1. Abigail Harrison: Hashtags: do people really use them to discover? Hands-up people.... maybe social media people do and 'normal' people don't? #twittersci

    .abigailH hashtag discovery usage is low because of Twitters anaemic implementation. See Diaspora for a great, well-used implementation.

  2. Aral Balkan: Funny to think my first blog ever was plain static HTML, then a custom full-Flash site, then b2/Wordpress, and now plain static HTML again.

    aral I find I go in similar “abstraction loops” for many things. Start off basic → try out an abstraction → try out a higher abstraction → and another → get tired of abstractions, return to the original/something similar. The process always informs me in useful ways, however horrible the intermediate results are ;)

  3. Laura Kalbag: Avatars. Do they add anything to comments, or are they a waste of space?

    laurakalbag they add significant value to conversations, as they provide a recognisable visual indication of who is speaking and where each comment starts/ends. I am inclined against comments, but would recommend having avatars if you do :)

  4. In the evening () I’m off to a neo-folk session at the Steam Packet Inn, Totnes, with Robin from and some other musicians. Come along if you’re interested in playing trad/new trad/new medieval tunes!