Microblogging

With Motion's microblogging feature, blogs can create either a private or public microblog or both. A private microblog could be used for internal employee or team collaboration, for example, whereas a public microblog would let you share with your online community. Arising from the ashes of Pownce, the company acquired by Movable Type back in December, this feature has some resemblance to that service as it also includes richer microblogging features that the former Pownce competitor Twitter does. In fact, Motion's microblogging service is more like FriendFeed as it allows you to post links, images, audio, and video in addition to text.

Activity Streams

Also like FriendFeed, Motion includes an activity streams feature which they call "Action Streams." These streams are created by members collecting and sharing information from over 150 other sites supported by Six Apart's Action Streams service that launched in January 2009. The difference between Action Streams, which are implemented using a special blog plugin, and similar social networking services like FriendFeed or Plaxo is control. Site owners can selectively choose to show or hide individual actions in this decentralized framework. Also, Action Streams are published using Atom and the Microformat hAtom standard so they are not trapped in any one service.

Authentication Tools

Another aspect to Motion is its authentication tools which let users sign in with any existing account from Google, Yahoo, Facebook, AOL, or any OpenID provider. According to Movable Type, this opens up your community to over half a billion web users who can now comment or vote on your content without having to create a new account. However, members who wish to participate in the microblog as opposed to just the blog itself are still encouraged to register with the site. Movable Type believes this strikes a good balance between allowing for participation while also providing a compelling reason to register with an online community.

Profiles

Finally, Motion users are provided with online profiles which show their actions from around the web. Site members can follow each other and upload profile pictures just as they would on any other social network. As with the company's other blogging products like TypePad and Vox, members' profiles can also list their other accounts from around the web. These are imported by using Microformats to link to those sites.

Getting Started

If you're curious about what Motion looks like in action, you can check it out on BikeHugger (click on "Latest Activity" to see Action Streams) or visit the microblogging community on Real Estate Channel. You can also sign up for a demo for more information.

Current Movable Type Pro users can go here to download the plugin.

The Pownce team says it plans to "come back with something much better in 2009." We're excited to see what Pownce co-founders Leah Culver and Mike Malone do at SixApart; it should be a very good environment for them to innovate in.

Though these startups were inspiring, we also think it quite noteworthy that even at a down time economically there are still jobs for super smart people. We covered the Pownce/SixApart deal in greater depth at our hire-tracking site Jobwire. See that coverage for more details about the technology that Pownce will bring to SixApart.

Here's a brief look into the services that you've recommended to us as alternatives to Twitter:

Pownce

Pownce is a great micro-blogging tool with added functionality that Twitter misses. Extra features include sharing links, files, or events and the added ability to group usersany or all of his/her contacts. You can easily add links to your profiles on other networks, add IM profiles, and also websites. You can even change your Pownce theme. See our in-depth review of Pownce for more details.

Jaiku
Jaiku is another micro-blogging tool and great alternative to Twitter. The functionality of Jaiku is similar to Twitter and Pownce, including the ability to import RSS feeds into your stream. Unlike Pownce, you cannot message files to other users. Another downside is that the service has been invite only since Google acquired it in October 2007.

FriendFeed
FriendFeed is a social aggregator rather than a microblogging tool. However, backed with a strong and growing community, users can post to their FriendFeed lifestream just like on Twitter in addition to importing RSS feeds and various content shared on other social networks. Recently the service has added "rooms", which can function like groups and restrict certain messages or items to a select group of individuals.

Brightkite
Brightkite is a mobile social network that extends Twitter-like functionality to its users. Essentially, users can update the service via their mobile phone and post location statuses along with a note or an image of their choice. Unlike the other alternate services, there's no simple way to reply to another user.

Other Online Alternatives
We've already covered a few other micro-blogging tools in addition to what's been listed here. However, why not take a visit to the platforms that started it all. While instant messaging may be a little old school, we're still using it to connect with others. There's also IRC, forums and messageboards to consider. They may not be the "hottest" alternatives, but these services are what paved the way for services like Twitter to take shape. You can also try doing conference calls via Skype or visiting those AOL and Yahoo chat groups. Meebo anyone?

Offline

If you'd rather not make a switch to another service, try these offline alternatives to Twitter:

• Phone
• Events
• Parks
• Meetings
• Fairs
• Parties/Clubs

The best way to help Twitter deal with their issues without being negative and to also get your social fix is to take a break from the service. When's the last time you called some of your online friends? What about the last time you left the house to socialize? Take a break from the online world and socialize with those that are within your immediate area to physically meet and greet you.

Give Twitter A Break

The biggest problem with most of these alternatives is that they don't quite compare to Twitter's large community following. It has taken me 3 months to build my own network of over 700 followers on Twitter. Not many of us would be willing to put in the time to build our connections somewhere else. So, if you're deciding to head elsewhere, send a Twitter message out to your followers letting them know about the move. Don't forget to note whether or not your move will be permanent. You never know who'll end up following you. You can catch me over on FriendFeed (profile) and Pownce (profile) while I wait for Twitter to come back around. What are your plans?

Who's it going to be in 2008? We look at five possible contenders below, taking into consideration the special magic that is the SXSW experience. Lots of startups are hoping they'll go big next week in Austin, but in all likelihood only one, maybe two, actually will.

The event is huge, it's filled with creative people, the weather is warm and there's lots of parties. The panels are good enough to comment on but not so good that people aren't also communicating about a bunch of other things.

It's also more likely that someone will blow up at SXSW this year because of Twitter's high-profile success last year.

What does it take be a hit?

