GeekTimeLinux

If you haven't already seen it, the good folks at ReadBurner have built an application to show the most frequently shared content across the web. That content could come from Google Reader or Netvibes...

...or starting today, from NewsGator clippings! If you're using clippings from NewsGator Online, FeedDemon, NetNewsWire, NewsGator Inbox, NewsGator Go!, or any of our other applications, you're all set. Nick Bradbury has details of how to make all of this work on his blog.

Give it a try, share with the world, and let us know what you think!

Metallica is in the news again, this time apologizing for taking down reviews of its work by fans on its website.

Interestingly, Metallica apparently was taking down even "mostly positive reviews," which seems rather silly and, unfortunately, par for the course for this now doddering, once-admired power trio. But the fact remains that most companies and business executives, like Metallica, react unfavorably to reviews, especially ones critical of their own products or services.

We have never felt that way about critical reviews at NewsGator, and according to a post from Joshua Porter at bokardo.com, you probably shouldn't either. Negative reviews don't have to be downers.

Porter explains that many websites won't add reviews because "allowing the public to criticize products on their site would have several negative effects," including loss of sales. But, Porter adds, most negative reviews are genuine and helpful, and they create the opportunity to use them as input. He says that for many companies, "this is a tough pill to swallow, as it's not easy to admit shortcomings."

For those of us who have gotten used to eating crow (like this ex-journalist), that is hardly news. And as Porter points out, by paying heed to complaints and criticism and acting upon them, you'll likely wind up with reviews that are positive.

So the next time you read a tweet that says something like, "NewsGator's API sucks," don't panic. Read the post and act accordingly. It's the positive thing to do.

Like anything else that explodes out of nowhere, social computing is already developing its own neuroses. Well, not really, but sometimes it seems like it is. The Online Journalism Blog came up with seven “complaints as social media addicts adapt to the demands of new technologies and fluctuating social structures.”

Some seem almost real, especially if you work at a company that is all about social media and computing. Comment Guilt is defined as regrets “that they are not commenting more on other people’s blogs,” leaving “feelings of worthlessness and frustration.” And of course there is the RSS Reader Sisyphus Complex, which describes someone who spends an entire morning reading RSS feeds, “only to find there are still 8,978 posts unread.” (Hint: Delete them all.)

But my favorites are Twitterhoeia, the “uncontrollable urge to share most mundane experiences – or, more commonly, lack of experiences – with Twitter followers. Generally involves consumption of food,” and Six Degrees of Separation Syndrome, which is “the delusion that he or she is just one friend removed from anyone else in the world and compulsively adds friends on social networks.”

The authors came up with four more, including Meme Orphanism, in a later post. Los Angeles Times writers add their own, including FriendFeed Phobia, which is pretty self-explanatory, and Obsessive Compulsive Blogging Disorder, which might be why you’re reading about this here.