This is clearly not my cat. If this was my cat he's have one arm shoved down into the printer trying to tear up all the internal whirling bits with his bare claws.
- Soup
Too Funny! Reminds me of the San Mateo Cat Shelter where one of the cats loves to sleep on top of the laster printer where the paper comes out...
- Greg Lato
1600+ to beat the FFundercats live chat thread. I think with this real time now on all threads we're going to see some truly epic comment numbers.
- Simon Wicks
Ivan, no the picture speaks for itself. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Petr, I have no idea what you mean, but thank you. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
@Kol .. :] that, partially, might have been the purpose.... I don't know it exactly either. :] .. was I reflecting on a cat under the fax, and that it is hard to fax that way ... /?:] ... "underfaxing at its worst" ..
- Petr Buben
there ya have me ! :] .... see, to be honest with you, i saw this pic couple days ago, but i let it go, without posting it ..... what does that make me? :]
- Petr Buben
even a flat cat... faxes just can't handle the hair. You'd have to shave the cat first, else the hair will burn and stick to the drum... a mess! (I am extrapolating from transparencies, mind, i don't have access to a cat to test)
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
Hehe, Joelle. This is now tied for the 'likes' top stop. One more then, hehe. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Hehe, Greg. Blimey! Erm, is that not far from 500 likes now? ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Bloody marvelous, Kol. Wish I could like it again... too cute (and help u to 500 likes).
- Roberto Bonini
I couldn't believe it when I logged on from the morning over posting it and saw it was at something 200 likes! You all have a strange fetish with cats and fax machines, hehe. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Am I the only one who saw this and their first thought was - My goodness did someone break that cats neck? It still freaks me out a little
- Steve C
Steve, it does look a little out of place, but cats are pretty bendy. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
They fax much better if you flatten them first. What?
- Kevin Pedraja
So we can put this post to rest now. :-) 505 likes final count, wow! :-D Good night all!
- Kol Tregaskes
My like is the last one so far :) - 509 afaik
- getalifejerk
did 3 people really un-like this? now at 506. wtf (edit: uh, oh, yeah, me and 2 + 506 others makes 509. dammit, jim, i'm an artist, not a mathematician)
- ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ
One of the best funny cat pictures I've seen! :-)
- John Collis
Kristian, it appears to be. Hehe, John.
- Kol Tregaskes
ای بابا این پیشول بی خیال نمی شود، بابا پاشو برو دنبال یه بازی دیگه ، از هفته پیش تا حالا تو فکس ولو شدی حوصله ات سر نرفته، پاشو اقلا بپر رو کیبوردی چیزی
- Maryaminaa
It's really only social convention which regards it as inappropriate, same with Xeroxing it, like one does with their b__tocks. Wait are we still talking about cats cats here or...
- sofarsoShawn
OMGosh 700+ likes now!! LOL. Thank you all 702 of you. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
There's a new group around here, Water the Future and I wonder if they thought about their acronym or if it's just something to make me chuckle every time I see it.
- Heather Solos
extra extra like. and want. actually these are easy enough, you can get them custom made at office supply stores. talk about an awesome stocking stuffer. who wouldn't love this?
- Call me Bronco
I remember that there I was nine-months pregnant with a nine pounder, and the only person who offered his seat was a disabled man, while all these men with no disabilities didn't budge. I kept saying no cause I felt bad, and his response was the best. "You are having a baby, so you deserve it, and it doesn't seem like any of these HEALTHY men are getting up"
- Shevonne
People are such jerks. The same thing happened to me toward the end of my pregnancy about 6 weeks ago. All these guys were looking at me in my big belly and didn't offer to get up. But some nice young girl actually offered. I feel that the healthy *men* should've done it - not the girl. Instead, they opted to stare.
- Tamar Weinberg
When I was pregnant, I took the bus to/from work every day. I was always amazed and how rarely I was offered a seat. People would purposely look away, I noticed, to "pretend" not to see me so they wouldn't have to offer their seat.
- Rochelle
no class. hate these kinds of people. one of the things about ny that i can't stand. it's incredible to see how unaware or even selfish people are
- Cee Bee
If I was really uncomfortable, I sat down in the handicapped seats even if it was between 2 fat people. They'd normally then look at me and roll their eyes at me. Maybe you should've gotten up!
- Tamar Weinberg
by the way, did anyone actually see the URL? I think it's the longest domain name ever.
- Tamar Weinberg
@Tamar LONGEST EVER! @Cee Bee I will have to say DC is worst! In NYC, some people offered their seat. In DC, I had old ladies pushing me.
- Shevonne
Screw waiting for the offer. I'd look 'em straight in the eye and ask them if I could sit down.
