In addition to the recent roll-out of real-time Twitter two-way interaction and Facebook dynamic posting (which can now all be automated and customized), this past week the forward-thinking (and obviously hard working) team at Friendfeed continued to add even more, making it possible to share and discuss with others from just about anywhere.
The potential of Friendfeed becoming the predominant 'social hub' on the Internet is becoming more and more likely each week.
The key to using and understanding Friendfeed is that the USER has ALL of the controls, allowing you to tailor the service to what YOU want to see, share and discuss at your option.
Due the many new feature roll-outs, some newer users may experience a short learning curve, but in this author's opinion, in the long run, Friendfeed will become a time-saver for many, as the service continues to 'connect' to other places on the web.
This past Monday, Friendfeed updated the popular 'real-time feed' (based on user feedback), allowing expansion of posts by simply clicking on the 'chat bubble'. Also, by using Friendfeed's updated bookmarklet, users can now embed videos from Comedy Central, College Humor, the Onion, and Metacafe directly into their streams. (Friendfeed has become a pretty funny place lately and in this economy... who couldn't use a few laughs ??)
During the week, those importing their BrightKite locations (and others with the appropriate tags) were greeted with a 'mini' Google map appearing in their posts.
Then late last night, Friendfeed launched IM (you read that right - Not DM .... IM!) and while many 'early adopters' were still testing it this morning, it's a whole new connection.
Compatible with Google Talk and Jabber, you can chose which Friendfeed content you wish to see 'pop up' (all, friends, or everyone) and comment back OR post directly in my case, from GMail (below):
click to enlargeWhile this could become a little overwhelming (I was 'beeping' about every 2 seconds?! :), once again, the new features can all be tailored to suit YOUR desires, providing yet another two-way channel to interact with your friend list (or everyone) on Friendfeed, and you can pause it any time you wish.
So, while sharing your choice of up to 48 services or posting text, audio or photos directly to Friendfeed, the rapidly growing community is now embracing a variety of two-way vehicles.
The key to using Friendfeed effectively for most is to 'join the conversation'.
They just made it easier .... again.
More details can be found at the Friendfeed blog here.
Edited 10:41 ET cba