as comments on my YouTube Channel. Why is that? Am I the only one who noticed? Are other people getting them too? Just curious.

Leave a comment on my YouTube Channel... I'd love to know what you think.

Let's Put Social Back in Social Media!

Sunday, August 6, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

What the heck happened to Social Media?

It's becoming uncomfortable using social media these days because it seems to me that all you see lately is politics, and it's getting nasty. Why is that? Social media started out simple enough. You shared pictures and funny stories about your weekend with all your friends, family, and co-workers, and everyone had a great time.

Somehow things change about 10 years ago, when Barack Obama realized how he could tap into social media to organize his supporters. Ever since then it seems that just about every post you see has some political agenda, and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Before social media, I had no idea what some of my closest friends and family felt about political issues, and frankly, I liked it that way. For what it's... [More]

Continue...Let's Put Social Back in Social Media!...

Enough With The Photo Tagging!

Friday, July 21, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Think before you tag!

Social media is a wonderful thing. Where else can you share photos of the macaroni and cheese you just made with all your friends, family, and coworkers? Before Facebook came along, sharing photos meant that you had two copies made of each print, so you can give away the extra copy.

Since then, we can not only share every photo with hundreds of our friends and family at once, we can even share them with strangers who happen to be the friends and family of the people we tag in photos. That's where things start to get weird.

The trouble with tagging photos is that a lot of people don't realize that when you tag the people in your photos, you are essentially adding your photo to the Timelines of every person you tag. This means all their friends and f... [More]

Continue...Enough With The Photo Tagging!...

Social Media and Politics Don't Mix

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

When was the last time somebody changed your mind with a political Facebook post?

It seems to me that the majority of social media posts these days are political. Meanwhile, after hundreds of millions of political posts, I don't think a single person has ever been persuaded to change their mind, so why bother?

Chances are, at least 50% of your friends and family disagree with your political position, which means that every time you post something on Facebook, you're either preaching to the choir, or pissing people off. There is no middle ground. Anyone who already agrees with you will simply nod their head and click the like button, and the other half will just think less of you. You simply can't win.

Why not go back to the way thing were? The old days of social media... [More]

Continue...Social Media and Politics Don't Mix...

The Trouble With Fake News Filters

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Fake news filters sound like the solution to Fake News on Facebook. I don't think so.

Facebook is hoping to cut down on Fake News by adding new a way for people to report Fake news. While that sounds like a good idea, I think it will create more trouble than its worth.

Over the past few years, the Internet has been flooded with so-called "Fake News", which dominate social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. In an effort to curb the spread, Facebook is working on a way for people to report Fake News stories when they see them. If enough people report a post as Fake News, its eliminated from their News Feed.

Sounds simple enough. What can go wrong? Quite a bit, actually.

My biggest concern is that people will abuse the option, and report any story they don't agre... [More]

Continue...The Trouble With Fake News Filters...

Big Data, Algorithms, and The Confirmation Bias

Sunday, April 30, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

We all have a confirmation bias. Unfortunately Big Data, and algorithms make it worse.

We are all hard wired to have at least some confirmation bias. Mosts of the time, we don't even realize it, but it's only natural for us to seek out things that already fit our wold view. If you step on two scales, and one reads 175 pounds, and the second one reads 165, chances are most people would trust the one with the lower weight.

Our confirmation bias tends to strengthen when we are only exposed to information sources that already fit our existing point of view. So, if you have a conservative or liberal point of view, and only read conservative or liberal news sources, this will only feed your bias towards that perspective.

While it's definitely an issue when you only follow libe... [More]

Continue...Big Data, Algorithms, and The Confirmation Bias...

Our 100,000th View on YouTube!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

This week marks an important milestone for Idea of the Day... Our 100,000th view on YouTube!

My original goal for IDEAOFTHEDAY.COM was simply to create a daily video blog (vlog), where I could put my ideas out there, and have some fun. It wasn't easy, and I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, so it took me a while to create anything more than a "Coming Soon" page, which sat there for quite a few years.

As years passed by, as I tinkered with all sorts of camera and other technical gear, I made the decision to launch the site without any videos. After all, it was still an idea site, so I posted a new idea each day for a couple of years until I finally decided it was time to make my videos. That's when things started to really take off.

