FriendFeed as a networking tool.
I’ve become quite addicted to FriendFeed lately, making it the first and the last thing I do each day, and at several opportune times in between. While I initially used it to find new and interesting things, ala Digg, Mixx or Google Reader, I’ve recently seen the potential for networking. Sure, there are other “social networks” that you can say give you the same opportunity to meet with people and interact, but FriendFeed (henceforth in this post to be called “FF”) does something different. You begin to see your interests aligning with someone else, whether it’s their comments on the posts of others, or simply what they post. Since they’re not only posting directly to FF, but their OTHER social network environments as well, you begin to see the whole picture of who someone may be.
I’ll admit that I’m a web “addict.” I love the interaction between people from all over the world, the technology that can bring people together, and the things you can learn from people you’ve never actually met. With that, my heroes are the highly recognized bloggers and the tech insiders. As an example, Robert Scoble and Leo Leporte are two people who I would love to be. Their “job” (only in quotes because it’s a dream job for me) is talking and writing about the things I love, and watching their FF, I know they’re genuine and likable guys. They’re just two examples of those I follow on FF, and there are many more, but I feel lucky, if not privileged, to be able to follow along, interact and comment alongside them.
With that in mind, I also think their is an opportunity is there for business networking. I’ve had some correspondence with Nigel Eccles of hubdub.com, which is a social site focused on betting fake “money” on news stories and their results. It’s a great deal of fun and a brilliant idea. I recently filled out their survey, and one of the questions asked how they could make their site more “viral.” I thought of how I had recently suggested FF to Nigel, which he recently joined. What I’ve observed in recent startups is that these high level bloggers write about a service more if they’re positively interacting with those who are in charge… the CEOs and the developers. It only makes sense. If we’re going to a web that’s more social, why shouldn’t those in charge be PART of that social environment? This is nothing new really, I’m not telling anyone anything they don’t already know because I’m simply talking about social media, but I think FF gives the opportunity to pull it all together in one nice neat package. If you’re a startup, you’re going to want your service be available to FF and you’re going to want to interact with those who use it. I can personally say that I’ve signed up with some services that can be followed on FF.
Finally, I need to give a shoutout to my favorite Social Media Specialist, Ginger Makela, who has great comments and an active part of the FF community. Following and meeting great people like Ginger is what makes FF so fun and interesting.
If you would like to subscribe to me, I’m here. I’m not a professional blogger, nor am I particularly interesting, but if you follow me, I’ll follow you!
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You’re totally right about start-up teams needing to have a presence online. Look at Loic Le Muir or Jason Calacanas, they live and breathe their businesses. They are contactable and they interact with people that are interested in what they are doing. We are based in Edinburgh, Scotland so we feel particularly acute the need to stay plugged in.
BTW Your feed is excellent so you can lose the modesty, otherwise you will never achieve A-list blogger status (definitely not in their job description!)