Even if one doesn't want to be like this Mike, your idea of participation premium bringing more people/perspective into your life can be an enriching learning experience for anyone. Just started Friendfeed and it does make that participation easier for this ordinary Jane. It's almost time to share it with all my friends and family but the selling point for them is ease of participation not wanting to be followed by scads of peeps so much. - Boo
boo, whatever grows the ideas (connectivity) is where the light is going to shine the next years - Gregory Lent
"The Participation Premium" - I like that. I told a co-worker the other day that FriendFeed is like discovering a place where the cool AND smart AND talented people hang out. - ha3rvey
Scoble you do talk about FriendFeed a whole lot more than Arrington does which might be a reason why you have more followers. Also is there not a FriendFeed plugin for WordPress yet? I saw Allen Stern has FriendFeed comments showing up right after his blog posts. I would expect you of all people to have this functionality on Scobleizer. We need to get someone to build a plugin for WordPress now! - Ben Kessler
Great post. Arrington tends to use FF as a broadcast medium where you use it as a two-way conversation medium. Engaging in a conversation is more appealing than just reading what someone is doing online. - Kevin Bondelli
I'm trying to say this without sounding like a complete groupie, but here goes: Robert, you (yes, "you") actually communicate with people on FriendFeed. It's not just, "Here's my cool new camera." or "Here I am at Davos." etc. It's actual, honest-to-goodness two-way communication. I think that makes the difference. - ha3rvey
I have another take on it. I think it is because you are more of an evangelist for FriendFeed. You influence more people to come into the service because you state its case so well (and frequently). And, FriendFeed has little value when you are the "first" of your circle to get in. So, the natural thing to do is make sure subscribe and closely follow Scoble.I don't mean to discount the participation part, but I think the fact that you introduce FriendFeed to people makes you a natural first choice for one of the first friends added. - John Trainor
This is sooooo true. When people realize it, they'll enjoy and learn from twitter (and Friendfeed) ten times more over time - Charlie Anzman
Robert: Thank you for this post - you nailed it! Let's talk about not only participation but also evangelism of FriendFeed service ;-) Some of the "A-Listers" barely even use FF let alone participate in it. You've gone way beyond that standard by actively engaging your growing audience... impressive! I followed you on Twitter as a mere follower / acquaintance along with the masses, but it wasn't until FF that we became conversant / friends. Thanks! - Susan Beebe
Great post, Robert. As with anything else, you get what you put into it. - David Risley
Love this post & I agree - whichever field you aspire to be seen as an expert in - you need to engage and participate there. This holds true on and offline. I definitely participate more on ff than in the blogosphere. What I do appreciate about the conversations here is that they're just that - conversations. When I participate in the form of blog commenting - it could be a while before I hear various input from the author - if ever. - Sonciary Honnoll
Sonciary Honnoll nailed it in what she wrote.Friend Feed allows people to engage in conversation with like minds. Information flies through FF faster than most other communities I am a part of. Everyone wants things to be faster..almost instant. FF almost allows that with the subscriptions and comment system they have up. You can post a news story or opinion and, in seconds others are talking about it with you. - Candace Holly
We are busy at fragmenting our identities, thoughts, relationships all over the net. FF makes meaning of this fragmentation - Peter Efland
Link is down now, but I saw it a couple hours ago. Basically it's about increasing one's own 'brand' or 'value' within a community by participating in conversations. Robert knows his audience and knows how to effectively engage with them. edit: link was posted in an earlier comment in FF - Franklin Naval
"Actually, I'm not whining about the fact that there's harassment on the internet. It unfortunately *is* expected. The focus of my post is on how Twitter has a lack of community management to deal with these issues." - Ariel Waldman