Once again, it wasn't easy. In addit... [More]

Continue...Our 100,000th View on YouTube!...

Do You Need to Use Hashtags?

Saturday, February 18, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Have you ever wondered why some people use #hashtags, and some people don't?

I posted something about this subject a while back, but I decided to post a slightly shorter version that gets right to the point.

Simply stated, if you don't have a lot of followers, very few people will see your posts on social media. When you add a hashtag to your post, you will not only reach your small number of followers, but you'll also reach anyone who is specifically searching for posts with that hashtag.

Depending on the hashtag, it would potentially reach quite a lot more people.

You've Gotta Have Thick Skin...

Sunday, February 12, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

The Internet. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be careful what we post.

I don't know why, but the Internet has the ability to turn the most innocent people into Internet Trolls. Within minutes of posting ANYTHING publicly on social media, you're guaranteed to see an endless stream of insults from people you've never met, and even some from people you know. Relax. Don't take it personal. That's how the Internet Works.

The strange thing about it is that most of these comments come from people who would never dream of saying something negative to you in person, but the pseudo anonymity of the Internet somehow brings out the worst in people.

The trick is learning to entirely ignore the negative comments, or you'll end up in an endless... [More]

Continue...You've Gotta Have Thick Skin......

Like, Share, Comment, Subscribe... Yada, Yada...

Friday, February 10, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why do so many YouTubers beg you to Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe?

You just watched this great video of a cat dressed up like a shark, riding around on a Roomba vacuum, chasing a baby duck. Now what do you do? Most people don't do anything at all. They either pick another video, go to another website, or just get back to work.

While there's nothing wrong with that, if you liked the video, what you really should do is return the favor by simply clicking Like, Share, Comment, and / or Subscribe to the channel. It only takes a fraction of a second, but it really makes a big difference to to people who posted the video.

YouTube is free, so you can watch as many videos as you like without paying a cent, but taking that one extra step by clicking one of the Like, Share,... [More]

Continue...Like, Share, Comment, Subscribe... Yada, Yada......

Facebook Needs Better Buttons on Facebook Pages

Sunday, January 15, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why doesn't Facebook give websites a simple way to link to their website?

It drives me crazy that Facebook doesn't give people a simple way to link directly to their website from their Facebook Page.

Although Facebook gives you a way to enter your website, it's not shown directly on the front of your page. To get to your website, the visitor has to go to the "About" link on the left.

Meanwhile, they give Page Owners an option to create a button on the Page, but it doesn't even have a simple "Visit Website" as an option. Instead it has things like "Download App", "Contact Us", "Book Our Services", etc. Those options may be great for sites that sell products or services, but it does nothing for sites like mine, that are simply blogs or news websites.

The Big Data Crystal Ball

Monday, December 19, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Companies spend millions of dollars trying to figure out what you like. Why not just ask?

Big Data is everywhere, and it's watching everything you do. Retail stores track your purchases whenever you use a credit or loyalty card. Search engines like Google or Bing keep a history of every search you've ever done, and social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn track every post, like, share, and comment. While they may use different techniques to track your activity, they all have one goal in mind, which is to try to guess what kinds of products and services you like so they can target ads to you.

The trouble with Big Data is that even the best system is still just a GUESS.

It doesn't matter how sophisticated their algorithms are, they can never truly know your all... [More]

Continue...The Big Data Crystal Ball...

I Hate Juggling Multiple Social Media Accounts

Sunday, December 18, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

It's a pain in the neck managing multiple social media accounts.

Just about everyone today has at least some presence on social media. For some, it's just a single Facebook account, but more often than not, they also have accounts on a whole bunch of other social media services like Twitter, Pinterest, Digg, Instagram, SnapChat, LinkedIn, Google+, Periscope, and YouTube, to name a few.

In many cases, not only do people have accounts on multiple platforms, but they have multiple accounts on the same platform, for example, I have more than one Twitter account, and 3 YouTube Channels, to name a few.

With all these social media accounts, what I really need is a simple way to post content on multiple accounts at the same time. I realize there are some third party tools out the... [More]

Continue...I Hate Juggling Multiple Social Media Accounts...

The End of Common Media?

Saturday, December 10, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

We no longer live in a Common Media World.