- Nathalie, Dreamer of FF
That sort of sense of entitlement doesn't help either...
- Mona Nomura
people did this in tokyo when my wife was quite obviously preggers. diaf!
- Eric Nakagawa
this stuff kills me - when i was a little kid my mother would beat my arse if i didnt get up - people are such pigs - this is totally getting posted on insidetransit - love the idea
- Allen Stern
Total agreement with ya all. Funny Allen, my mom would do the exact same to me. The empty thousand mile stare is so common on the buses over here also. I find often that once I stand up for someone, it kinda breaks the dam and people start getting off their "fat donkeys" (:-P) at the next stops.
- Rasmus Lauridsen
<rant>when a person gets on with 3 kids and slaps them down into the first 3 seats - and then the parent just sits there and watches old people and anyone else stand - i give them the look of death - if it comes to it, i say something. this (and people playing their walkmans so loud the whole subway can hear it) is the real world - not twitter.</rant>
- Allen Stern
This reminds me of my recent trip to my mom's eye doc. I'm pushing her along in the wheelchair. Two people are ahead of us, neither one of them holds the door. Two men are inside talking on their cell phones watching me hold the door and push Mom inside. Now, granted, I've managed this enough times to where it isn't a big deal, but, come on people! Hold the door for the next person,...
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- Yolanda
I've been lucky to take trains that aren't that packed when I was pregnant the first time. Though I don't ever demand a seat since I sit on my butt at work all day anyway :p
- Zulema ◕ ◡ ◕
im going to start "peoplewhoplaytheirmusicsoloudeveryonecanhearit.com" :)
- Allen Stern
hit them with your freaking crutches and tell them to move if you NEED to sit there. i always sit in disabled seating. they're not better than me because they're different. freaking rosa parks all over again.
- Tyler Gillies
Yolanda, that's awful. :/ I went to the post office in January, while very much 9 months pregnant, in the snow and ice, with an arm full of packages. I decided to do a sort of experiment and stood outside until someone opened the door for me. It took several people going in/out before anyone let me in.
- Rochelle
Just to add a counterpoint: sometimes, when a woman has a big belly going on, there is some ambiguity as to whether they're pregnant or...well, fat. If a woman is very obviously pregnant, then...yeah: rude as fuck to not give up one's seat, reserved seat or no. (Then again, if one is male, one could just offer one's seat up and play it off as general chivalry, I guess.)
- Chester
Chester, what I do in that situation is just get up and stand closer to the doors as if anticipating my stop. That way she won't be insulted if she's not pregnant.
- Bruce Lewis
from fftogo
HAHAHAHHAHAHA!! I just realized *THIS IS A BLOG! HOLY SHIT LOL.... HILARIOUS Idea :)). Tons of hilarious posts updated often with pretty good titles. will actually subscribe to this thing
- Matt Kaufman
even if you're pregnant. whose fault is it that you got knocked up? plus technically pregnant people aren't "disabled"
- Tyler Gillies
@Tyler true, but many pregnant women suffer from swollen legs and feet which is normal but can be painful.
- Zulema ◕ ◡ ◕
Let's just say there's a ring of hell where people who are young and fit, and occupying those seats, go. It's a place where they have to stand for hours on the worst jolting, turbulent bus that never ends, and they have to pee. Or something.
- anna sauce
Tyler, being pregnant might not be a disability but the swelling, muscle tears, bone separation, and physical pain sure are disabiling.
- Rochelle
Now, I'm the sort of person who would give up their seat for.. well, for most anyone, but I do take some small issue with the entitlement feeling here. Not from the disabled, or the pregnant. No, the comment that it should have been a man, not a girl who offered their seat up. Do my feet hurt less than a woman's after a long day?
- The Letter M
Tyler, it kind of sounds like you want to punish women for so inconveniently getting pregnant, damn us! Your mother would be proud.
- Kamilah Gill
I feel bad if a woman is standing while I have a seat, pregnant/crutches or not. I offer my seat. Probably my Virginia upbringing.
- Hutch Carpenter
Hutch, I used to always give up my seat to any woman in the vicinity. But, once I started riding BART regularly, during rush hour, I came to embrace equal rights...and burdens. If one were to go the chivalrous route during rush hour, one would be guaranteed of never being able to sit down, as it always ends up SRO.
- Chester
@Chester - look at it as a continuing physical fitness opportunity for yourself!
- Daniel J. Pritchett
from IM
Ha, this was just a blog I needed for writing an article. :-) Thx, Tamar.
- Ton Zijp
You bet. The sad thing and funny thing is that I am pretty sure this whole website is a parody and that the guy doesn't really have crutches, but the FF discussion certainly rings true -- and with that, I'm glad this blog exists.
