4 ms·

You can start by explaining how this combination of features would be compelling enough to get users from any of these services to migrate to yours.

adrianwaj 18y ago
The first thing FriendFeed lacks is a profile of the user. If I use my Friendfeed account as a link for someone to find out about me (ie in an email footer), then having some profile information alongside my feeds makes sense. This is more of a Facebook profile feature I'm thinking inserted into a FriendFeed-like 'base' site. Also, FriendFeed lacks distinction between Friends and Subscribers, currently there are only subscribers. A person's life also consists of events they are going to, places they are or have been employed, and place they've travelled to. Each of these would be represented. Furthermore, as a webmaster, I'd like to login and see what on-site comments have been made about pages on my site and by whom. There should be a toolbar, allowing me to like/digg/approve any page I come across and then comment on it. Those comments can be accessed back on the site, in a sidebar like socialbrowse, or 'pulled-into' any site that wants them. In the sidebar, I should also see where else on the web discussion for any page is occurring. Also, I should be able to see what pages my friends are on at any time, and there should be a toggle to turn off the broadcast of my browsing behaviour to stay 'under the radar.' There should be chat too, either with friends or people on the same page. Also, an author or content creator profile should be seen in the toolbar of any page so a webmaster or author can claim their site or page. A business can create a profile page and then keep it updated with the latest news, product offerings, events, press releases and fundings associated with it for stakeholders to follow. The new site should allow 'Tweet'-like updates, and also presence updates of where someone is located and friends and news occurring in that physical zone. There's no reason the aforementioned sites (twitter, facebook, socialbrowse etc.) can't be integrated to some extent (especially Friendfeed), but ideally this site would be standalone and a replacement. It may in fact copy text and content straight off qualifying external sites for redisplay, like imgfave does for photos. That way, it can start to track authors I like, and I can then view articles on-site without logos and ads as seen on the source site. News for example can be submitted on-site and attached to a company or individual or, it can be aggregated from elsewhere like on Friendfeed. Expanding overall submission capabilities would be a goal. It can also implement the OpenSocial SPI. Information is semantically marked-up and searchable.
- quasimojo 18y ago
  you're missing the part where the actual number friendfeed users couldn't fill a 737
  - brandnewlow 18y ago
    I love the jokes on here!
- prospero 18y ago
  This is a well-thought out response to my snarky one-line comment. That being said, for the casual users of social networks (who are the vast majority), would any of these things convince them to raise stakes and move over to your walled garden? Facebook, at its inception, offered simplicity. The redesign is a sign that they still consider that to still be one of their primary strengths, not just something that allowed them to achieve their current user base. I'm not a social network power user by any stretch, so maybe I'm just not thinking big enough, but I can't imagine any feature (or set of features) that would make another social networking site irresistible to me. The problem here, other than the obvious chicken-and-egg one with respect to users, is that there aren't any trendsetters in social networking. Announcing some new features will inevitably bring in tech-obsessed users looking for something new and shiny, but creating a feature set that specifically appeals to power users doesn't guarantee that the casual users will eventually follow.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]

adrianwaj 18y ago

The first thing FriendFeed lacks is a profile of the user. If I use my Friendfeed account as a link for someone to find out about me (ie in an email footer), then having some profile information alongside my feeds makes sense. This is more of a Facebook profile feature I'm thinking inserted into a FriendFeed-like 'base' site. Also, FriendFeed lacks distinction between Friends and Subscribers, currently there are only subscribers. A person's life also consists of events they are going to, places they are or have been employed, and place they've travelled to. Each of these would be represented. Furthermore, as a webmaster, I'd like to login and see what on-site comments have been made about pages on my site and by whom. There should be a toolbar, allowing me to like/digg/approve any page I come across and then comment on it. Those comments can be accessed back on the site, in a sidebar like socialbrowse, or 'pulled-into' any site that wants them. In the sidebar, I should also see where else on the web discussion for any page is occurring. Also, I should be able to see what pages my friends are on at any time, and there should be a toggle to turn off the broadcast of my browsing behaviour to stay 'under the radar.' There should be chat too, either with friends or people on the same page. Also, an author or content creator profile should be seen in the toolbar of any page so a webmaster or author can claim their site or page. A business can create a profile page and then keep it updated with the latest news, product offerings, events, press releases and fundings associated with it for stakeholders to follow. The new site should allow 'Tweet'-like updates, and also presence updates of where someone is located and friends and news occurring in that physical zone. There's no reason the aforementioned sites (twitter, facebook, socialbrowse etc.) can't be integrated to some extent (especially Friendfeed), but ideally this site would be standalone and a replacement. It may in fact copy text and content straight off qualifying external sites for redisplay, like imgfave does for photos. That way, it can start to track authors I like, and I can then view articles on-site without logos and ads as seen on the source site. News for example can be submitted on-site and attached to a company or individual or, it can be aggregated from elsewhere like on Friendfeed. Expanding overall submission capabilities would be a goal. It can also implement the OpenSocial SPI. Information is semantically marked-up and searchable.

quasimojo 18y ago
you're missing the part where the actual number friendfeed users couldn't fill a 737
- brandnewlow 18y ago
  I love the jokes on here!
prospero 18y ago
This is a well-thought out response to my snarky one-line comment. That being said, for the casual users of social networks (who are the vast majority), would any of these things convince them to raise stakes and move over to your walled garden? Facebook, at its inception, offered simplicity. The redesign is a sign that they still consider that to still be one of their primary strengths, not just something that allowed them to achieve their current user base. I'm not a social network power user by any stretch, so maybe I'm just not thinking big enough, but I can't imagine any feature (or set of features) that would make another social networking site irresistible to me. The problem here, other than the obvious chicken-and-egg one with respect to users, is that there aren't any trendsetters in social networking. Announcing some new features will inevitably bring in tech-obsessed users looking for something new and shiny, but creating a feature set that specifically appeals to power users doesn't guarantee that the casual users will eventually follow.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]