Hundreds of years ago, news and information was spread through a very small number of media sources. Because of this, entire communities shared fundamentally the same news, at the same time. The news you read each day was identical to the news your friends, family and neighbors read.

Until recently, whenever people talked about things they saw in the media, chances are they all saw the same media. Centuries ago, it was the local newspaper, and in the last century, it was a combination of print, TV and radio, but it was still limited to a small number, so the media was still essentially common. Each morning, the majority of people still heard, read, or saw the same news, at virtually the same time.

This is no longer the case.
... [More]

Continue...The End of Common Media?...

Facebook Newsfeed Freedom

Wednesday, December 7, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Some people like the new Facebook Newsfeed. Some people don't. Why not let people choose which one to use?

If you've been on Facebook for a while, you probably remember the big switch from the original Chronologic Newsfeed to the current Algorithmic Newsfeed. It was a pretty big deal and there were millions of people who complained about it at the time.

I've talked about the Facebook Newsfeed in the past, and I know Facebook is not likely to change back to the old version any time soon, but I think they should at least give people the freedom to use the Chronological Newsfeed if they'd like to

If nothing else, they should give you a quick toggle to turn it on and off whenever you want a quick scan of some of the items from friends and family that were potentially left out... [More]

Continue...Facebook Newsfeed Freedom...

The Trouble With Facebook's Newsfeed

Tuesday, December 6, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Here's what I HATE about Facebook's Newsfeed, and how they can make it better.

When Facebook first launched, items were listed in your Newsfeed in chronological order. It was a pretty simple system. Posts were displayed in reverse order, with the newest items on the top, and the oldest at the bottom. All you had to do was scroll down to read everything your friends, family and liked pages posted until you eventually reached the prior day's news. That's how you knew your were done.

As the volume of posts started to increase, Facebook changed the Newsfeed to an algorithm so that it only shows posts that Facebook's algorithm feels you're interested in. It bases this on your history of Likes, Comments, and Shares. So, the more you Like, Comment, and Share a cat video, the mo... [More]

Continue...The Trouble With Facebook's Newsfeed...

How to Fix "Comment Failed to Post" Message on YouTube

Tuesday, November 22, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

If you've ever been unable to post comments on YouTube because of the error message "Comment Failed to Post", this is what to do.

There's a bug in YouTube that pops up every now and then that prevents people from posting comments. Although it will let you type in your comment, you can't post it. All you see is a little red sentence that says "Comment Failed to Post.". It doesn't tell you why, or offer any help whatsoever.

The first few times I saw the message, I just gave up and tried again later and it worked, so I just assumed it was a connection problem. As the message kept coming up I decided to do some research and all I could find were a bunch of videos from frustrated people who were just as confused as me, and in some cases they assumed they were being censored bec... [More]

Continue...How to Fix "Comment Failed to Post" Message on YouTube...

Why do Some People Use Hashtags... and Some People Don't

Tuesday, November 8, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Some people use hashtags... and some people don't. Why is that?

One of the strange things about social media is the widespread use of hashtags. If you take a random sampling of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest posts, you'll notice that almost half of them have two or more hashtags, and the rest don't have ANY at all.

If you look for a pattern, you'll discover that the posts WITHOUT hashtags tend to be from the most popular accounts, which may give you the impression that you don't need to use them either. Unfortunately, if you want people to actually see your posts, that's not a good idea.

The reason popular accounts don't use hashtags is that they already have a big following, so they don't need to use hashtags to attract people to their posts. By contrast, p... [More]

Continue...Why do Some People Use Hashtags... and Some People Don't...

Facebook Profile... Videos

Sunday, October 16, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Wouldn't it be great if Facebook let you post short Profile Videos?

Hands down, one of the most popular features of Facebook is each member's Profile Photo. Almost everyone has one, and it's the first thing anyone sees when they look at your account, so why not take it to the next level? Why not allow people to post a quick 10 second Profile Video that lets the member express themselves in ways that can't be done with just a photo alone?

In order to keep things simple, I think it would be a good idea to limit the video to 10 seconds or less, just like a Vine video. That gives you just enough time to say hello, and maybe show off something and say a few words.

If a picture says a thousand words, a video says far more than that.

