I’ll try to keep this a short and sweet question, but this one does have a bit of background so let me catch you up.
FriendFeed is leading the way in many areas. Their API is really, really well done. The stuff they do real time is great. The fact that they have groups, allow for aggregation, photos, different types of media, and are generally built ontop of a phenominal platform are among the ways that they excel.
I respect the work that FriendFeed has done. There is no doubt that they have some of the most brilliant minds on staff and that they are doing really, really great work. I was having this same discussion with Rob Sandie and I described FriendFeed as a brilliant, genius-level scientist. Except, instead of that scientist working hard to cure cancer – they are working on making better ice cubes. Surely they are doing good and interesting work – but no one really needs better ice cubes.
So who uses FriendFeed? They have a ton of users. I have an account. But who really uses it? Robert Scoble, who is a self-proclaimed FriendFeed addict, starts discussions on the service and gets an incredible amount of feedback. That’s all well and good – for Robert. But what about the rest of us?
On FriendFeed I have 311 followers. Not a lot by today’s social-juggernaut standards – however, 311 people is a lot of people. Think of the room you’re in right now being filled with 311 people. If you stood up in that over crowded room and asked a question you’d probably get at least a few people to answer you. Especially those close to you.
Well, I did that very thing – nearly a month ago – on FriendFeed and got zero replies. I do polls on Twitter (where I have just over 1,700 followers) all the time and I get a bunch of replies. Sure, 1,700 is much more than 311. But out of 311 not a single response?
So my question is: Does anyone really use FriendFeed? If so, how?
