It’s happened to all of us. The night starts off innocently enough with a little gin and tonic, maybe a mojito, then next thing you know you’re doing tequila shots with the bartender and the girl from Brazil and you find yourself thinking it would be a treMENdous idea to call up your ex and see how they’re doing and perhaps impress them with your newfound wit.
We’ve got the cure. Now, instead of drunk dialing random friends, lovers, and acquaintances one at a time, what if you could dial your blog and talk to the whole world at once? It’d be like something out of Star Trek.
The future is now, folks. You can now go to your My Blogs tab, enable Post by Voice, and get a special number and code to call your blog. After you’re done, the audio file from your phone call will be posted to your blog for all to listen to and enjoy. (And added to your RSS feed for podcast support.)
So now you can post to your WordPress via the web, email, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, desktop clients, and now any telephone in the world. Of course when you post it can be pushed to Facebook, Twitter, and more using the Publicize feature. What more could you want?
Right now this is completely free, but we’ll charge you money to take down posts. Just kidding! We’re making it free and allowing recording lengths up to sixty minutes, but that limit may go down without a paid upgrade in the future. Mostly we’re just curious to see how people use this.
I have a few ideas myself, but to find out you’ll have to listen to this voice post:
WordPress.com News 
This is freaking genius. Programming it into my phone right now. Thanks, WordPress people!
This is the worst idea* in the history of ideas. If I engaged in this I would proceed to be dumped by all friends, get kicked outta home, lose my job and possibly be gang r_ped.
On the up, it would be handy when I was drunk, shoeless and swaggering down a random alley and trying to find my way home. I could just blog that I’m lost and wait patiently (and drunkenly) for help to arrive. 😉
* The idea is actually genius but the consequences are dire.
i hope no one has forgotten that livejournal pioneered this years ago? however, it was a service that one had to pay for (along with a premium membership fee). it’s nice to see that wordpress is taking something like this and making — as well as keeping — it free. thanks guys.
I have already started using mine. I did a test run with a quick snippet from my boss at the office. I am planning to do phone interviews and other such things. Next year I am planning to cycle across the US and I want to do a voice mail journal from different phone booths across the country.
The problem with the drunk night scenario is that most people wont be able to punch in their 7-digit code when the time is right. I guess that’s like the gmail drunken security test app they developed.
Awesome job guys, I love this and can’t wait to incorporate it into my blog routine
Officer, I swear, I only had two beers before I called my blog…
I just tried it. I haven’t figured out what to do with this yet, but it is by far one of the coolest features I’ve come across in the longest time. Now if I could only get my blog to return my calls…
Seriously, though, does it post automatically or did I do something wrong? Is there a way to take back (or edit) what you said?
It posts automatically. To “undo” you can go to your blog and delete the post and the audio file.
This could be very dangerous or at least embarrassing? Entertaining perhaps.
It is very interesting. Is it anybody try this new stuff?
I imaging.. How many people will be upset to read what they were talking after “few” shots…..
Sometimes drunk people can give the information which they are keeping in sobriety.
Wow – that’s amazing. And slightly more risky than just calling an ex. 🙂 I love WordPress – thanks for all the updates!
oh wow.. i wouldn’t record anything when im drunk 😀
Please include a setting so that I must APPROVE my audio post BEFORE it is published. Otherwise, I won’t be using it unless I’m sitting here in my office, which defeats the purpose.
Thank you!
I find voice posts rather annoying but I guess it depends on your blog’s purpose.
I’m unable to listen to the posts on my iPad
The player is Flash based and the iPad doesn’t support Flash.
from ochuko: “This will definitely eliminate “writer’s block”… because there’s no such thing as “speaker’s block”.
So funny, lol…and definitely true. I’ve never seen any blogs/tips for “speaker’s block!”
Its a nice idea but don’t see this becoming very popular! Several reasons…… Good luck with this anyway!
NICE ONE.
It is really great the way you guys keep adding new functionality – and not charging!
One small ting-ting that might hold me back – this looks like a US number so it may be pricy from the UK.