- Tamar Weinberg
That website is some passive aggressive BS. Don't take pictures and post em, that's rude. Just ask the jerks to get up out of your seat. Be a Rosa Parks not a mean photog.
- Pete Delucchi
Pete, have you ever lived in NYC? And rude? Cmon - if someone really was on crutches and these jerks didn't get up, the only people who are rude are the people sitting comfortably. For real rudeness, look at this NYC subway blog: http://asleeponthesubway.tumblr.com/
- Tamar Weinberg
I can't believe the defensiveness of some of the replies to that last one, Tamar. Calling expecting a seat during pregnancy "quaint" and so on. When someone is *clearly and visibly* about ready to pop a baby out, how about a little sympathy, people?? I haven't been pregnant yet, but it looks uncomfortable toward the end. I always jump up for elderly, disabled, or pregnant riders (when...
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- Kamilah Gill
Kamilah, I think the lack of compassion comes out of not experiencing the event. Personally, before I was pregnant, I had NO idea that it would be so hard -- I thought evolution/anatomy/biology would mean that it would be tolerable and easy. The only pains I have previously heard about associated with pregnancy was morning sickness and nausea, not all that other stuff. I actually am in...
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- Tamar Weinberg
I love being a sleep-deprived mommyblogger. I wrote my convoluted rant, incorporating most of what I've shared here and elsewhere (and what FFers contributed as well - at least via links). There are also some nice pics of baby. Please comment and share your thoughts. http://mymommyand.me/2009...
- Tamar Weinberg
Hilarious! I'm so happy you posted these pictures. Sick thing is that if they didn't see anything wrong at that time- they probably won't feel like complete a**es if they saw their pictures here.
- Gekd Boutique
I commented! I will have to say that is one of the best posts I have seen in awhile.
- Shevonne
Thanks Shevonne!!! We need an ongoing discussion too... I guess I'll have to make the post/blog more public.
- Tamar Weinberg
btw today on good day ny - they reported that the mta is going to ramp up going after these people - and giving them fines - how they will do that i have no idea - but they plan to do it.
- Allen Stern
I met Ken Robinson while working at Microsoft and the dude was inspiring to hear speak. One thing that's cool about having kids is to see how they learn: my son learns by trial and error. He tries things hundreds, if not thousands, of times before he figures out what makes them tick. We give them permission to learn that way because they are babies. Too bad we stop being able to learn that way when we're older.
- Robert Scoble
Are you kidding. I've got my I was wrong speech prepared and in my suit jacket pocket at all times =)
- Micah Wittman
Paul, wouldn't it be a good time to consider embedding TED's videos? ;-))
- ianf ⌘
Really, Zee? You are not prepared to be wrong [5:44 into Robinson's talk], as this proves <http://ff.im/3dtfY>
- ianf ⌘
I try hard to be open to being wrong. I don't always manage it but at least I give it a hellva try
- Steven Hodson
Being prepared to be wrong implies being prepared to admit it publicly, and without prompts. This is a TALL order for most humanity...
- ianf ⌘
A ted classic. I never get tired of Sir Ken's talk. I have walked in godknows how many times. Always use it whenever I introduce a newbie to Ted.com
- Edward Harran
Interesting talk. I feel like I've been living in a hole (actually, have just been living in Japan!) but what's TED? I'm sure I'll get the idea if I browse around the site but it's interesting to ask here on FriendFeed.
- Rick Cogley
Wow--good shit! The bit about Will Shakespeare had me in tears.
- thepete
Will S. would have instantly choked on a piece of medium-rare mutton had he heard you refer to him as "Will."
- ianf ⌘
This was one of the first TED talks to be published online with help from Google, something like 2 or 3 years ago. I remember it vividly, since I totally and absolutely agree with what Ken Robinson has to say. Remains one of my favorite talks. Ever ;)
- Mustafa K. Isik
play is fearless= adult says = '...nobody knows what God looks like.' girl says 'They will in a minute!'
- Lane Rapp
my cat does this with BACON...absolute madness under my feet!! soo funny
- Susan Beebe
Our cats do that with anything in a tin because they think it might be tuna. They're always surprised when I'm opening peaches or something and show them that it's not tuna. It's like they're saying, "WTF, tuna comes in a tin and is delicious but you're eating *that* instead?!"
- Rochelle
Yeah, Stella the Cat goes crazy when I open any small can (she ignores the big ones). Might be tuna. ;-)
- Chris Baskind
Rochelle - isn't that peach-can look priceless!! wtf! LOL
- Susan Beebe
Chris, one of our cats is Stella, too. :)
- Rochelle
my car does the same thing, once she hears a can opening. I can open any can, and plunks herselelf around my feet ,a long with all the purring and rubbing herself all over.. and then she gives a nasty look when she smells if itsa can of pineapple juice or something like that.. walks way soon after. Ungrateful creatures !!! :)_
- Peter Dawson
Peter, that's a talented car you've got.
