Going back through old links again today on Facebook. Just like I try to do every day on Facebook, and then fail, condemning me to always be needing to go back through Facebook history just to see if there’s something important that I missed putting on the blog. Something that should be written to this public diary. I noticed today that On This Day has been renamed. It’s now called Memories. Talk about meaningless changes. Moving fast and breaking things. On This Day was always about Memories. I guess Facebook wants to be more expansive or possibly (probably?) restrictive about what they show you when you click that link.
I also noticed today that my ten year old links to HelloTXT content now go to malware sites. Hellotxt closed its doors in 2012 without my noticing.
HelloTXT was a highly used social media aggregator that has now shut its doors. It follows right behind social media aggregator Ping.FM. We are pretty sure that PixelPipe will be the next one to close its doors as the abuse of its service is overwhelming. While this was a very quick and decisive decision it was probably the easiest way to dodge the online backlash from all the users. HelloTXT provided mobile applications as well as an online API that allowed many applications to connect to its service and submit their posts. Each and every aggregator has helped connect users to multiple social media sites but it seems the maintenance and upkeep outweighs the profit. Onlywire is still up and running but also leverages a payment structure which helps keep the management worth it. They definitely didn’t follow our blog on How To Retire a Brand.
HelloTXT Closes Their Doors and Shuts Down
Don’t go to the website for HelloTXT. That URL now goes directly to a malware site. The sad part is, I can’t access my profile if the site isn’t up, and so there is no way to recover what the old short links went back to any longer. I used HelloTXT for years to synchronize status across all the platforms that I was on. I quit using it for awhile because I was spending most of my time on Facebook. Now I discover it’s gone and I’m ambivalent but disturbed by it. Like lost memories that you glimpse briefly through the haze, but then they are gone.
What the hell was that? Must have been nothing worth remembering.
Postscript
Memories in Facebook is a more expansive experience now. This is confirmed. All kinds of crap is now posted at the beginning and the end of the list of things that you did on that day over the span of years you’ve wasted on Facebook. I’ve wasted on Facebook. I’m trying not to think about that stretch of time too hard right now.