Adopting the Web

This morning I transferred my regularly scheduled jaunt through the content-sphere from Google Reader to FriendFeed.  My FriendFeed community remains significantly smaller than two years of amassed feeds, but the experiment provided a few interesting benefits not readily available through Google Reader.  Thanks to Robert Scoble for the inspiration.

1. Discovery.  Google Reader features a “Discover” function, but only prompts titles of blogs with content similar to my aggregate feeds.  On FriendFeed, the entire experience is rooted in discovery…quickly located a book on the transportation infrastructure of the U.S., simply by sifting through discussions in my community (further reading showed this user also loves Jambalaya).
2. Comments.  Many FriendFeed discussions on the Web have mentioned the ability to comment on various media outlets (Tweets, shared items, videos, etc) from a centralized location.  Hopefully, a little more praise will not delude the conversation.  Following conversations via an comments RSS is frustrating, especially when participating on a Mashable! or TechCrunch sized blog.
3. Locating Interest. The ability to connect with other FriendFeeders with specialized interests is simple.  After about 15 minutes consuming on FriendFeed, I noticed several users who repeatedly selected “Like” on specific topics.  Easily identify people with specialized knowledge is an invaluable benefit and will hopefully grow with the network.

I am still not ready to completely disband Google Reader for FriendFeed.   This new method, however, streamlines my daily reading experience without the need for unreliable plug-ins.  If Google remedies nagging problems such as locating Shared Items outside of my email network and following discussions on specific posts without sifting through thousands of entries on comment feed - I am willing to listen.  Until then, more time on FriendFeed!

Filed under: Infonalysis