- Rochelle
As an update: Echo snubbed the bit of sausage I gave her. My cats are odd, they don't get all that excited about cans. Echo will eat your cheese while you're not looking. Samson sneaks into my bloody mary's. Summer, however, takes the cake. She'll steal tequila AND has crawled into a bag of Doritos to get a chip.
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Rocelle, trust me .Ms.Socks ss very talented.. knows how to get what she wants !...kinda lady :)-
- Peter Dawson
Peter, that's awesome! We didn't realize she liked Doritos until she stole one from my husband and growled when we tried to take it away. The tequila was an accident too: I made tequila lime chicken and left the marinade in the bowl while we ate dinner. 20 minutes later she walked into the room kinda sideways....
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
My kitten will take a Dorito and lick all the flavor off of it, delicately flip it over and lick the other side clean. Then she'll eat it. It's hilarious. I have yet to find anything she WON'T eat.
- Ladybug Heather
In college I left a tuna sandwhich on my bed next to my books to fetch a ringing phone. When I came back my cat had just devoured my entire sandwhich, sans the lettuce and bread - ate ALL the tuna and licked all the mayo right off the bread too! purrrrring loudly, of course
- Susan Beebe
@Dobromir, Good Morning! How are you in this wonderful morning? @»havaslash, yup, it's a striking image! @Adval, Huomenta! ^^ Mitä ihanaan aamuusi kuuluu:)?
- Nia
Good morning Nia! You look stunning in black :)
- Niki Costantini
way too sleepy, I blame the beer bottles X-| first cup of coffee is doing it's magic right now :-)
- Dobromir Hadzhiev
Have a wonderful day! And good night from here.
- Anne Bouey
@Niki, Good Morning Bellissima <3 Thanks ;) @Dobromir, I know the feeling O_O Morning still! @Anne, Thank you - Good Night to you! @Richard, Good Morning :))
- Nia
Morning Nia. I'm up a little late today but it's a beautiful day here atm, good time to take the dog for a walk. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
@Kol, Good Morning :) I see. What kind of weather is in there - sunny perhaps?
- Nia
Maybe there should be a commision. CPWOW (clicks per WOW)
- Mike Lewis
Rackspace? Wonder if I've business with Rackspace...
- Håkan Dahlström
Mike: actually, the real plan here is to keep our customers so happy that they recommend us to others. So, if I get compensated on anything, it's to make sure everyone is having a fantastic experience on Rackspace.
- Robert Scoble
Håkan: you probably use a few things that are hosted there. YouTube was hosted at Rackspace before Google bought it. Many thousands of sites are hosted there now.
- Robert Scoble
I think driving in the left road might be so adventurous. but lead to hospital :)
- Mahdi Ebrahimi
If I could get on 95 and end up in Rome, I'd be one happy American.
- Kim G.
Seriously, you all think the road on the left is bad? I'm going to have to go find a map to post of something called "The Tail of the Dragon" =D BRB
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Tina: It's not 'bad' per se. Just that high speed travel will kill you. Now, if only I still had my bicycle...
- Vijayendra (V-Mo) Mohanty
تو این جاده (عکس1) با سرعت 200 تا بری و تو جاده (عکس2) پیاده روی کنی. عجب حالی میده
- ♥ D E V I L S ♥
Sometimes it feels like, every road leads me back to you...
- Zahra (raoros)
"There comes a point when one can no longer sit on an important fact; when the weight of years puts so much pressure on a fact that one must either reveal it, or explode. I’ll spare the world the arduous task of scraping up Teresabits. Here it is: Wil Wheaton owes me $12.00. It was the late eighties, and I was still in my single digits. I had seen a movie called Stand By Me, and while every other little girl my age fawned over River Phoenix, I fell in love with the boy who played Gordie LaChance. He was like me, a writer; an outcast. He had an older sibling he loved, and parents who were kind to him, but whom he couldn’t fully understand and couldn’t understand him...."
- WorldofHiglet
from Bookmarklet
Wow, even with my own mad hot boner for WW back in the day, I never tried to join his fan club. Maybe that's the emptiness I feel inside of me when I wake up each morning?
- tinypants - Hagitha of FF
Yep, that's it, alright! I'm not sure you can ever get the time back when you should have been in his fanclub, though, so I'm really sorry for you....maybe subscribing to his blog would help?!?