How OLD is YOUR Facebook Profile Picture?

Saturday, October 8, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Some people never seem to change their online profile picture.

Some people never seem to change their Profile Picture, Why is that? I've changed mine over a dozen times, and others seem to change them daily.

I could understand their reluctance if it was too difficult to change your profile picture, but now that just about everyone has either a Smartphone or at the very least, a digital camera, it's super easy to do.

Search Twitter and Facebook by Emoji

Friday, October 7, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why can't we SEARCH social media sites by Emoji?

Emojis are HOT right now. You see them in phone texts, Twitter Tweets, and Facebook and Instagram updates, but the strange thing is there's no way to search for them.

It seems pretty simple to me. Millions of Tweets each day contain emojis, so why not let people search for Tweets that contain them? Want to see funny Tweets? Why not search for Tweets that contain the laugh Emoji? Looking for cool Tweets... why not search for Tweets with the "Sunglasses" face?

Emojis are popular these days because they let you express a full emotion in a single character, which is one reason they're so popular on sites like Twitter, so they should give people an option to search by Emoji.

In fact, I think they should make the Emoji's a

... [More]

Continue...Search Twitter and Facebook by Emoji...

Stop Using Fuzzy Profile Pictures

Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why do so many people have horrible online Profile Pictures?

In the early days of the Facebook, digital cameras were just catching on, so it wasn't unusual for people to be stuck with a fuzzy picture in their profile. As cameras, and especially mobile phones became more widespread, I've often wondered why so many people still have horrible profile photos.

If you're one of those people who has a bad profile picture, why not fix it right now. Even if you can't find a nice clear photo that you can upload as your profile picture, I can guarantee you, or someone you know has a Smartphone that has a great camera inside. Find a place where the light is good, and strike a pose!

An Instagram App For iPad

Saturday, September 17, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why the heck doesn't Instagram have an iPad App?

Isn't it pretty strange that Instagram STILL doesn't have an iPad App? Ever since they were taken over by Facebook, they've got tons of resources, so why is it taking them so long to make a REAL App that works on the iPad.

Technically, you can use the iPhone App on the iPad, but that's pretty lame. It's not designed for a larger screen, so everything is distorted. When you think of it, Instagram is a photo sharing site, so doesn't it make sense to give people the best possible way to view their photos?

Why YouTube Should Have an Option To Subscribe to Playlists

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Some YouTube Channels have way too much variety.

What YouTube needs is a way for people to subscribe to individual Playlists.

My old YouTube Channel was pretty diverse. I had videos with camera tips, product reviews, technology, science and even home movies all in one channel. That means that if somebody subscribed to my Channel because they liked a camera review, they're getting everything else too.

By letting people subscribe to playlists, subscribers can get just the types of content they want, without subscribing to the whole channel.

So if somebody was only interested in my camera tips, they would only get notified when I post a new camera tip... not when I ramble on about why Princess Leia didn't give Chewb ... [More]

Continue...Why YouTube Should Have an Option To Subscribe to Playlists...

Having A Social Media Page Doesn't Make You Hip

Thursday, March 17, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Hey Everyone... I'm on Social Media!

I've got news for you, Sparky. So is everyone else.

Everywhere you look, you see Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram logos. Why? I've talked about this before in another post, but here's another video with a slightly different spin. Somehow companies think they've got to put social media logos on everything, just to show everyone that they're hip.

It makes you wonder if they're actually expecting you to look for their social media pages, or they're just afraid that they'll look out of touch if they don't flaunt the fact that they're on social media.

Making Twitter Better With Separate Links, Photos, and Hashtags

Saturday, March 12, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

The great thing about Twitter is the way the 140 character limit forces you to get to the point. Unfortunately, links, photos and hashtags take away some of that space.

If your Tweets include a link, your 140 character Tweet drops to about 117 characters. Add a photo and it drops another 22 characters so you've not got less than 100 characters... unless of course you add a hashtag or two. To make matters worse, if you add 2 or 3 hashtags, you've got about 80 or less characters left for your pearls of wisdom.

To me, an even bigger issue is the fact that those links and hashtags often make Twitter Feeds hard to read.

I think the solution is to keep the 140 character limit for all Tweets, then give people an area to add one link, one photo and perhaps up to 3 hashtags, w... [More]

Continue...Making Twitter Better With Separate Links, Photos, and Hashtags...

