FileSocial: A Community for Sharing Files on Twitter

December 29th, 2009

We have profiled Twitter-based file sharing services in the past, but in some cases the shared files were read-only and the UI design left much to be desired, or the service merely redirected the user to a third-party file sharing service.

Argentina-based Ideateca has conquered these drawbacks with FileSocial, a sleek multi-platform file sharing service for Twitter. After authenticating their Twitter account, users can upload any filetype up to 50MB, add a message of 110 characters or less, and FileSocial will post the tweet on Twitter with a link to the file.

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The web interface shows users a stream of their files, which any user can download or comment on. Comments automatically get posted to Twitter as @ replies to the user who uploaded the file.

Aside from using the FileSocial web interface, Windows, Mac or Linux users can download a desktop application, built on Adobe AIR with drag-and-drop functionality, to upload files. Android users can also download the official FileSocial Android app, and while there is no official iPhone app, the third-party app tweet media allows uploading through FileSocial’s API.

The one major drawback of FileSocial is the inability to post files privately for confidential sharing. All files uploaded to the service show up in a public timeline of files, regardless of whether you choose to post the file to Twitter or not. The option to mark files as private or send the link as a direct message is a key feature that is lacking from FileSocial.

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