Social aggregation tools improving even with speed bumps
A back-and-forth legal case surrounding social networking access between Power.com and Faebook covered in Mashable (Power.com Sues Facebook: Data Ownership War Breaks Out) introduced me to Power.com as a new option for accessing social networks.
It’s curious that the Power.com logo still has a Facebook petal (or fan blade?) even though it is notably missing from the login options.
Could be a sign that they are hopeful to regain access, useful to their case, or just an oversight.
All that aside, it seems like Power.com is yet another improvement in applications to network the networks. From one page you can read messages, updates, profiles, and look at albums plus access all of your contacts from across social networks.
They’ve also added chat and a radio. I’m a huge fan of online radio. When I’m working is about the only time I sit and listen for an extended time and being exposed to Pandora‘s selection has introduced me to some great musicians over the years. I also love being able to listen to KXLL in Juneau for all their great shows. It’s an alluring concept to integrate an international radio show with a social network hub. It could lead to longer time spent logged into the network hub on top of providing background music while catching up on social news.
The main limitation I see in Power.com right now is the concentration on specific big name sites. You can only integrate Twitter, LinkedIn, Orkut, MySpace, Hi5, Flogão and VoteMe. Of these options I have two accounts and regularly use one, so there isn’t much incentive to consolidate at this point. While it’s understandable that integrating each network requires coding (that can apparently cause lawsuits), my ideal social aggregator would function more like NetNewsWire does for information feeds.