How NOT to Use Social Media

Sunday, March 6, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Some companies have no idea how social media works.

The other day I went to Staples to buy a ream of paper. As I grabbed the package, I couldn't help but notice they put social media icons for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the front. Why bother? Do they think that people in the store are going to run right home and search for them so they can follow them? It's pointless.

I see this sort of behavior is all over the place. There are Facebook logos on menus, store windows, packages, print ads and even billboards. What the heck is that for? Why bother showing social media logos without even using a caption telling people their official social media account names?

Are they doing this because they want everyone to know how cool they are?

It's as if they're sayin

... [More]

Continue...How NOT to Use Social Media...

LinkedIn is Too Creepy!

Sunday, February 14, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Does LinkedIn think's it's a high school dating site?

Every now and then I get an email from LinkedIn telling me who's recently viewed my profile page. It usually starts off telling me the names of some of the people who viewed my profile, followed by teasers telling me that a few other people also viewed my profile but I'll need to become a paid subscriber to find out who they are. Really? That's wrong on so many levels.

First of all, there's no reason to show the names of anyone who's viewed your profile, whether they are paid members or not. It's just plain creepy.

Let's say I see an interesting public post about repairing a widget in my news feed, and out of curiosity I decide to click on the author. At this point, the only thing I know about the author is he might... [More]

Continue...LinkedIn is Too Creepy!...

Lookalike Finder Site

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

A site to find people who look like you!

About a year ago, somebody sent me a photo of somebody that looked just like me. It only took me a second to realize it wasn't me, but for a moment I actually thought it was. That made me realize that at this very moment, there are probably hundreds of people in the world that either look like me right now... or look like an older or younger version of my present self.

If you've used face tagging on Facebook, Google's Picasa, or Apple's Photos apps, chances are you've been amazed by just how accurate face recognition software can be, and by how it will occasionally confuse family members who have similar faces. By taking advantage of this confusion, it would be pretty easy to build a website that allows people to upload photos and hav... [More]

Continue...Lookalike Finder Site...

Always Use Clear Photos In Your Profiles

Sunday, February 7, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Blurry photos look creepy!

They say you should never judge a book by it's cover, but when I look at the photos some people use in their online profiles, I have to wonder if they realize how many people are basing their opinions on their poor choice of photos.

Thanks to SmartPhones, just about everyone has thousands of digital photos to choose from as their profile photo, so you have to wonder why some people pick blurry photos with poor lighting as the one photo that is supposed to represent them online.

It goes beyond blurry photos. Some people use photos that are just plain awful.

For example, with thousands of photos to choose from, why pick photos of yourself pouring beer on your head at a frat party? Or photos that look like a mugshot?

... [More]

Continue...Always Use Clear Photos In Your Profiles...

Facebook for Apple TV

Wednesday, January 27, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Stay connected from your sofa.

There should be a Facebook App on the new Apple TV.

Before Facebook came along people just sat on the sofa every night stared at the TV. Now they sit on the sofa and stare at their mobile phone so they can use Facebook, so doesn't it make sense for Facebook to release an Apple TV App? Then everyone can stare at their TV again.

Now the Apple TV has an App Store, you'd think Facebook would be one of the first Apps released because it's one of the most popular Apps of all time. Initially, I assumed it was just bad timing, but it's been quite a while and there's still no indication that they are releasing an App.

I realize a lot of people wouldn't be comfortable typing with the Apple remote control, but even without a Bluetooth keyboard, peo... [More]

Continue...Facebook for Apple TV...

Facebook Apps For Windows and Mac

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Facebook should have a native App that actually.... works.

Every day, millions of people use Facebook, and a huge percentage of those people are using Apps on mobile devices, instead of through a web browser. The Facebook Android App was downloaded over 1 billion times on the Google Play store alone, and although Apple does't publish download information, the iOS (iPad / iPhone / iPod) version is one of the most popular downloads of all time. Clearly, the App is the preferred way to use Facebook on mobile devices.

Doesn't it make sense for Facebook to release a native App that works on desktop computers too?

