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"FriendFeedFriendFeed reviews has rolled out a new optional beta today, featuring a cleaner real-time interface, plus some much requested features like the ability to send people a direct message.  My first reaction to it (which you can access at beta.friendfeed.com): it feels a lot like a web-based TwitterTwitter reviews client, with the added goodness of seeing your friend\u2019s activities from the dozens of different services that FriendFeed supports.\nYour FriendFeed homepage now includes a box to post an update, with the option to cc it to Twitter.  This functionality existed previously, but required you to click Post &gt; Message in the old interface.  Below this new update box \u2013 much like on Twitter \u2013 you see your friend\u2019s most recent activities, with one big difference: they update in real-time on the page, without refreshing.  In addition to seeing your friends\u2019 updates stream in, you\u2019ll actually see comments and \u201Clikes\u201D as they happen, in real-time.\n\nFriendFeed Beta\n\nThe \u201Creal-time\u201D aspect combined with the new interface makes FriendFeed move extremely fast, especially if you subscribe to super-sharers.  However, FriendFeed\u2019s filtering options are still easily accessible from the new right-hand sidebar, so you can filter to a specific group of friends, or even to an individual user.  These features seem like they'll be more important than ever given the speed at which the real-time feed moves for me - and I only follow a few dozen people.  \nFriendFeed also has a smart new direct messaging feature, which lets you send a private message to another user.  I say \u201Csmart\u201D because the feature uses auto-complete, so you can start typing the name of the person you want to send a message to and FriendFeed pulls up the names of the users that you\u2019re likely looking for.  This is a welcome improvement over Twitter\u2019s direct messaging system, which uses a pull-down menu and can thus be rather cumbersome when you follow lots of people.\n\n\nThe \"Old\" FriendFeed\n\nThere\u2019s also a little bit of FacebookFacebook reviews baked into the new FriendFeed \u2013 most notably, that everything seems bigger.  While I dislike this on Facebook \u2013 it seems to show me less info when I login \u2013 I like it on FriendFeed.  Maybe that\u2019s just because there seems to be a lot more interaction with user\u2019s activities on the new FriendFeed than the new Facebook, and hence, more value.  \nIn any event, this looks like a great update for FriendFeed, though, as many will likely conclude, it does make it feel a lot like Twitter, and a bit like Facebook.  The phased rollout is something that Facebook could learn from however \u2013 as users test the new FriendFeed features in the coming days, FriendFeed will make tweaks based on the feedback.  This will likely avoid the same type of huge backlash that ensued yet again on Facebook when the social network released their latest design with no beta period.  \nAdditional FriendFeed Resources From Mashable\n\n- Top 10 Web Applications for Friendfeed\n- HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Friendfeed\n- 7 Desktop Applications for Friendfeed\n- 7 Essential Greasemonkey Scripts for Friendfeed\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/04/06/friendfeed-beta-2/>