Guest Blog: Glue

Not too long ago, I was visiting another book buddies blog and discovered AdaptiveBlue SmartLinks. Have you ever noticed on my posts a little blue box next to a book name or article? Those are SmartLinks, they are awesome. Click one, and you'll immediately see what they do. *grin* I'm in love with them. But do not worry about those for now, what I want to tell you about is Glue, while I'm starting to fall in love with as well. *smirk*

You can find me on Glue, by clicking here...

Well shortly after I started using SmartLinks, I was approached to sample Glue. Oooh boys and girls! Am I glad that I did, and as more and more people that I know start using Glue, the more fun it is for me! I was trying to think of the best way to tell you all about Glue and what it does, and so I decided to ask my new pal Fraser if he'd explain it to you... So with out further adieu, I would like to give the blog over to Fraser... the floor is yours.


Glue is a Firefox add-on that connects you to friends around things that you visit.

Huh?

This may sound odd but I assure you that once you understand Glue you'll love what it does. As Wired says, "using [Glue] is actually much simpler than describing what it does." (ps - Wired's reporter also said that Glue is "the single most useful social networking tool I've encountered").

What does it mean to connect with friends around things you visit?

Well, as you visit everyday things - such as books, music, and movies - on popular sites across the web, Glue appears automatically to show you friends who looked at the same things and what they thought.

There's a lot of magic to Glue.

First, it understands the specific thing that you are looking at. If you're reading about a book on Wikipedia, Glue knows that you aren't just visiting a website or reading a webpage -- it knows that you are interacting with a specific book.

Secondly, it knows that this same book exists on other popular sites around the web. The same book exists on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Library Thing, and many other pages. These pages may have nothing else linking them together except for the common book.

Third, Glue pulls people together across these diverse websites and pages to connect them around the one common thing: an interest in the same book.

What does this mean?

It means if you visit a book on Amazon and your friends visit the same book on Barnes and Noble, Wikipedia, NY Times, or over 20 other popular sites... you are all connected automatically by Glue around that book.

Let's say you visit a specific book on Amazon - Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. Glue appears automatically at the top of the page to show me other friends who have interacted with the same book around the web.

[click the photo to see a larger image]

Instantly I am able to see that cherryblossommj likes this book. It's worth pointing out again that cherryblossommj appears on this Amazon page even though she visited the book on Barnes and Nobel.

You can let your friends know what you think of the book by clicking the Like button or by leaving a short 2cents. Now, whenever they visit this book they'll be able to see what you thought.

You can also click on the image of your friend to see what books they like - all without leaving your current page!



Glue for Firefox is an easy way to bring your friends to popular sites around the web to see what they thought of the books, movies and music that you're looking at.


Glue Overview from AdaptiveBlue on Vimeo.


Questions?

For questions about Glue please email us or Twitter: @adaptiveblue.

Fraser has spent his career bringing emerging technologies to market. Currently Fraser is the VP, Business Development at AdaptiveBlue, a company that is changing the way we browse the web. Previously to joining AdaptiveBlue, Fraser was a member of Trivaris, a seed stage investment firm specializing in the commercialization of new technology. Fraser has spoken at the Web 2.0 Expo, DowJones VentureOne Summit and other tech conferences across North America.

Frankly, I have not been using Glue very long, and at the beginning for me there was a glitch or two, mostly user error. (Imagine that?!) But overall, I'm addicted. I keep bugging them to add it to Goodreads as that is the site that I use most often for my book cataloging, but for now I'm fairly content with it on many other sites that I love and use almost daily like Amazon, Borders, B&N, Google Books, LibraryThing, and on and on...

For even more information and explanation, click here to go to the Glue QuickStart to see more Glue Preview. You can see in detail what sites to use for books (all I really care about, really), movies, music, restaurants, TV shows, and more.

Thanks Fraser for stopping by, and come back anytime to tell us more about Glue or anything else from AdaptiveBlue and share some of your own Creative Madness.

Anyone else heard of Glue yet? Are you using it? Do you think you will? Leave a comment and tell us what you think... ideas and opinions welcome!