So, lessons? 1. it's hard to get onto the top of the popularity lists and wasn't made easier when a new service came out. 2. such lists favor people who network their behinds off at physical events. 3. Participation in FriendFeed helps you move up a little bit, but only if you are both very active and throw interesting content into FriendFeed (like, say, Mona). What else do you learn by looking at this list? - Robert Scoble
Johnny: well, you might claim you don't care about them, but in aggregate I see that most of us follow people who are already popular, not people who actually participate. Of course, since FriendFeed is, at top, an aggregator, just putting your RSS feeds into here is participation, I guess. - Robert Scoble
We do subscribe to them, because they are beacons. But you also have to weigh that list by the amount of 'active' users who subscribe to them. I know of at least 5 people who are members here on FriendFeed, who subscribe to most if not all of the top 20 yet never come on here. The core group is what matters. Those who are recognizable names will always get more follows, but the core of the group http://www.ffholic.com/Users.a... is what drives it. Rankings are always skewed. - Johnny Worthington
I think part of this is that many people use FriendFeed as an aggregator. - Aram Zucker-Scharff
via bTT
This list just looks like every top 100 for every mainstream (in tech) online service. It shows that in the main, the top 100 don't use friend feed but send feeds to it, I don't think that = participation, at all. - Kevin Dixie
Kevin: there is a participation effect, though. On Twitter Leo Laporte has twice the followers that I do, but not here. Why? The participation effect. I've gathered quite a few followers by participating here. - Robert Scoble
I agree - participation is key to any community see my example here (a userguide to my community) http://www.fuelmyblog.com/inde... Online has the very same rules as offline and glad you are showing that - Kevin Dixie
FriendFeed is far more of a 'community' than Twitter is, participating here counts for far more than almost anywhere else, however, participation (and how much you participate) is also a lot less visible here, in my opinion. FriendFeed (as a system) favors those who create content to import into the stream, not those who contribute to the community. - Aram Zucker-Scharff
The smart people (like you, Tina, Mona, and others) know better. The result is that being active on the community nets your rewards from the community itself, not the system. Is that a bad thing? - Aram Zucker-Scharff
Kevin : I disagree, when you are sending feeds in FF, you are pointing at us, poor human, what you find interesting. I think this is a kind of participation. Robert is doing that very well (too well ?). The only exception is twitter for me. I find it very hard to follow a twitter conversation here on friendfeed. - Olivier CASTETS
Good discussion. I interact and participate much more on FF than on Twitter. Why? Because FF is a much better tool for enabling engaging communication. I find myself being very careful conversing on Twitter because I feel it's easy to pollute the stream, whereas on FF you can do this without the same effects. - Mark Krynsky
The first thing I notice about the list is that NOBODY on FF has more than 20,000 subscribers. I reach more people through my blog on a regular basis. Is FF really all that influential? It does seem to be a great way to connect with the geek elite, but is that its only value? - Eric Hamilton
Is finally FF the blogging tool of the near future? You just posted one line and a link and the most interesting and remarkable thoughts and comments appeared in minutes from all over! - philos
I'm finding that this is the case. In a way, this microblogging is easier to do and maintain than having your own blog. I find it takes a lot of time to maintain my blog, but it is so easy to update using microblogging. And you can easily track the conversations. - Alvin
@Eric - That is because people at FF actually read the people who they subscribe too (for the most part) instead of the Twitter method of following everyone. - Aram Zucker-Scharff
you've been there a week, you'd think you'd speak fluently by now...jeez... - Zee from WeDoCreative
If you can't understand it then...ok, nevermind! - WorldofHiglet
Looks like someone should've invested some time with Rosetta Stone. - Akiva Moskovitz
