One of my favorite things to do on Twitter and Facebook is to share links. I typically keep my Twitter stream tech related so whenever I find an article or website that interests me and it also has a tech-related topic, I’ll share the link.
That is all fine and good, but sometimes it’s better to share the context as to why I am sharing the link. For instance, it would be nice if I could share the parts of the article or website that I found interesting.
With Glass, this is possible. Glass is a new Firefox plugin (they’re also working on a Chrome plugin) that works as if there is a layer of glass over the website so you can posts notes and such on the places you want to bring attention to. As you add friends, you can share your actual browsing experience with one another.
Sign Up For Glass
Since the purpose of Glass is to share with other people, it is actually something you have to sign up for. Don’t worry, the process is simple. Since it is still in private beta, you will need to first enter your Glass code on the front page. You will be happy to know that we will be giving away free invites at the end of the article for you to give Glass a try.
Install the Glass Firefox Plugin
Once you finish creating your account, you will be brought to the page where you can install the plugin.
Installing the plugin is just like installing any other plugin for Firefox, browser restart and all.
Share Something On A Page
OK, now that you’re all equipped with an account and the plugin, just browse the web like you normally do. When you come across a site or page you want to comment on and share, click the little green icon up near the address bar.
When you click the icon, a window will pop up giving you three choices.
First, you can add a new slide which is what you do when you want to begin posting notes on a site. Secondly, you can have a link to your feed. This is the place where all of the notes to all of the sites you’ve shared will be listed. Also, if your friends have tagged you to see sites they’ve commented on, they’ll appear on this list. Finally you can choose to hide all slides, if you want to browse without the notes.
In order to post notes on a page, choose “Create Slide” to get started. You will see a box that appears over the website you are commenting on. Begin entering one of your friend’s usernames in the first field and enter the note in the second field.
Once you are finished, click “Post” to see how the slide will look.
Check out your feed to see that it has appeared there. The feed is really cool because you can keep track of all of your slides, your friends’ slides, and all comments made on each of them.
They have also incorporated the posting of video comments and are still working hard to add even more features. Like I said earlier, I believe they are working on a Google Chrome version so keep your eyes open.
Tip: Check out their YouTube channel for some cool commercials and tutorials all about Glass.
The good people at Glass are looking for some beta testers so they gave us 500 invites to give away here on MakeUseOf. You will notice that you will also have some invites to share with your friends once you sign up. When you go to the Glass website, enter the code “makeuseof” to get your invitation to the private beta.
Try out the new service and tell us what you think in the comments. Also, it being in beta and all, I’m sure the people over at Glass would love your input and suggestions.
Tagged: browsing • firefox addons • link sharing