Don’t suppose you can provide an indication of call cost per minute from the UK from an iphone – provider is O2 I think 😉
Haha this is a great idea! I may have just started my blog, but I bet people will love my random drunk calls.. Or maybe not. Haha guess we’ll see
Drunk dialing is one thing, this is insane!
Waaaaaaay too dangerous! Just thinking of how many times I’ve said something I didn’t intend to say, or wordsd came out like I didn’t intend … nope, not going to go there!
So now I can post VOICE to my blog? This seems like a dangerous thing.
Would be helpful. A lot of the bands i’ve interviewed were super nice, and it would have been awesome to post the actual interview to my site, instead of just the articles.
Awesome!
Awesome, Matt! A cool idea and I think it may become new era of blog world… =D Keep on innovating!
What we need now is a feature to detect level of intoxication, likeliness of embarrassment/divorce/court order when sober, and automatically delete the rant about how your ex ran off with your best friend back in 1996 and you never got over it.
I realise you can skype the number, but it would be really great if you could skype directly. Or mixit? And I like the transcript idea too.
Great, but only in the US means not for the rest of us 😦 Yet 🙂
Dave
I didn’t want to read through all the comment, but is there a time limit on the audio posts? I tried recording one last night and it cut me off around 45 seconds? Also is there a way to change the settings so it doesn’t automatically post as Published? I looked and couldn’t figure it out…
If you are silent for 10 seconds the call and recording will end.
This is really great! Is there the possibility of a feature to save the audio as draft, though? (“To save as draft, dial 1.”) I can picture myself (as blog editor) asking others to phone in reports from around our service territory. But I would like to add copy, photos, video to the post before it goes public.
This could be extremely entertaining. Thank you.
Haha I think I might need it. I use my blog to prevent me from writing that e-mail or contacting the ex to vent at him and ask the million why’s and hurl the odd I hate you’s and so far it’s been working. It’s actually cathartic – my blog is like my therapy so I think this phone blog will prevent me from the actual calling part! phew…
Impressed by technology these days. This is ridic!
Awesome! The only problem is if you’re drunk and even your friends cannot tell what you’re saying how can a blog? :))
Nick (or whoever else on the WP staff might read and take this on board),
I saw the reply to “Cat” earlier in the comments and have to ask, is there no way to integrate the system with Skype (or some such VoIP service)?
While I appreciate it would be difficult and costly to set up land lines in countries other than the USA, what’s to stop you setting up a Skype number in those places so people can call a local number? That way they can access the service and most likely do so as part of the free talk time included in their cell/home phone contract. I’m sure the calls would be susceptible to lag and other network related problems but I for one think it is better than a choice between international calls and nothing at all. 🙂
With only a US number there’s no way I could use this feature on any kind of regular basis in the UK as it would be far too expensive over and above the already rather steep contract for my new (10 days old) Android phone*… which is a shame because in the time it’s taken to get to typing this paragraph I already have 3 or 4 good ideas about how I’d use it.
So, to VoIP or not to VoIP? That is the question.
* Speaking of which – I’ve got the WordPress App on the phone and the recent update including stats and the like is fantastic. A seriously useful bit of software. Good on you! 😀
Unfortunately Twilio doesn’t provide a Skype number to call as an option.
thetheologyofjoe
You can remember your ATM PIN of 4 to 6 digits…
You can remember phone numbers of between 6 and 11 digits (depending on country and call origin/destination)…
You can (more than likely) remember car licence/number plates of 8 or so characters with only a moment to take it in if you need to…
Remembering a 6 digit code to access this service really shouldn’t be too tricky. Worst case scenario of someone can’t even remember how many fingers they have without counting again? Cut a bit of stiff card to the size of a credit card, write the code on it and carry it along in a wallet or purse.
Simple solution to an unlikely problem. 😉
This sounds positively dangerous! My cure for drunk calls, is to turn off my cell phone… Works all the time and I know I don’t need another way to embarrass myself!
I am excited about trying this and seeing how I can use it ! FUN IDEA!! Thanks 🙂
Cool idea 😉 This would pull a few into blogging 🙂
This is fantastic well done, can’t wait to try it out