any cool tech company addressing the language issue? seems like a huge opportunity to make this country and whats happening more accessible - simonpure
xiha btw, is a very cool cross-alphabet, polyglot social network - anna awesomesauce
I'm still waiting for hope and change. All I've seen are a couple guys that got rich as i-bankers and trial lawyers after Clinton left office. - Brian Newman
Increasingly, I'm getting the feeling the Obama administration is turning into a puppet affair. - abacab
A puppet affair how? O is setting up competent people in powerful positions so that they can get the job done. I for one am glad to see folks that have had recent prior governmental experience getting tapped for the lead spots. O is the President, he can't be the cabinet too, so these guys who specialize in being the absolute best at what they do are going to take care of these things while he gets on that 'change' bit we're all waiting for. - Aaron Krug
I dunno, it's becoming a lot more....'Clinton-y' than I'd have expected. I'd thought cabinet positions might be filled with people as differently-minded and fresh-thinking as Obama himself seems to be. Hillary as Secy of State, now Holder... I'm just not that impressed with the choices so far. - abacab
How did you like Infoaxe, Michael? Did you find it useful? Would love to hear your thoughts and any feedback. - Jonathan
Remember using Squid Proxy with referer enabled to record all the navigation graph, and it was on the "Web 1.0" or it was "Web 1.0.1"? - Sebastian Wain
@Sebastian: Thanks for the tip. Will take a look if its still live. Did it search the recorded content? - Jonathan
"Saturday night we journeyed to see a sneak preview of the new Disney film, "Bolt," in 3D. We allowed each boy to choose one friend to accompany us. Alex chose Koh, and Michael selected Susanne. We think Michael is sweet on her without even realizing what that is yet, but it wasn't even a proto-date as evidenced by Michael's wardrobe." - RAPatton
via Bookmarklet
"Proto-date or not, he had a good time and was jumping up and down in elation as we dropped her off. He told her father that he "had a great time, and I hope she had a great time too." Her dad responded, "Yeah, I am sure she did." Michael's attention then turned back to Susanne, and he said with a sheepish enthusiasm, "Tonight.. do you have time to do know... you know what?" After the jaws were lifted off the ground, it was explained that he was talking about meeting on "Club Penguin."" - RAPatton
Aww, I love reading these and Susanne's a very lucky girl! :) - Emma
you took a sneaky little picture there rap - Caroline
Yep, it was a sneaky picture, which is why it is so grainy. I had it ISO 3200 and skipped the flash. He will thank me for these type of shots one day - RAPatton
My favorite part about this postcard is that I faved this picture on your Flickr before I saw the post. :-D - Lisa L. Seifert
I am taking my sons and nephew on this the weekend before Christmas - RAPatton
I knew they had that in Chicago, didn't know it was in more cities. Very cool for kids. - Juan Pablo González
We have two different trains in my area that offer competing services like this. I'm really considering taking the wife and kids on it. It's a bit pricey, but it could be a lot of fun. My girls are 5 and 7 so i'm wondering if the youngest is "too young" to remember it. - Jason Shultz
via twhirl
I'd say she's the perfect age for that. Will definitely make an impression :) - Juan Pablo González
I do wish Cuban the best of luck. We are rooting for you, its just that the Feds don't play by the rules. Fed Judges work AS the prosecution. - Christian Burns
Unlikely the SEC will fold. Cuban should remember the first rule of holes. - Cliff Gerrish
A variation that we did. “Whose a little panda? Who? Who? You're a little panda? You! You!” This was the version we sang this morning. I am sure by next week we will have a new little ditty - RAPatton
I keep trying to make up a melody for this, but it comes out like "Rehab". :) - ha3rvey
Have to show Bishop 6 this - given he calls me his little panda :) - Patricia Hanrahan
We do have a melody for this, but it is pretty lame. - RAPatton
You should just get Bishop 6 on FriendFeed! - RAPatton
I saw some pandas at the Field Museum in Chicago this weekend. I took some pictures for the sole reason of posting them on Flickr with the caption "The Heart of the Panda" but they didn't come out well. Color me disappointed. - James Ferguson
but you tried, James, and that shows that you have the heart of a panda! - RAPatton