Quick poll: of all Web applications you use, which is open most often?
I’m betting most of you, if you’re anything like me, answered “my email.” For me, my Gmail window is open any time Windows is open. I use it all the time, and it’s where most of my communication goes.
With Posterous, your email may be the only page you need open. Posterous is a relatively new application that lets you do everything from updating Twitter to writing entire blog posts- right from your email.
When you sign up for an account with Posterous, you’ll be given your very own Posterous page. Sort of like a Tumblr blog, or Tumblelog, you can post to it video, audio, links, or notes. It’s a nice multimedia blog in and of itself, but Posterous also offers integration with a number of other useful services.
If you set these up, here’s what can happen: Posterous will post your emails, up to 130 characters, as a Twitter updated (with a link to the rest). It will update your blog, your Facebook, add photos to Flickr, and works similarly well with several other applications.
Every email you send can be directed to all your services, or just one. To send it to everything (Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc.) email post@posterous.com. For Flickr, try flickr@posterous.com, and so on.
Posterous also hosts everything for you, which makes life easier- uploading images, URLs, and even audio is incredibly easy. With songs, you even get an embedded mp3 player that allows for playing and downloading of the song you chose. If you paste in a YouTube link, Posterous figures it out and embeds it for you.
Photos become a slideshow when you attach them, which is a nice touch. You can also attach just about any type of file, and it will be included along with the text of your post- though not as pretty if it’s not a movie, song or photo.
The beauty of Posterous is its simplicity: all you do is fire off an email to post@posterous.com, and you’re writing a blog. Posterous all but kills the learning curve for blogging, and means anyone with an email address can become a blogger in no time.
If you’re already a blogger, this makes doing things like adding photos to Flickr or updating your Twitter status as easy as sending an email. No new Web pages, no logging in, nothing. Just an email.
For an example of how a Posterous blog might look, try this one.
What do you think? Can this catch on?