On January 28th, Pinterest announced a redesign (as a “test,” not pushed to all users).

(Not gonna go over all the changes here. This is more of a bug report/public service in case you’ve Googled this issue. #hero)

On the current Pinterest, as with many social platforms, you can reference other users by typing the “@” symbol and starting to type their name. Pinterest then auto-completes this. (On Facebook this is called “tagging,” on Twitter, “atting” or “@-ing”.) (screenshot above, with functional tagging.)

On the new/beta Pinterest redesign, you can type all you want, and Pinterest doesn’t auto-complete nada. The cursor just hangs there and waits lifelessly for you to do all the work yourself, like it doesn’t know you.

I see you, Pinterest.

Bug report: filed.

For now we Deal With It.

thanks for the tip, @raydennis.

There are new Instagram web features. Great! But don’t call it a web version.

TL;DR new Instagram web actions:

• you can now Like from the web
• you can now Follow from the web
• you can now Comment from the web
• you can now view a user profile in “feed” view from the web (see their most recent photos)
• you cannot click a username/avi to get to their profile, unlike anywhere else on the modern web. it’s just not a link at all. (listed here coz it feels extra weird in the context of the new stuff)

Let’s marinate:

Instagram labels their new web features very carefully. They’re not calling it “web version.” But rather, web profiles.

The main idea here: before when you knew a user’s Instagram name, it was useless on Instagram’s web site. instagram.com/username did not bring you a feed of their most recent photos, breaking with the design pattern of incredibly-similar social sites. (And not for privacy reasons. The otherwise-public photos have been viewable through 3rd party tools like webstagram, and statigram, using Instagram’s API.)

With the update, if you’re logged in, you can see an Instagram user’s most recent photos at /username.

Modern Feeds 101.

Less represented by the moniker “Web Profile,” but still much appreciated: You can now Comment, Like, and Follow from the Instagram web site. Wowza!

(Sidebar: This will result in more Comment, Like, and Follow spam on Instagram. Aggressive marketers love building quick and dirty scripts/bots that interact with web browsers. But this spam tax is more than worth having if we get the new web features. Also, the spam won’t be worse than anything faced by other sites. The only concern here is that Instagram doesn’t yet provide the same sort of controls to users to block/delete/config progressive permissions to who-can-interact-how with their stuff.

Despite the many “Finally!” Instagram web features, there are still lotsa, “WTF, that’s not clickable?!?” moments. Like when you’re viewing a photo, and click a username/avi next their Comment or Like, you get nothin’.
Clicking an avi/username is an act that on any other site (not just modern “social” sites like Pinterest/Tumblr/Facebook/Twitter/G+/Quora/Reddit, but old school forums + blogs, too), would normally bring you a user’s profile.

Instagram is also emphasizing the fact that you can make some (visual) customizations to your new web profile. While they spend more time talking about that than the web actions, anybody who spends lotsa time in social software knows that gestures/interactions across accounts usually make a much bigger difference than visual configs inside accounts, so I’m not gonna comment too much on the profile customization. I just don’t think it’s half as interesting as new social signals getting enabled on the web.

instagram:

You’ve asked for Instagram on the web and we’ve listened. Over the next few days, we’ll be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web!

Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram. In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the web. It’s a beautiful new way to share your Instagram photos!

To see your profile, or to explore a friend’s profile, simply navigate to instagram.com/[username]. For example, in order to view Nike’s profile, @nike, you’d navigate to instagram.com/nike on the web. If you don’t see your profile yet, be assured that you’ll see it in the next few days. We’re rolling out profiles to everyone on Instagram over the course of this week. You can find more information on Instagram profiles below the photos in this post, as well as in our help center.

Take a look at some of these beautiful profiles to get a sense of the new Instagram web experience:

@mycookingdiary

@cucinadigitale

@palomaparrot

Instagram Web Profiles: Common Questions

What are Instagram web profiles?

Instagram web profiles are a beautiful new way to view and share Instagram on the web! Your web profile features your photos along with your profile photo and bio, giving others a look at the content you share on Instagram.

What can I do with Instagram web profiles?

You can share your own profile with anyone you want to see your Instagram photos. In addition, web profiles provide an easy way to follow other users, comment & like photos, and even edit your profile directly from the web.

Why is Instagram launching web profiles?

We’re launching web profiles to give you a simple way to share your photos with more people and to make it easier to discover new users on the web.

How do I see my web profile?

To see your profile, or to explore a friend’s profile, simply navigate to instagram.com/[username]. For example, in order to view Nike’s profile, @nike, you’d navigate to instagram.com/nike on the web.

Why can’t I see my web profile yet?

Web profiles will launch to all Instagram users in the next week or so. If you can’t see your profile yet, rest assured that you’ll see it in the next few days.

Who can see my web profile?

If your photos are set to public, anyone will be able to see your profile by visiting instagram.com/[your username] on the web. You do not have to be an Instagram user to view a public user’s profile on the web.

If your photos are set to private, your photos will be visible only to logged-in Instagram users you’ve allowed to follow you.

What photos are included in my web profile?

All photos you’ve shared to Instagram are included in your web profile.

My photos are set to “Private” – do I still have a web profile?

Yes, but not everyone will be able to see your photos. Your photos will be visible only to logged-in Instagram users you’ve allowed to follow you.

Can I upload photos from the web?