- WorldofHiglet
He's here too (or seems to be) -http://friendfeed.com/wilw though I have never actually seen him post except autos from twitter, his blog and flickr.
- Brian Sullivan
No, he doesn't seem to. At one stage I commented on a string of his twitters in order to see if he responded, but I got bored doing that! But I enjoy his twitter broadcasts so I'm not complaining. That $12, though, is another thing entirely....!
- WorldofHiglet
I've never seen him respond to any comments on his postings on FF, though I've definitely seen him respond to @ replies here and there if they really interest him. And of course he mentions some of the @ replies on his blog now and then. So it's all gravy. :) I seriously wish I'd attempted to join his fan club as a kid. I thought he was the hottest geek guy on the block back in the day.
- tinypants - Hagitha of FF
In his recent guest appearance on Criminal Minds he played a rather creepy guy though.
- Brian Sullivan
That was awesome. I think the fact that it was our little sweet-faced Wil in the role made the character even creepier because he's totally that aw-shucks geek-next-door, but bam! He got all psycho creepy. :) Though I did kind of cheer when he got smacked by the semi. :P
- tinypants - Hagitha of FF
check out his latest book. the end has a criminal minds diary of his experiences there...
- Terry O'Fee
I second that! I already whizzed through that puppy and like his other books, it's a good read. Read the diary on his website as he was posting it, but it was nice rereading it without having to slump in front of my computer to do it. :D
- tinypants - Hagitha of FF
**breaking news** Wil has commented on the article asking for Teresa's email address!!
- WorldofHiglet
And she provided contact info -- she obviously has not seen the Criminal Minds episode. ;-)
- Brian Sullivan
You know, the person who Wil Wheaton has become has made up for the bad lines he had to deliver in TNG as Wesley Crusher. A thousand times over. Except that he wasn't the person making up lines like "Adults. Heh", so it's kinda not fair on him.
- Wirehead
It took a long time for him to get over it all - his writing is so poignant on this subject. I remember the hate for Crusher at the time on the Internet - it was brutal and for a kid of that age....Which is why I love the way he has brought himself to where he is now. He is very inspiring.
- WorldofHiglet
You can take Compete's numbers with a grain of salt, of course. But if their trending is accurate, FriendFeed is failing to pace Twitter's explosive growth curve. While Twitter put the gas to the floor in January, growing over 30%, FriendFeed actually went in reverse. Twitter is red; StumbleUpon is green; and FF is blue in this graph.
- Chris Baskind
from Bookmarklet
It's because everyone is mentioning Twitter on TV, news talk radio, etc. but no one takes the time to say a thing about FriendFeed (probably because it's too hard for them to understand). Twitter is like KISS! Keep it simple stupid!
- Michael Forian
Well, I prefer Quantcast myself which shows essentially the same thing. However, look at the history - if you match Twitter from launch to FriendFeed from launch, they are very similar - with ups and downs and ... if anything it seems FriendFeed might have a slight advantage at this stage.
- AJ Kohn
Ashton Kutcher isn't on Friendfeed yet.
- Rob Haas
If this mattered you would be comparing Twitter to Facebook.
- Robert Scoble
I honestly don't care about keeping up with the Jones. Twitter is still a giant fail whale to me, and always will be. It stinks at having meaningful conversations to boot. Let Twitter have its moment in the sun, people will experience it, go meh, and move on to something more meaningful later. And, if they like meaningless, then please stay at Twitter for heaven's sake.
- Pete Delucchi
Good point AJ. StumbleUpon is in the graph. In Aug 08, they were down, but have gone up since. FriendFeed's gonna be fine.
- Hutch Carpenter
I can understand why. Twitter has been getting a ton of main stream coverage the past month or so. And Friendfeed, after having its burst in January, has been falling off a bit. You can tell that activity is a little lower now and that their aren't as many new people here. And there is still the problem of new people not really being able to break in. I've talked to people who said they tried but it was just too daunting for them.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
@Pete I like Twitter. I think that it does what it is meant to do very well. If you want to have big convos with people use Facebook or your email or something.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
Matt, you're right, it does its thing, and it does it well. I just haven't ever been able to get it to work 2-way (or more) with conversations. It's really not that complicated, per se, but more often than not I feel like I'm screaming at a wall.
- Pete Delucchi
I think FF could (or already does?) suffer from the same problem popular traditional forums eventually face - new users don't feel like they belong and it gets harder and harder for newcomers to become members of the well established community. Twitter doesn't really have to worry about this problem, because it really stems from the primary feature that makes FF superior - the conversations.
