ifttt: The startup with the crazy name aims to automate the Internet

Have you ever wished that you could call in status updates to Facebook? How about getting an SMS notification when something you have been looking for posts to Craigslist? Want to post a Tweet every time that someone uploads a picture to a specific gallery on Flickr? You can do that as well. You can even daisy-chain tasks together to create a slew of actions from a single trigger.

All of these things, and more, can happen via an interesting site called ifttt.com — if this, then that. The site is set up to allow you to create different triggers that correspond to actions. For instance, let’s say that you’re bookmarking things via Delicious:

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What’s most compelling about ifttt is the power that it holds. What’s most impressive, though is how easy it really is to use. I have a couple of tasks set up already and following the process is amazingly simple. You litterally click “this” in a statement of “if this happens”, then you click “that” in another statement. You can customize the variables to many of them, but what you’re left with is a hugely powerful system of automation.

I’d love to say that I’ve really dug into the service, but I’m afraid that I haven’t even scratched the surface of what it can do. However, here’s a quick video that will walk you through and show you how everything’s set up. Simplicity at its finest, really:

For now, the service is in a private beta. But not to leave you hanging, the ifttt team has been nice enough to provide me with 50 invitations that I can hand out at will. So, leave us a comment. Tell us what you’d like to do with ifttt. We’ll pick the best ones and toss an invitation your way. Oh, and you’ll likely get bonus points if you tweet this.

Just sayin’.

Oh, and a word of forewarning: If you’re outside of the US, the SMS functions won’t work just yet. The team is trying to get that sorted, but just be aware.