Posts Tagged ‘friendfeed’
Google Reader adds comments for sharing
March 12th, 2009 •
Tags: comment, comments, conversation, friendfeed, google reader, sharing, Social Web
This is a big deal for social web addicts. One of the first articles posted to this site was about the inadequacies of Google Reader as a sharing platform when compared to FriendFeed. Yesterday, one of FriendFeed‘s advantages over Google’s sharing platform was mitigated as Google unveiled comments for shared items. Google Reader makes it easy to share stories with friends, but it hasn’t fostered conversation around shared content. The best you could do is to either e-mail the sharer or re-share the item with a note containing your own comments. This new feature is a real breakthrough, and it’s something I know for a fact I will use every day. Now, if Google will only copy Gmail’s new label management system right on over to Google Reader…
Facebook emulates FriendFeed, adds “Like” feature
February 10th, 2009 •
Tags: Facebook, friendfeed, Social Web
Facebook has taken a page from FriendFeed‘s book and added a “Like” feature. Now, if you, like, “Like” a, like, post on Facebook, you can, like, “Like” it by, like, clicking on the “Like” link. Facebook looks to like… if looking liking move.
I have not yet had an opportunity to try the new feature, and I am unclear if it does anything more than telling the original poster of the content that you did, in fact, like it. The FriendFeed “Like” link reshares an item to your subscribers which is really handy. It makes sense that, if you do like something, you would want your friends to be able to see it regardless of whether they have a relationship to the original poster.
The consensus seems to be that this will not have a profound effect on the FriendFeed community. FriendFeed is a very tightly knit community whereas Facebook is looser and all-encompassing. I tend to agree that FriendFeeders are not going to leave the service for Facebook. FriendFeed is to Facebook as a small rural town is to NYC.
SocialWhois gives a deeper look at Twitterers/FriendFeeders
February 3rd, 2009 •
Tags: friendfeed, Online Communities, profiles, Social network, social networking, Social Web, SocialWhois, twitter
Mashable pointed out this new site with a great concept. Both FriendFeed and Twitter have incredibly minimalistic profiles—FriendFeed having none to speak of and Twitter offering only a short bio. SocialWhois allows users to look up potential follows to learn more about them. This information depends partly on the user having created a profile with the service, but, for FriendFeed users, SocialWhois will “guess” at a profile by pulling in all the services a user has linked from the FriendFeed account. This still gives you quite a lot of information but no more than you might get looking at the user’s FriendFeed profile yourself.
This is another one of those services that will depend on having a critical mass of users before it actually becomes useful. It definitely fills a need in the social web space—one that some social networks do a better job of recognizing than others. It is really difficult to get a feel for a person by looking only at their Twitter bio and latest tweets, and FriendFeed could use a brief bio for each user. SocialWhois provides all that, but its utility is currently hampered by a small userbase. If it is able to expand that userbase significantly, it will be very helpful in determining whether or not to follow back that latest follower.
Tiny USB monitors bring happiness, don’t use up video ports
February 2nd, 2009 • 1 comment
Tags: friendfeed, Instant messaging, monitor, touchscreen, twitter
Why would you want to hook up a tiny 7″ monitor to your computer? Twitter, FriendFeed, IM apps, and other apps that are most useful if you can have them up at all times to watch for notifications. Mimo Monitors go a step further by connecting via USB to keep all your video ports free. This means you can easily plug one in even if you already have two, three, or more monitors. The base model is priced attractively at $129.99 and offers a very basic featureset. Its only cool trick is the ability to change orientation of the monitor from landscape to portrait or vice versa. The $200 model has a touchscreen and integrated camera making it great for an app launcher or a Skype monitor. Very cool. Wired Gadget Lab had the scoop.
Share the net with FriendFeed
January 20th, 2009 •
Tags: friendfeed, google reader, sharing, Social Web
Reposted from me.raddevon.com.
Google Reader is a fantastic app. It is the perfect way to wrangle all those cool web sites your following into one easy location. I am able to take in far more information much more quickly and efficiently than I could by visiting each individual site. Google Reader also offers a sharing feature that allows user to easily broadcast their favorite items to other Reader users in their Gmail contacts list. Recently, Google added the ability to provide notes making the sharing even more robust. However, I now find myself re-sharing friends items with replies to their notes or my own notes or even e-mailing them a story they originally shared to give my two cents. As is the way of the web, there is a better way to carry on a conversation surrounding web content… and you don’t even have to ditch Google Reader to get there!
It’s called FriendFeed. It’s intended purpose is as an aggregator for the many social sites typical addicts (like you and I) participate in on a daily basis. That’s flickr, twitter, Netflix, Disqus, digg, reddit, YouTube, brightkite, del.icio.us, last.fm, Facebook, and LinkedIn, among others. However, the most important supported service for the purposes of this post is Google Reader.
For many of it’s supported services, FriendFeed is very selective in the content it chooses to add to your feed. In Google Reader, only your shared items will make it to the feed. It would be a bit overwhelming if all of everyone’s items were posted. Since only shared items make it, you will get only the best of your friends feed items.
Once you have configured FriendFeed to link to your Google Reader account, FriendFeed will periodically check for shared items and add them to your FriendFeed. You and your FriendFeed subscribers (Unlike twitter, when you add a FriendFeed user, you have “subscribed” to them.) will have the opportunity to interact with shared items in a number of ways: by commenting on them, liking them, or re-sharing them. The comment system is really where it’s at. In Google Reader, sharing is a one-way affair; I share an item (with a note if I so choose) and you look at it. In FriendFeed, I may share an item which can then foster an entire discussion around it by way of the comments. The commenting isn’t over after the initial posting. This is really a groundbreaking new facet of sharing Internet content.
FriendFeed has features that foster community. When you first get started, your page will be barren, but you will soon start to find friends as with other social networks. You can use the friend recommendation page to quickly find like-minded people to connect with. You may also browse the rooms which are spaces where users may share items with others with similar interests. You will find a room for Apple-loves, for gamers, social media buffs, and just about any other group you can think of. Feel free to create rooms around your own interests and start sharing.
On its surface, FriendFeed appears to be a very focused feed reader that delivers only your friends’ activities online. However, it is a fantastic community built around the wealth of content published daily on the Internet. Jump in and start talking! Also, be sure to subscribe to me!