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Facebook's FriendFeed coup and Huffington
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:02:30 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: bucquero () msu edu Date: August 18, 2009 7:49:48 AM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com> Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Facebook's FriendFeed coupIn this regard, Huffington Post just launched its social networking site. Much to my horror, I found that the home page lists the articles all of my friends have visited or commented on. Unless I delete my membership altogether, this means I will change my viewing habits immediately. No more peeks at the latest news on Michael Jackson's death. Only serious article visits for me from now on - and that will hurt Huffpo in its ad revenue.
Bonnie Bucqueroux Quoting "David Farber" <dave () farber net>: > > > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Gordon Peterson <gep2 () terabites com> > Date: August 16, 2009 2:50:45 PM EDT > To: dave () farber net > Subject: Re: [IP] Facebook's FriendFeed coup > > The serious design flaw of most all of these social networking sites > is that they embody the design concept that all of your "friends" > ought to know about everything you do online, and know about everyone > else who you talk with online. > > I believe that a lot of people try to keep their personal, social, > professional, political, and other circles of friends rather more > distinct and separate than that. > > One of the reasons I like Snapfish for photo sharing is because you > can share your specific photo albums with specific and appropriate > friends, and your other "friends" can't just wander in and leaf > through all the others at their whim. > > Yahoogroups, by the same token, doesn't tell other people the list of > all the Yahoogroups you subscribe to. You can keep your various > interests separate. (And some companies, like the heavily-disliked > Grouply, presume that they can deny their subscribers that > discretion). > > Just today I had to decline to join a friend's Facebook group that I > otherwise might have enjoyed joining, for that same reason. > > I don't think I'll be signing up for either FriendFeed or Facebook > Connect...! I have some "friends" that I don't especially WANT to > have meet some specific other "friends"...! > >> Facebook's purchase of FriendFeed, an obscure social-media platform, >> is potentially momentous. To understand why, we must understand >> FriendFeed, a start-up that is ubiquitous among techies and unknown >> to everybody else. It's a sleek application that acts as a >> clearinghouse for all of your social-media activities. Post >> something to Flickr? That will show up on your FriendFeed page. Digg >> something? FriendFeed will know. Post to Twitter from your phone? >> FriendFeed will syndicate your tweets. Once you initially tell it >> where to look, it will collect everything and tell it to the world. >> The goal is to make automatic that which is all too annoying to do >> manually. If I like an article enough to Digg it, why should I then >> have to tell all my friends via Facebook or Twitter, as well? The >> social-media landscape has become disparate enough -- so many >> start-ups controlling so many different pieces of our lives -- that >> we need a central place that will organize all of our actions for >> us. That place is FriendFeed. >> Facebook has recently shown that it, too, wants to be that place. >> For all of its genius in harnessing the collective procrastination >> of an entire planet, Facebook has usually asked you to come to it. >> For example, want to post photos on Flickr but not Facebook? Good >> luck telling your Facebook friends about it. In the past, while >> Facebook was building an audience, this walled garden helped it >> build its audience. If all your friends were on Facebook, then why >> not post your pictures there? After all, the point of digital >> photography in 2009 is to relive memories with the very group of >> people that lived through them in the first place. That group is >> most likely found on Facebook. >> But now Facebook's user base is big enough for it to start looking >> out. There's a Twitter application that synchronizes your tweets >> with your Facebook status message. And then there's Facebook >> Connect, the company's convoluted and potentially brilliant attempt >> to make Facebook the official login for the rest of the Internet. >> Sites that support Facebook Connect -- about 15,000 and growing -- >> let users log in using their Facebook credentials in order to do >> things such as leave comments on articles and blog posts. That >> activity is then pumped back into the author's Facebook profile, >> which then promotes the site where the comment was left. Everybody >> wins -- especially Facebook, which gets more content and more of an >> off-site footprint. >> So here's a theory: FriendFeed is going to become the companion to >> Facebook Connect; Facebook Connect pipes Facebook out to other >> sites, while FriendFeed's technology pipes other sites in. <snip> >> .. >> That leaves two mega-conglomerates that will compete to be the >> portal of everything we do on the Internet. Google has long tried to >> get into the social game, and Facebook surely wouldn't mind >> expanding into some of Google's territory. (Real-time search is the >> likely entry point.) It's as classic an American struggle as Pepsi >> vs. Coke. Two companies, one market. Regardless of which side you >> choose, I'm sure Facebook will be happy to air your thoughts on the >> matter. Even if you write them on Blogspot, Google's blogging >> network. After all, that's why Facebook bought FriendFeed. So it >> could own you. > > > -- > > Gordon Peterson II > http://personal.terabites.com > 1977-2007: Thirty year anniversary of local area networking > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > > ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Facebook's FriendFeed coup and Huffington David Farber (Aug 19)