Technically, Facebook has an "Official" App in the Windows Store, but it's a complete mess and judging from all the negative reviews, there's no surprise people... [More]

Continue...Facebook Apps For Windows and Mac...

LinkedIn Profile Views Should Always Be Private.

Thursday, January 7, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why does LinkedIn display who views each profile?

Social Media sites have replaced newspapers TV news as our primary source for news and information. More often than not, we will hear about breaking news on social media sites long before we read about it in the newspaper or watch it on TV.

Although I can read news stories on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, I rarely read anything I see on LinkedIn, because it's not as private.

Unlike the other sites, whenever you read a profile, LinkedIn not only tracks it, but tells the account owner you read it. That's counter productive because many people don't want to be tracked.

Let's say somebody posts something interesting about your favorite movie on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. If you're curious about the author, you m... [More]

Continue...LinkedIn Profile Views Should Always Be Private....

Periscope For Windows and Mac

Thursday, December 31, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Bring the fun to your desktop!

Twitter's new Periscope service is amazing. It lets people from around the world create live video feeds to share whatever they're doing at that moment. Since it's essentially a live service, almost everything is real-time. When you launch Periscope and share your moment, anyone from around the world can tune in and make comments. That's pretty slick... and it's catching on very quickly.

The only problem is that Periscope doesn't work on Windows or Mac... you can only use it from a mobile device. While I understand their original intention is for people to get outside and share what you're doing, I think there's an even bigger potential for a traditional desktop or laptop experience.

Why not let people choose whether they want to use a

... [More]

Continue...Periscope For Windows and Mac...

200 Character Tweets

Thursday, June 4, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Isn't it time they expanded the 140 character limit on Twitter... even a little?

When Twitter was first developed, their plan was to create a SMS based chat service, which had a 160 character limit. So they reserved 20 characters so they could use it to track senders, but they eventually realized more people wanted to use their web version so they ditched their plans for SMS. Even after the switch, they continued to limit Tweets to 140 characters.

One of the reasons they stuck to the 140 character limit was the way it forces people to truly boil their messages down to their essence. The trouble is, when you factor in the URLs, images and hashtags, the majority of Tweets these days look like some kind of cryptographic code, full of abbreviations, and poor grammar.

Another... [More]

Continue...200 Character Tweets...

Better Facebook Like Buttons... More, Less and None.

Thursday, February 5, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Facebook would be a lot better if we decided what we wanted to see in our timelines... and what we didn't.

You click a "Like" button, and Facebook gets a good idea of what you like, so they can decide what to show in your timeline, but unless they know what you don't like, it's still a random mess.

My solution is adding three new links under posts you see online. "More", "Less" and "None".

The concept is super easy, those three links tell Facebook exactly what you want to see more of, less of, and what you want to completely ignore. Want to see more stuff about Clint Eastwood, click more. If you don't hate Katy Perry, but frankly you're seeing a bit too much of her, click less, and you simply don't want to see any more posts about Justin Beiber or Lindsay Lohan ever... c... [More]

Continue...Better Facebook Like Buttons... More, Less and None....

Use Social Media to Listen To Your Customers, or They'll find Somebody Who Does.

Saturday, November 29, 2014 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

We have two ears, but only one mouth. There's a reason for that.

It's a classic cliche. The Barker with a megaphone in his hand, telling everyone that he's got the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Very few companies use Megaphones and Barkers anymore, but sometimes it seems like they still use the same techniques to communicate with their customers. Instead of standing on soapboxes with megaphones, they send out emails and press releases, and hold big events to shout to the world about how great they are, but they don't seem to listen to customers anymore.

When social media came along, a lot of companies simply shouted the same messages in worthless blasts designed to wow their customers. They sprinkle in a few clever jokes, photos and videos and they think they've mas... [More]

Continue...Use Social Media to Listen To Your Customers, or They'll find Somebody Who Does....

Cat Video Network

Ketchonnaise - Pre-Mixed Ketchup and Mayonnaise

A Guaranteed Spam-Free, Pre-Encrypted Email Service

iPhone and iPad Keyboards Should Show Numbers Too

Sleeveless Snuggies!

Don't Bother With SEO. Use Real People Optimization Instead.