- Aviv
I think that would be more true Aviv, if there were moderators, and if there were barriers to entry for new users to openly discuss in conversations here. Luckily, everyone gets to have their say, and you basically get to self-moderate with FF features like blocking and hiding. It's actually kind of cool, and I hope it takes on a bigger life soon. If it stays tight-knit, I don't really have a problem with that either, but I would like to see the developers get some bang for their buck at some point.
- Pete Delucchi
Oh, I thought the green line was the number of tweets related to food.
- l0ckergn0me
Pete, well, I think in a way we, the users, act as moderators around here. That's why Scoble will always get a minimum of 50 Likes within minutes of whatever entry he's posting. The barrier of entry for new users is actually huge IMHO, especially when their entries get pushed off the beginning of other peoples' feed rather quickly due to bumps of very popular entries.
- Aviv
Aviv has a point, but lists and rooms here make this a different and interesting environment. Twitter is really simple, so it has low barrier to entry. FF has a learning curve to it.
- Karoli
You're right Aviv, but remember that there's lots of ways to participate around here. People like Michael Arrington or celebrities like Wil Wheaton get more action on their posts than I ever will, even though they hardly if ever comment or participate in the conversation. You don't have to be the guy standing in front of the crowd to have your voice heard though.
- Pete Delucchi
Totally agree with Karoli, FriendFeed has a learning curve. It's bigger then the curve at Twitter.
- ursi
Pete, same can be said about any of the popular web forums out there. You can start a new thread, sure. You may get a reply or two, so there you go, your voice is heard there as well. But within minutes your new thread fades away and can be found on Page 2, then 3, and so on. I think that for new users FF seems more like a giant well-established forum than a place to share stuff with friends.
- Aviv
I agree with what you're saying about the learning curve. My point is that the appearance of FF as some new type of a giant message board is another obstacle contributing to the steep learning curve.
- Aviv
When I started my last job, the boss called the learning curve "drinking through a straw out of a firehose." Starting something new on the internet shouldn't be like starting a job, and shouldn't need an owner's manual of tips & tricks just to get going. That's FriendFeed all over though, and yeah, Aviv, unless that learning curve comes down to next to nothing, new/mainstream users will constantly be dealing with the firehose. I get your point, and it definitely reflects in the numbers above.
- Pete Delucchi
Speaking as someone who's been here for all of 11 days, I haven't found the learning curve to be at all daunting. (Or maybe I'm too much of a dork to know I'm doing it wrong.) This place felt like home from the start. I wasn't even looking for community, I read Thomas Hawk's piece about using it for Flickr feeds. I had Facebook for months before I started really using it. My Twitter account is mostly gathering dust. I don't see them as comparable. They fulfill different needs, suit different personalities.
- Rebecca
Has anyone done a comparison of the rate of features added to each service and rate of funding received? The features I'm talking about include minor things, like FF increasing the number of pages of history you can browse to, and include "negative features" like twitter's removing IM.
- Andy Bakun
And remember, twitter's main competitor is yelling out your window.
- Andy Bakun
Sure, the learning curve isn't insurmountable, but it is a barrier. It's probably the same reason why not everyone has a computer with UNIX as it's OS.
- Victor Ganata
To the average user (the ones who may not know the diff between mac / windows, may not know why you need a firewall, etc. the difference appears to be KISS. I can teach someone to Twitter within 5 mins, it's just like texting with a wee bit extract. On the other hand it takes a lot longer to teach them to get the most from FriendFeed.
- Mark Aitken
Well, it seems to me that FriendFeed has more to offer, so it's not surprising there's more to figure out. Then again, one doesn't have to learn all at once. I'm just picking up tips as I go along, but I found plenty to interest me within the first few minutes of exploration. I do think the Help section could stand improvement. It's quite inadequate and frustrating. I found it much easier to plunge in and try things out and to observe the customs of the locals.
- Rebecca
There are certainly lots of features which make FriendFeed more compelling, and for powerusers on the web it's a great platform, easily my favourite centralised "go to" site. In my opinion, FriendFeed isn't mainstream because you have to put things into the platform (in the form of subscribing to people, finding people). Facebook brings you content to subscribe to which makes mainstream adoptation easier for the average user. Bring content to the users in this way, FriendFeed will rise fast.
- Mark Aitken
Also, I don't fully trust Compete's numbers... I'd want to see a balanced average of the numbers across a few of these types of sites to believe the stats.
- Mark Aitken
It takes just as long to teach someone how to do twitter's _only_ feature, posting something, on Friendfeed. Right at the top it says "Post: Message". Click on that, type in your message, hit the post button. Done.
- Andy Bakun
As a geek, when I first found FriendFeed I saw it helped save me time, I don't have to hit flickr, google reader shared items, picasa, twitter, etc. to see what's happening. It's a great enabler for those of us who need this feature. The average user doesn't need this feature, they have Facebook and their friends aren't tech celebs. Twitter was already leap for these users, the iPhone makes twittering as easy as SMS, but for groups. Friendfeed doesn't have this accessiblity or demand for average users.