Instagram is focused on the production of photos from mobile devices so users are not currently able to upload from the web. We’re excited about how Web Profiles will make it easier to browse and share content on the web for all our users.

To read more about Instagram web profiles, visit our help center.

Tumblr search has not worked as search for as long as I’ve used it. (4+ years)

But what many, including myself, have done is use Tumblr search to track/subscribe to topics (tags), rather than individuals. “Cupcakes” “bronies” “architecture.”  Tumblr knows this use-case, and even cultivated it via their Explore page. Tracking tags is fun, and has been a critical discovery tool and a facilitator of community-building on Tumblr.

Until today, you could login to your Dashboard, and at a glance see the new posts from both folks you followed, and notification/inbox-ish number next to each tag you tracked.

But now that’s hidden. We have a search box (one row, regardless of how many tags you track), that does reveal all your “saved searches” (these are less saved searches than subscriptions, as described above), but you need to revisit/click the box repeatedly to get what you previously could get in one glance.

Seeing a lot of unhappy users in the Notes section, all with the exact same complaint.

Anybody have a Chrome extension to recommend?

:(

staff:

Upgraded Tag Search & Tracking

Now featuring auto-complete, thumbnail previews, related tags, and a very clean new interface. Get to them even faster by hitting the “tab” key.

Enjoy!

Extreme Makeover, Digg Edition happened today.

As of now, there are no comments. Just weighted/voted “top” stories. I’m trying to figure out how they determine “Top” and “Popular.” It seems to be weighted/seeded as much by a story’s Twitter activity as by its own internal Diggs (votes). Even if it isn’t, Twitter shares are certainly prominently displayed. (Facebook activity is displayed, too, but it’s pretty empty for most of the stories compared to Twitter activity).

[update: According to TechCrunch and The Verge , the new Digg does use Twitter and Facebook to determine top stories:

Digg’s new algorithms now also look at signals from Twitter and Facebook

…Betaworks also says that it’s changed the Digg score to take social sharing from Facebook and Twitter into account when ranking stories.]

Another thing- a story shows the Twitter avis of people sharing the link, regardless of whether they’re Digg users.

Below you’ll see a screenshot that displays my Twitter avi (among others), despite the fact that I’ve yet to register for Digg. (Unaware of Digg, I shared the story on Twitter.)

So yeah. Very Twitter-aware.

Then… paradoxically, it requires Facebook auth to sign-in. Betaworks are total Twitter-heads (my people!), and anticipating the FB-auth backlash, they assure us in their FAQ that requiring Facebook is an anti-spam measure, and will soon allow other ways to sign-in

Part of me wonders if it’s as much about preventing spam as it is about just getting the site up and running (respect!). After all, you can submit a link without Facebook auth:

#sideeye

Whatevs, they got it up and running. Right on. Even if this doesn’t “fix” Digg, they have nothing to lose by trying crazy stuff. Too many once-popular sites ride a slow-descent, scared of alienating their existing/decaying users. Cool to see a site-in-crisis try something for its future users.

rethinkdigg:

On July 20, we announced that we were turning Digg back into a startup and rebuilding it from scratch in six weeks. After an intense month and a half, we managed to get the new Digg up and running on a fresh code base and infrastructure. We now have a solid foundation on which to build, and we expect to build fast. Yesterday, we previewed the new Digg applications for web, iPhone, and mobile web and today we’re happy to share Digg v1.

While today’s launch is a milestone for us, we’re more excited about what’s coming next. In the subsequent weeks and months we will:

introduce network-based personalization features (like we do in News.me) to make Digg a more relevant and social experience

experiment with new commenting features

continue to iterate Digg for mobile web

move the website forward with features like the Reading List, different views into the top stories on Digg, and more data to help users better understand why a particular story is trending

launch an API so that members of the development community can build all the products that we haven’t even thought of yet

For anyone who may have questions about what’s going on and where we plan to head, we’ve put together an FAQ. We’d appreciate any feedback.We’re proud of what we’ve built over the last month and a half, but today is just the beginning. Hello world, welcome to v1.

Notice anything different?

Notice any new… cateCORGIes categories on Pinterest?

[update July 23rd: The Corgi category is gone, after about 3 days! RIP Corgi-era. Also confirmed: many users are not seeing the refresh at all yet.]

Sometime around July 19th, Pinterest added a few new categories, removed a couple, and edited a few.

I couldn’t find any official or unnofficial documentation of this, so here’s a full run-down of the diff:

• Animals (new)
• Architecture
• Art
• Cars & Motorcycles
• Celebrities (new)
• Corgis (new) [update: gone. just lasted a few days :( ]
• Design
• DIY & Crafts
• Education
• Film, Music, and Books
• Fitness -> Health & Fitness
• Food & Drink
• Gardening
• Geek
• Hair & Beauty
• History
• Holidays -> Holidays & Events
• Home Décor
• Humor
• Kids
• My Life
• Women’s Apparel -> Women’s Fashion 
• Men’s Apparel -> Men’s Fashion
• Outdoors
• People
• Pets -> Animals
• Photography
• Print & Posters -> Illustrations & Posters
• Products
• Quotes (new)
• Science & Nature
• Sports
• Tattoos (new)
• Technology
• Travel & Places -> Travel
• Wedding & Events -> Weddings
• Other

If you like nerding out about Pinterest and tracking changes in platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, etc… you should definitely follow me on Twitter. I don’t shut up about this stuff.