A winning app has to be easy for lots of people to use and has to provide clear value to conference and party-goers. It might seem valuable only at SXSW but end up proving itself afterwords due the scale achieved in Austin. That was the case with Twitter, which I and I'm sure others planned to stop using after SXSW. Photo by super-photographer Scott Beale/Laughing Squid

Buzz momentum leading up to the event is also very important. If a good number of savvy web lovers have just become power users of an app before SXSW, it stands a great chance of reaching critical mass there.

Finally, it has to perform reasonably well for a high-traffic week. Other than a underwhelming hallway demonstration, Twitter held up better at SXSW last week than it has at almost any time since.

So here are my favorites for possible breakout apps in Austin. What are yours?

The Contenders

Live streaming video
Qik, Mogulus, Ustream, BlogTV or Yahoo! Live

Live streaming video has built up a lot of interest in recent months, with the entry of big players and the announcement that Live YouTube is coming soon raising that interest to an all time high in recent weeks.

Live video is great for events because it leaves users feeling empowered and provides immediate feedback when you see how many people are watching your live feed.

Why this won't be it.

Live video is not easy for large numbers of people to use. Despite being easy to do, it's hard to do well and frequently. Most people aren't very good at it and anything but the right hardware equals fail in a public event setting.

AIR Twitter
Twhirl, Snitter

Third party Twitter clients built on Adobe's AIR are beautiful and compelling. They aren't believed until their seen. People in Austin will look over each others' shoulders and say "what is that?"

Twitter clients will probably grow in user numbers a lot before and after the conference sessions in Austin. I love Twitter and will be celebrating our first anniversary together in Austin.

Why this won't be it.

Don't count on anything Twitter working. Despite recent hires that were supposed to solve the scaling problems, Twitter will probably suffer extensive downtime during a week-long giant event. It is much, much bigger than it was last year, but you'll probably hear as much complaining about Twitter at SXSW as you will praise.

If Twitter can hold up that would be great, but desktop apps already have one strike against them at an event so dependent on mobile communication.

Alternatives to Twitter
Pownce

A more sophisticated but less used alternative to Twitter, Pownce could come in to fill the gap. It's already got a small but vocal fan club of web elite.

You may hear a lot of people saying in Austin, "that's it, I'm moving to Pownce."

Why this won't be it.

Twitter loyalty runs deep, even during the down times. Many people are unable to break the habit no matter how angry they (we) become. Pownce is a little more complicated and hasn't been experiencing a significant upturn leading up to SXSW.

Better conference resources
Sched.org

Sched is a just-released event schedule interface build by Taylor McKnight. The schedule part of the SXSW website is not good and Sched.org makes it a lot more usable. It's easy to dynamically plan out your day on Sched, selecting both official and unofficial events listed there. Then you can shoot the URL of your personal calendar off to a friend.

Sched creator Taylor McKnight is the man behind the geek-loved PodBop and the designer of version 2.0 of the Hype Machine. He and Sched co-creator Chirag Mehta also built Chime.tv, a feature rich video aggregator worth checking out.

These guys do smart little things, like letting you view group schedules by adding multiple usernames joined by commas in a Sched URL and offering a forehead slapping "why didn't I think of that" account creation and login proccess. A lot of people are already talking about Sched on Twitter and I expect it will get good traction in Austin. Here's my schedule, if you're interested. I haven't filled anything out yet.

Continued below screenshot

Why this won't be it.

Sched.org is more "wow" than it is seriously useful. People come and go from events at SXSW, schedules don't hold steady hour by hour. The site is also pretty slow and doesn't have the same social appeal or feature set as Upcoming does. Finally, nobody cares enough about what you're doing at SXSW to want a full copy of your scheduled panels and parties to attend. There are so many fun people there that it's better to just see who you get to see by chance. Except for you, Taylor McKnight, because you owe me a beer.

Activity feed aggregation/ Lifestreaming
FriendFeed

FriendFeed is a super simple way to view all your friends' activities on Twitter, del.icio.us, Mag.nolia, YouTube, Flickr and lots of other sites - all in one place. It's going to be great for SXSW. Flickr is a big part of tech events but FriendFeed is going to make it even bigger, with all of a photographer's friends seeing their photos - not just those that go to Flickr itself.

Friend discovery gets nailed in FriendFeed - plug in some accounts of yours around the web and it will recommend friends with similar interests all day long. That means rapid scale up in network effect and big ease of use. The "people who find you interesting" feature is really flattering and it's always good to appeal to the ego. Here's my ego on FriendFeed.

I've placed a link to FriendFeed in my browser toolbar and am already clicking on it throughout the day to see what my friends are bookmarking, what photos they're posting and to see a finite number of peoples' tweets. You can leave inline comments on any item's link in Friend feed or say you like a link of someone's with one click. It's already getting a lot of traction and I think it's going to blow up big in Austin.

More likely than Pownce, you're going to hear people saying that Twitter down-time is less of a bummer because the rest of FriendFeed is still available.

The service launched publicly this week, was founded by ex-Googlers and just announced $5 million in VC funding.

Smart, connected attendees of SXSW (and who doesn't want to be one of those?) are probably going to be dropping in at FriendFeed all week while half paying attention to panels. It's like Twitter but better in some ways; it's more expansive, more interactive and so far more stable.

Caveats and Pitfalls

FriendFeed might not scale well. There's not a mobile component. It's not the prettiest thing in the world to look at. There's no API so there's no ecosystem around it to make it more awesome - something that's been very important to Twitter's ongoing success.

Conclusion

The killer app in Austin might just be beer, it's hard to say. The time and conditions are right, though for somebody's service to prove itself on a big, important and informal stage though. Good luck to all the innovators looking for a good time at the conference.