- Mark Aitken
Initially suprising given that a few notables are really pushing FF on Twitter, but I think a lot of people are scared of information overload. Also it is only really usefull for those who are already using a reaonable number of other social services (from a contribution perspective).
- Alistair (alpinefolk)
Bullshit, friendfeed is gaining quite a bit of momentum.
- Richard A.
Alistair, I don't use that many services, but even I turned up with more than I realized. By the time I added Amazon and YouTube and other stray accounts, I found it very useful to have them aggregated, especially those I don't use often, because I tend to forget about them. If the service wants to reach more people, maybe it needs to market different assets. Social interaction wasn't one of my priorities when I signed on, but FriendFeed turned out to be something I was looking for without knowing it.
- Rebecca
During the recent bushfires in my country, Twitter did serve a valuable role in getting quicker information out than the main news services could. It was fantastic for keeping peopline informed of fire brigade incident summaries etc. However, I wish I'd known more about FriendFeed at the time because it actually would have been more useful. Aggregating various feeds obviously would have...
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- George Hall (Australia)
from Nambu
I am a big Friendfeed fan and user, but I think the Friendfeed default user interface is radically too verbose, and will make it difficult to compete with Twitter for a great deal of social media messaging. The UI needs to be modified. FF users need to have the option of hiding *all* commentary.
- Sean McBride
We're ahead of the curve on FF. Most are just now dipping their toes in social networking with Twitter.
- Ernie Oporto
from Nambu
As someone has probably said, it's not about the number of users; more important thing would be to show how much people are using those services. Also, new Twitter users are quite potential future users for FriendFeed since many of them would be interested of better features to stay on track of what's happening. Anyway, things change and usage of services is constantly growing.
- Daniel Schildt
All this discussion about Friendfeed competing with Twitter is not valid. Friendfeed's issue is competition from Facebook, in the same way that Twitter's issue is competition from Facebook. Facebook is an private/public sharer, aggregator and a conversation engine at the same time whereas FF and Twitter are facets of those functions.
- Ian D. Nock
Friendfeed is competing with Twitter, Facebook, Feedly and Google Reader in various ways. If it doesn't realize this, then so be it. These products are not static genres -- they are rapidly mutating and merging social media tools. The most savvy synthesizer will win the game.
- Sean McBride
Sean - I think that's a good point. There are overlapping use cases. And there are only 24 hours a day. From that perspective, there is a zero sum game here.
- Hutch Carpenter
I've been using Twitter more than FF lately, reversing my own earlier trend. Why? Not sure, but I think perhaps it's easier to dip in and out of Twitter in TweetDeck than keep refreshing my FF tab in Firefox. Also Twitter is quick and dirty. I write more here in FF, as I'm not limited to 140. I can't put a finger on it though.
- Ian May
Ian -- I think I can put my finger on it (for me): on Twitter, if one has fine-tuned one's feed, one experiences a speedy flow of strong electrical pulses. Friendfeed is often a very slow slog. One doesn't always need to read the fine print to get the point. For well-developed social networks on Twitter, a very few words can say a great deal.
- Sean McBride
Man, I love these Compete Site Analytics charts. Data mining at its best. You can see what's going on at a glance.
- Sean McBride
When did Friendfeed start letting you output your stream to twitter? Tumblr just recently added the option to tweet every post as well. Both of these are going to increase Twitter numbers.
- Bjorn Stromberg
Friendfeed is not faltering on this graph... leveling out yes, not faltering. Twitter is growing like crazy - YES!
- Susan Beebe
Genie -- the main point about self-organizing and dynamically reconfigurable social media tools like Twitter and Friendfeed is that you can create or participate in whatever unique social networks you choose. Pay no attention to feeds that you don't find valuable. There are now many valuable feeds on Twitter (as well as a tremendous amount of crap).
- Sean McBride
Some of it is the time. I tend to stop work, and spend a period of time in here. Twitter I dip in and out of all day. But I very much agree with Sean. Why waste time with networks that don't give you something back?
- Ian May
Not sure this matters at all. As long as Friend Feed does not fail, the number of users is not material. I think use FF primarily as a aggregator, FB as a way of keeping in touch with RL friends, and Twitter for everything. Different functions/uses entirely.
- Justin Whitaker
Spammers are now a big problem on Twitter. They should be sent to labor camps. Perhaps I am only half-joking.
- Sean McBride
Spammers should be taken on a flight to the mid-pacific, and thrown out at 37,000 feet. It might keep the sharks away from the beaches in the summer....
