Social Network Aggregator/Social Stream

Over the past several weeks I have been researching various means of pulling all of my social network accounts into a single interface. In doing so I have trialed desktop applications, add-ons for firefox, and web-base solutions. Provided below are the ones that I have reviewed and my 2 cents about the solution.

Desktop Options
Sobees - a desktop solution that pulls in the most common social networks and has the most promising future but is for Windows only right now.
Feedalizr - a desktop solution similar to Sobees but works on a Mac. However, the user interface isn't as easy to work with as Sobees and does not pull in as many common networks.
Digsby - an instant messaging client that connects to all major instant messaging accounts, provides email updates, plus sends you updates as to what you friends are doing on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Digsby is a really nice solution but is only available for Windows currently.

Firefox Add-on
Yoono - a sidebar add-on for Firefox that provides access to all the major social networks (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Flikr) as well as all the instant messenger solutions. This is a really nice solution for someone who likes having all their accounts in one solution. The only downside is that local to the PC upon which it is installed.

Web-based
Bebo - a web-based offering from AOL that labels their solution as a "Life Stream" allows you to acccess your Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts and pull them into 1 stream. AOL has done a good job in providing access to your other accounts but has a really cluttered interface that you can't personalize
Meebo - a web-based instant messaging solution that allows you to access all major instant messaging accounts as well as MySpace and Facebook. The only downside is that it doesn't send you updates that you friends post to their MySpace and Facebook accounts.
iGoogle - a customized home page from google that you can add gadgets from all the common social networks and to have them all on one page. I personally like this one because it provides me a segrated view of all my social network accounts on a single page.

Another promising solution is from the instant messaging client Adium (Mac only) that announced they would have a client similar to Digsby over the next coupld of months.

Healthcare Web 2.0 Risks?

I recently read the blog posting below from KevinMD.com and came up with a few questions from a Healthcare IT perspective:

1. Should these be social networking sites that are blocked by IT departments to minimize risks to the hospital?

• I suspect some organizations will block these types of sites to minimize liability risk and give guidance to their affiliated physicians.
  

2. Is getting advice on one these sites any different the conferring with a physician over the phone?

• From my point, not really. The only difference here is that the person on the end of the advice the physician may not know.
  

I guess we will have to wait and see when the first law suit from these type of services comes about.

Do doctors who use physician-only social networking sites expose themselves to malpractice risk?

One of the newer trends is doctors using social networking sites like Sermo and iMedExchange.

Likened to a "virtual doctor's lounge," physicians can ask questions and speak freely knowing their posts will not be seen by, or released to, the public.

Often times, questions about patient management are asked, and it's nice to have a quick response to queries by a variety of specialists.

In this piece from Medical Economics, some wonder about the liability risk about asking such questions. Although Sermo downplays the risk, attorneys say that a "user who gives bad advice on the site could find himself involved in legal proceedings if his name were to come out during a malpractice trial of the doctor who followed his advice," similar to a curbside consult.

So, with professional organizations offering little guidance on how to proceed, it's probably best to be careful about what you post, and how you act on the information gleaned from these sites.