Riff n. A short rhythmic phrase, especially one that is repeated in improvisation.

Often we see a post in So.cl that grabs our attention and we want to add to it. More than just comment we want to give the concept our own spin or take the conversation to a new place. We want to add to the understanding and join the discussion in a richer way. We want to riff on it.

In music a riff begins as a short rhythm or melody but it is the improvisation on that phrase that tickles us and keeps our interest. Each distinct variation has a quality and message of its own but still adds its part to the greater conversation. We hope to bring a little of that to So.cl. We are excited to introduce a new way to interact and improvise with content. Today we released Riff. 

How it works

Very simply, there is a ‘Riff’ verb now on every post. Similar to “Comment” clicking “Riff” will assist you in responding to a post.

1. Clicking “Riff” begins a new post , a response based on the old post.
2. The original post will be annotated with a note linking to your new post so people can find the riff.
3. Your new post is also attributed at the top with a link to the original post.

Above is an example of a Riff. Dan has created a post on Miles Davis describing him as his “favorite jazz man”. I have responded to Dan’s post with my own post on John Coltrane using the riff feature. Each links to the other so our post has context. Think of it as a conversation, riffing on a concept back and forth. New riffs can be added by anyone at any time.

A few additional things to mention, clicking on a link like “john Coltrane” seen in #2 will navigate you to a page with the “john Coltrane” post as well as a view of all other posts produced using Riff on that post. This included the “view all Riffs” link at the top. These pages give a clear view of the larger collection of posts within the conversation.

We will be continually updating this and other features so please give lots of feedback and tell us how you think it could be better. The site is an experiment and we are in it together. Let’s make it great! 

Collections are an important part of the So.cl experience; aggregating content and users around topics of interests is a core concept. Today that concept is expressed in our tags feature and can be used to link posts to a larger context or segregate them for later examination. Tags are an element that can be utilized in a number of ways. While we have big plans for expanding the utility and meaning of tags, we also want to continue to streamline and improve what we have today.

With that said, we would like to announce a few improvements that we hope will simplify how tags are applied and consumed. There are two major improvements in this release: how you apply tags to So.cl posts and how you can search your own tags to reveal all the related community content.

How to apply tags to So.cl posts

Tagging any So.cl post is very easy with the new tag interface. When you discover a So.cl post that you would like to tag, simply click on the tag link below the post itself, and a small overlay will appear presenting your most recently used tags. 

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There will be a strong FUSE Labs presence at the CSCW 2012 conference, coming up in Seattle on February 12th.  CSCW is a premier venue for presenting research in the design and use of technologies that affect groups, organizations, and communities.  We will be demoing So.cl in the Microsoft Research booth, so if you’re attending, stop by, check it out, and we will invite you in.  I will also be giving a talk on a study of teens, blogging, and civic engagement, a project I did in collaboration with the City of Seattle.  

Most importantly, we will be showing off DoTastic as an integrated demo! 

DoTastic is a fun mobile application that lets people challenge each other to get things done.  It is an experimental project currently unavailable to the general public, but CSCW attendees will get to play with it during the three days of the conference.

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Welcome    Witamy    ようこそ    환영함니다    Добро пожаловать       ברוכים הבאים

A lot of Docs.com users arrive here from countries outside the U.S. They often wish Docs could speak their language.

A few days ago, their wishes were answered: Docs’s View and Edit applets are now localized to 40 different languages!

Although the main Docs interface is still English, it will use a user’s language where it matters most: when editing or viewing the contents of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Also, every new blank document is now created from a language-specific template, and spell-checking of new Word documents now defaults to the appropriate language. Creating content in YOUR language should now be easier than ever.

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The Social Computing Symposium 2012 was held on the campus of New York University in the Interactive Telecommunication Program space on January 12-13 and it focused on the changing nature of “the public,” and this year it was organized by: Lili Cheng, danah Boyd, Mike Annany, Alice Marwick Liz Lawley, Brady Forrest, Clay Shirky, Clive Thompson, John Borthwick, Tom Coates, Dan O’Sullivan, and Dennis Crowley.

Check out the agenda and the videos of the sessions here!

After launching So.cl we were pleasantly surprised to see how well it resonated with non-English native speakers. In the short time since, the site has received attention from users all over the world, adding to the richness and diversity of the So.cl content stream.

To support our growing community we took advantage of a great asset with the Bing Translator API, and we are happy to announce that So.cl now has built in translation. With this update you can connect with people from across the globe in 37 different languages, making collaboration easier than ever.

To apply this feature to a post, click on the menu arrow in the upper right corner and select “Translate.”

A box will appear where you can select your language, see image below.  Click the orange “Translate” button, and the post will automatically translate into your chosen language!

You can also set your default translation language on the language tab in your setting panel. To get to the settings panel, click on your profile image in the top right corner of the page and click “settings”.

We hope the new translation feature will add to your experience and ability to collaborate and share information.

We are continuing to work on lots of great new ideas here at FUSE Labs, so keep an eye out for future announcements here and on Twitter @fuselabs.

By default, the first time you sign in to So.cl, the system will use your Facebook profile picture as your identity in So.cl.

If you wanted to change that though, it’s very easy, simply follow these steps:

• Sign in to So.cl and click on the Settings link on your left rail
• Click on the edit link in the “Profile pic” line

• Enter a picture URL in the “URL” textbox and click “Go”

• You can revert it back to use the Facebook photo at any time by coming back to this page and selecting the appropriate otpion