- Ian May
If you take a closer look the graph is misleading https://friendfeed.com/e... & it's necessary to keep in mind that FF was launched a year later, though that's not THAT much later. Although a drop is certainly cause for concern.
- sofarsoShawn
My own personal experience over the past few weeks is that as the huge influx of new Twitterers has arrived, i've spent a lot of time interacting with them, and as a consequence, have hardly been active on ff at all. I suspect that'll change soon.
- Iain Baker
Yes. But they address different use cases so I am not sure that this graph is so critical until people know how these type of services are going to get monetize in the long run and which one can fight spam more effectively. Until then, it is going to be difficult to tell who will end up winning. I think.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
Twitter has a lower entry barrier. That explains a lot. But when they learn enough and want better conversations, FF might serve them better. Unless something changes at twitter.
- Siddharth Mitra
Twitter's lower barrier to entry is SOLELY the way the page is styled.
- Andy Bakun
Andy -- Friendfeed could easily offer FF users the option to use a Twitter-style interface, but that doesn't seem to be happening. FF users are forced to page through page after page of commentary to find the few posts that most interest them. No skimming. Quite a few new users simply walk away.
- Sean McBride
You can turn the Friendfeed real-time feed (even better in the Firefox sidebar) into something very Twitter-like, only better because it constantly updates.
- LogEx
Come on, Sean. That's obviously false. FF has the ability to "like" something, which keeps it fresh in your feed if there is activity. Twitter has nothing of the sort: twitter forces you to page through page after page of commentary to find the few posts that most interest you and once you do find them, you can't follow the commentary on them.
- Andy Bakun
Andy -- I am switching back and forth between Twitter and Friendfeed home pages right now, and I am consistently finding important stuff with greater speed and ease on Twitter than on Friendfeed, precisely because I am not being forced to slog through a morass of commentary. Perhaps my Twitter feed looks different than yours. There are quite a few very smart people out there who don't have time for commentary -- they're not interested. Friendfeed needs to reach that audience and market.
- Sean McBride
Isn't the commentary the content on FF? For titles only there's GR.
- Todd Hoff
Why not make it easier for those who want to skim basic brief messages and links while skipping over the commentary? That would expand FF's user base, without in any way affecting the experience of those who like FF the way it is.
- Sean McBride
still the question - how many of you would pay for twitter, or pay for friendfeed when the time comes?? i don't think figures matter all that much now, but shows you where things are headed..
- Terry O'Fee
thats different. google have their ads, and all sorts (speaking of, where are they getting most of their money?) the money isn't going to keep rolling in for these companies. honestly sean, you're on a budget imagine, which one of these would you pay a subscription model for??
- Terry O'Fee
There will always be a reasonable free alternative. If there is not, then I may pay. Bottom line...I ain't paying for web services. Never have before. Why start now? I'd pay for premium services, but I've never seen any premium services I wanted.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Text ads are tolerable on Google. They might be tolerable on Twitter and Friendfeed. Depends on how it's done. The data that these services are collecting might be quite valuable to marketers.
- Sean McBride
i think google can afford to give away some things while getting money for other stuff, they're that big. can you say the same for twitter and friendfeed??
- Terry O'Fee
you wouldnt pay for stuff like this?? hmmm. i always love supporting products i love. i pay for last.fm, flickr, ages back LJ (before mother country bought it). how do you expect them to move forward??
- Terry O'Fee
There's no doubt twitter has had an enormous push recently in the main-stream media, particularly as a result of politicians using twitter. In this regard, being easy to use on a BlackBerry (or iPhone) helps. FF could still take off, but I'd say it's some way off.
- Sean Carmody
I do wonder what sort of impact the ready availability of mobile apps have on the popularity of Twitter (and Facebook) vs other services.
- Victor Ganata
I hate that there's not a good mobile FF that works on my phone.... but I'm not a good choice for a demographic. :D
- Wirehead
Sean, my experience was exactly the opposite when I was using twitter. I got tremendous use out of twitter when it would notify me asynchronously via IM -- that doesn't exist any more (and I don't need yet another app to run on my desktop, so things like tweetdeck are out). I guess it also is different based on what we find important. My day is not composed of solely reloading either...
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- Andy Bakun
I make heavy use of twitter, identi.ca, friendfeed, etc on the web (and via IM to some extent, when twitterspy is working). But the politicians who are generating the media coverage are all tweeting from their BlackBerries.
- Sean Carmody
I happened to have found this copy of "ShortList Magazine" left behind, when I boarded the train a while ago. Seems like a fun coincidence that Twitter was on the front cover, when I happened to have been using it just a few moments before on my phone...
- Tyson Key