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February 4, 2004
BuddySpace: Super-buzzword IM
Posted by Clay Shirky
BuddySpace - an experimental IM client with multi-variate presence, and visualization tools built in:
BuddySpace is an instant messenger with four novel twists: (1) it allows optional maps for geographical & office-plan visualizations in addition to standard 'buddy lists'; (2) it is built on open source Jabber, which makes it interoperable with ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and others; (3) it is implemented in Java, so it is cross-platform; (4) it is built by a UK research lab, so it is 100% free with full sources readiily available. But BuddySpace is about more than just 'messaging', as we explain below.
[...]
The concept of presence has matured in recent years to move away from the simple notion of 'online/offline/away', towards a rich blend of attributes that can be used to characterise an individual's physical and/or spatial location, work trajectory, time frame of reference, mental mood, goals, and even intentions! Our challenge is how best to characterise presence, how to make it easy to manage and easy to visualise, and how to remain consistent with the user's own expectations, work habits, and existing patterns of Instant Messaging and other communication tool usage.
Comments (5)
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1. Marc Eisenstadt on February 5, 2004 8:39 AM writes...
Heh... thanks for the link, Clay... I'll take your heading label 'Super-buzzword' (since there are no further specific comments) as a constructive 'nudge' ;-) ... it is indeed targeted at a very different group from the consumer-ready (and less buzzwordy) IM tools, and really intended for use by very large workgroups. When such groups are set up with an automatic buddy list and corresponding maps, then usage, motivation, perceived benefits, etc., are pretty straightforward... BUT for lone users just testing it out, there are a few setup 'issues'; this is something we're certainly addressing in the next versions!!
Anyone who's comfortable generally with Jabber will be fine. Naturally, I'd love to see more of the blogging/social-networking community move towards Jabber (now endorsed, in its 'XMPP' incarnation, by IETF) in a bigger way... we're always happy to assist anyone who want to 'take the plunge'!!!
Permalink to Comment2. Bill Seitz on February 5, 2004 10:06 AM writes...
I was under the impression that the gateways to other services like AIM kept getting blocked. Am I wrong? I run Jabber as a philosophical point, but actually use Trillian for its AIM interop.
I agree that more people should switch over.
(seitz@jabber.com)
Permalink to Comment3. Seb on February 5, 2004 11:46 AM writes...
There was a great discussion of BuddySpace at Gary Lawrence Murphy's weblog last summer:
http://www.teledyn.com/mt/archives/001077.html
Permalink to Comment4. Vijay on February 5, 2004 12:05 PM writes...
I don't know how you created that blockquote like thing up there, but now, there is no way in hell I can copy-paste the teledyn URL! Or anything...It just starts grabbing all the text instead of just the piece I want.
Permalink to Comment5. Marc Eisenstadt on February 5, 2004 12:49 PM writes...
re AIM gateways... it's always in a state of flux, but the open source community is GREAT at keeping the gateways going. I use my AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo accounts every day through my single BuddySpace / Jabber account, with the 4 gateways running!!
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