3 Ways Smoke Alarms Can Be More Pet Friendly

Emergency Contact Info Needs to Bypass Locked Phone

Autocorrect Should Translate Text Slang into English... Because Kids Actually Think It's Correct Grammar

Lookalike Finder Site

Out of Ideas? Fusion of Two or More Ideas Could Change Everything.

How Camera Makers Can Simplify On-Camera White Balance

Darth Vader is Retuning to Star Wars?

A Bedside Book Projector - Read Books on the Ceiling!

Reinvent The Wheel? YES. There's Always Room For Improvement.

Amazon Echo as an Intercom. Room to Room Communication, Even Across the World.

TV Needs More Shows Like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood... The Seinfeld of Children's TV

Stop using default Security Questions... here's why.

A Car Periscope? Why Not?

Digital String on Your Finger... To Remind You You Left Something Behind...

Use Social Media to Listen To Your Customers, or They'll find Somebody Who Does.

Why Doesn't Apple Offer a FULL SIZED Wireless Keyboard?

How Banks Can Make Checking Accounts More Secure

4 Cell Phone Parental Control Ideas Your Kids are Guaranteed to Hate.

.Podcast Domain TLDs. A Direct Domain For Podcasters.

* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.

In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.

The authors make no claim that any of the ideas are safe, practical, or suitable for any particular purpose. You are responsible for the results of trying, developing, patenting or using any of the ideas on this site.

For some people, our ideas are just an interesting read, but our goal is to encourage you to take action. If you see an idea that you like, do something with it... Take action.

- Joe

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Idea Of The Day. A new Idea Each Day. Some Don't Suck.

Our Latest Posts About: Social Media

I'm sick and tired of all the political posts on Facebook.

Why are there so many spam comments about free music on YouTube?

What the heck happened to Social Media?

Think before you tag!

When was the last time somebody changed your mind with a political Facebook post?

Fake news filters sound like the solution to Fake News on Facebook. I don't think so.

We all have a confirmation bias. Unfortunately Big Data, and algorithms make it worse.

This week marks an important milestone for Idea of the Day... Our 100,000th view on YouTube!

Have you ever wondered why some people use #hashtags, and some people don't?

The Internet. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be careful what we post.

Why do so many YouTubers beg you to Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe?

Why doesn't Facebook give websites a simple way to link to their website?

Companies spend millions of dollars trying to figure out what you like. Why not just ask?

The trouble with Big Data is that even the best system is still just a GUESS.

It's a pain in the neck managing multiple social media accounts.

We no longer live in a Common Media World.

Some people like the new Facebook Newsfeed. Some people don't. Why not let people choose which one to use?

Here's what I HATE about Facebook's Newsfeed, and how they can make it better.

If you've ever been unable to post comments on YouTube because of the error message "Comment Failed to Post", this is what to do.

Some people use hashtags... and some people don't. Why is that?

Wouldn't it be great if Facebook let you post short Profile Videos?

Some people never seem to change their online profile picture.

Why can't we SEARCH social media sites by Emoji?

In fact, I think they should make the Emoji's a

Why do so many people have horrible online Profile Pictures?

Why the heck doesn't Instagram have an iPad App?

Some YouTube Channels have way too much variety.

Hey Everyone... I'm on Social Media!

The great thing about Twitter is the way the 140 character limit forces you to get to the point. Unfortunately, links, photos and hashtags take away some of that space.

To me, an even bigger issue is the fact that those links and hashtags often make Twitter Feeds hard to read.

Some companies have no idea how social media works.

It's as if they're sayin

Does LinkedIn think's it's a high school dating site?

A site to find people who look like you!

Blurry photos look creepy!

It goes beyond blurry photos. Some people use photos that are just plain awful.

Stay connected from your sofa.

Facebook should have a native App that actually.... works.

Doesn't it make sense for Facebook to release a native App that works on desktop computers too?

Why does LinkedIn display who views each profile?

Unlike the other sites, whenever you read a profile, LinkedIn not only tracks it, but tells the account owner you read it. That's counter productive because many people don't want to be tracked.

Bring the fun to your desktop!

Why not let people choose whether they want to use a

Isn't it time they expanded the 140 character limit on Twitter... even a little?

Facebook would be a lot better if we decided what we wanted to see in our timelines... and what we didn't.

We have two ears, but only one mouth. There's a reason for that.

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