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Topic: Time to Experiment! (FriendFeed)

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Author Message
seamus.mediabistro Posted – 6/2/2008 4:23:29 PM | show profile | email poster
Hey guys,


I completely agree with you about the state of the forums. Rest assured we
are not neglecting. As others have pointed out, we have a tiny staff and forums
moderation is just a small part of what we're doing. That being said, our forums
are old, outdated, and homegrown, so making modifications is time consuming,
and ultimately, may not be worth it considering the new tools out there now
for discussion.


So, it's time for an experiment. We want you to be able to voice your opinions,
ask questions, get advice, etc. And we want you to be able to do it in a civil
environment. That definitley requires better software than we're currently able
to offer. So, let's try and move some forum discussion to FreindFeed.


If you have not heard of FriendFeed, you will. FriendFeed allows you to import
services you use like blogs, twitter feed, rss, and alot more. People who subscribe
to you can also comment within FriendFeed on items that have been posted in
your feed. Even better, FreindFeed has "rooms" functionality, where
you can start a discussion, post links, and put simply, have a much more fruitful
conversation.


As far as weeding out the baddies, FreindFeed leaves all the controls at your
disposal. If you don't like something you see, you can simply hide it. If
a user just won't play nice, they'll be kicked out.


This room complements Mediabistro.com's primary FreindFeed, which aggreagates
all of the free content we produce, such as all the blogs and our Twitter feeds.
We welcome you to interact with our content there as well.


Let's get started (note: you need to sign up for a FreindFeed account.
It's free and only takes a minute)


Click here to go to MB
Collective on FreindFeed


Click here to subscribe
to Mediabistro's FreindFeed


I'm eager to hear any other thoughts and suggestions you have have for types
of user engagement. Please don't hesitate to ask.
Use the new FreindFeed room. I'll be in there.


Regards,


Seamus

community manager


P.S. You can also follow Mediabistro
on Twitter and ask questions there. If you're an AvantGuild member, subscribe
to our AvantGuild Twitter feed.
snappiness Posted – 6/2/2008 4:42:49 PM | show profile
That's great to have access to updated software. But it looks like yet another social network to bookmark, manage and remember to check. There's no way to link directly to MB somehow? I'm kind of losing track of all these networks and would like MB to be one-stop shopping.
seamus.mediabistro Posted – 6/2/2008 5:38:34 PM | show profile | email poster
I agree keeping tabs on your social tools can be daunting. FriendFeed's primary feature though is to be an aggregator of all the activity across your other networks. If you're a member of the other services you can import into FF, give it a try.

I've cut down dramatically on the number of visits to other networks because of FriendFeed.

As far as integration, FriendFeed does have an API, so site integration is possible, but that will be something we'll need to evaluate.

FreindFeed is extremely impressive for a company that's so young (even by web 2.0 standards). It was created by ex-Googlers who helped create Gmail and other staples of Google (you can tell by the clean aesthetic), so I expect some great things from them.

-seamus
westsidestory Posted – 6/3/2008 11:51:04 AM | show profile
lipstick on a pig
Sorry Seamus, I have to disagree. Basically what you're doing is off-loading and out-sourcing the forum, and in the least efficient way possible.

What this is saying is that Jupiter no longer wishes to nurture the community that created Mediabistro, and made it such a great place to sell employment advertising and classes, not to mention the paid banner ads.

You guys need to go back and read some web 1.0 stuff before you mess this site up entirely. Web communities are naturally occuring; people go elsewhere if their ease of communication with one another is compromised; and it's cheap enough to hire someone in Bangladesh to moderate the forums if resources are modest.
westsidestory Posted – 6/3/2008 11:52:03 AM | show profile
lipstick on a pig
Sorry Seamus, I have to disagree. Basically what you're doing is off-loading and out-sourcing the forum, and in the least efficient way possible.

What this is saying is that Jupiter no longer wishes to nurture the community that created Mediabistro, and made it such a great place to sell employment advertising and classes, not to mention the paid banner ads.

You guys need to go back and read some web 1.0 stuff before you mess this site up entirely. Web communities are naturally occuring; people go elsewhere if their ease of communication with one another is compromised; and it's cheap enough to hire someone in Bangladesh to moderate the forums if resources are modest.
Village Gal Posted – 6/4/2008 11:50:32 AM | show profile
I agree with westsidestory. you're passing the buck
and it's a turnoff.
slink Posted – 6/26/2008 2:16:10 PM | show profile
I don't care for it.

Invest in some decent $200 message-board software, such as vBulletin, or even get one that's free, such as php.;
Letterbox Posted – 6/26/2008 2:32:59 PM | show profile
This seems like a terrible idea. It like asking us to join a club. The whole appeal of a bb is its casual nature. If this is the only option, I'd rather go someplace else.
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