
Friendfeed Frenzy - Why it continues - kradic
http://anzman.blogspot.com/2008/03/friendfeed-frenzy-why-it-continues.html
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dbreunig
Ok, this is too much:

"It makes me wonder why Microsoft, with all their resources, can't move like
this (They used to???) and, instead, still be looking at spending a rediculous
amount of money on Yahoo."

Um...i think the answer is in that sentence. It's "all their resources" that
keep them moving at that pace. Stakeholders take time guys!

Second! How has FriendFeed done this PR second-coming? Well, they hit the
needs of early adopters right between the eyes! Can they sustain this
interest? Good lord no! iPhones, Facebooks, (maybe even) Twitters all have
some level of appeal to the mass market. FriendFeed is built on the data glut
that confronts those who have too many networks (read: early adopters.)
Science would call this a "false positive."

FriendFeed is a symptom that indicates the general problem. Social Networks
aren't 100% ready for prime-time, and as we take one step closer with each new
network we have to deal with the hiccups of having friends (and ourselves) on
different networks. FriendFeed is a band-aid that corrects this, when Social
Networks reach some sort of bankable state there will be no need for this
work-around. (That's what this is: a work-around.)

Sorry for the long comment, but personally I'm exhausted from filtering
through the blog noise on FriendFeed. Yes, I'm sure this is flame-bait to some
extent, but I needed to call FF on it's shit at least once.

Poke holes in everything I write, I'll debate with all comers.

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cubedice
For sure FF is a work around, but what is this bankable state you mention? IM
has been around for ages, and I still have friends spread across AIM and MSN
and what have you.

Sure, blog noise is obnoxious; however, I think FF has some mass market appeal
since social networks seem to be getting more and more specialized. It is
unlikely one dominant network will emerge.

~~~
dbreunig
The IM comparison is a good point. Adium, Meebo and other clients have great
mass-market value. The niche point is also sharp. The more specific the boxes
of data in a network are, the more relevant they are to the end-user.

My problem right now is that FriendFeed is nothing more than a grand pipe. It
really holds no content, instead it creates a window to view content
elsewhere. There are problems with this. One of the big ones is the feedback
loop that emerges with heavy users (I twitt, which goes to friendfeed and
tumblr, where it goes back to friend feed. same with delicious...) The second
problem is that FF relies on data from outside sources: if delicious or FB
turns off the flow what can FF do?

I guess my frustration lies in people vesting in FF's potential. It hasn't
done anything terribly novel (though useful) yet. I'm waiting for the 'wow'
moment. Something anyone can experience without having lots of early-adopter,
data-exhausting friends to see the immediate benefit. Until FF can pull that
off, I'm afraid our enthusiasm is misplaced.

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webwright
I like FF. It certainly doesn't feel like a "frenzy", though.

