Jul 19 2008

The A-List Doesn’t Care About Your FriendFeed

Looks like you might be new here. You can subscribe for free via RSS or Email to make sure you don't miss anything. I really appreciate your visit!


“You can have relationships and discussions with people on FriendFeed without them actually being a part of your network”

I finally decided to check out this friendvenn app and was actually surprised at some of the names I saw that don’t follow me. There is no reason I should have made the assumption they cared about my content, but I did. What I realized is that you can have relationships and discussions with people on FriendFeed without them actually being a part of your network. I hadn’t really thought about this before. Not directly, anyway.
As for those people that don’t follow me, there was some discussion on

FriendFeed here and there where some FriendFeeders say it’s just not possible to keep up with that many subscriptions.

Not being part of the popular clique myself, I wouldn’t know anything about dealing with a huge number of followers. What I do know is this:

  • Stuff that is probably boring, not interesting, or blatant crap won’t stick on the first few pages of FF
  • The Hide feature is quite useful in trimming the fat
  • FriendFeed users (FriendFeeders?) may very well need better ways to figure out who to subscribe to. I mean, how do you deal with hundreds of Follows? View each person’s feed? *shudder*

“I would like a personal message from all A-Listers explaining why they don’t follow me”

I am a bit curious as to why some people haven’t followed me back:

  • Did I say something wrong?
  • Is it because I’m black?
  • Is it the missing LinkedIn Profile?
  • Does my breath stink?

In the end, it really is just curiosity. If I was to ever post something interesting, it would probably get Liked by someone they do follow. What I wonder is, have people made a conscious decision to ignore me? If so, I would probably be a better person for knowing why.

So, I would like a personal message from everyone on my list explaining why they don’t follow me. Oh…wait…they won’t see this anyway. Nevermind.

Rate this:
2.5
Ping This!
View this post on FriendFeed
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:48 am Louis Gray
    Since my name's on here, I'm happy to help answer, at least for me. I know the answer is different for everybody, as it should be. 1. Did I say something wrong? No 2. Is it because I’m black? No 3. Is it the missing LinkedIn Profile? No 4. Does my breath stink? No That was easy! Now for the hard part. The reality is that FriendFeed is much more busy than Twitter, even for me, when I've done a lot of work to get ahead of the "Hide" function. At this point, there are more than 3,000 people who have chosen to follow me. I say it not in any kind of bragging way, but because I know that if I were to follow 3,000 people, I'd be dead. There's no way I can keep engaged when this happens. Just yesterday, I cut back from about 400 to 300, as I felt I was losing touch with those people I often engage with and I was missing updates. I expect at different points I've subscribed to you. If you asked me, without my checking, I'd have said I was. That's due to Friend of a Friend, and being engaged in some conversations.
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:49 am Louis Gray
    On Twitter, it became a quid pro quo to auto-follow. I at first resisted it, and now I do it. Why? Because, honestly, I don't read Twitter on the Web anyway. I use Summize and FriendFeed to get what I want. So while I may follow someone, I'll never see it. On FriendFeed, if I followed 3,000, I would absolutely see it. And also, due to the fact I have 3,000 following, I can't even use FriendVenn, so I don't have the nice list you have. There's a limit, so it always times out for me. The way I choose to follow people is not when I see they follow me. On that, I do nothing, unless I know the person from somewhere else. Instead, I follow people after they've engaged on my items or on items of friends. There are, after all a TON of inactive accounts, for sure - people who registered, and may never have come again. If you stay engaged and participate, I bet a good number of people who aren't following you now, will. I'll probably be one of them starting today.
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:52 am Bradley McSpinn
    Movin' on up to the entry here. Very well said, Louis. And, oddly, a lot like what I'd have expected the answer to be.
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:53 am Robert Scoble
    I am just glad I followed Rahsheen. I follow more than 3,000 now and more than 16,000 follow me. I can't add many more, truth be told.
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:55 am Bradley McSpinn
    Well, it comes down to controlling the fire hose. I think that the vast majority of people certainly understand that. The obvious down side is that you might be missing out on something that's truly breathtaking and new. That's part of what I like about FoaF so much on FF - I've seen (and subscribed to) a rather inordinate amount of people that I'd never have seen without it.
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:56 am Michael C. Harris
    FriendVenn has certainly started some interesting conversations. Nice one, Rahsheen.
  • July 20, 2008 at 12:58 am Rahsheen Porter
    This is definitely what I was getting at. The interaction on FriendFeed is not impeded just because you don't follow someone. I also follow most people based on their comment interaction and tend to notice people subscribing to me a lot more on the days I'm active. Obviously, individuals cannot be expected to follow the whole FF world :)
  • July 20, 2008 at 1:02 am John Worthington
    Sorry but if you joined FriendFeed to get followers you miss the point and power of it. Quit whining and create some content, then people will follow you. It has to be earnt...
  • July 20, 2008 at 1:04 am Shey
    @John I haven't seen you around -- but Rahsheen has been on FF for a while -- I think he gets it.
  • July 20, 2008 at 1:07 am Amit Morson
    I don't understand why you expect that anyone you follow will follow you back. I don't expect anyone I follow to follow me back nor do I follow anyone who follows me.
  • July 20, 2008 at 1:09 am Michael C. Harris
    John, that wasn't necessary. There was no whining going on, Rahsheen asked an interesting question.
  • July 20, 2008 at 1:23 am Candace Holly
    I don't always follow people back. It's not because there's anything against anyone I just don't. But, when I'm checking FF I check on the people who are subscribed to me as well. I don't have to subscribe to someone to keep checking on their feed. It's nothing against anyone because...I still check up on them. :)
  • July 20, 2008 at 1:30 am Rahsheen Porter
    @John, I joined FF to find good content and conversation. Did you read the article? @Amit I didn't expect to be followed really, I had just assumed I was because of interactions on FF. I usually follow people who follow me because I have time to look at their feed. If I was more popular, I probably wouldn't have that luxury.
  • July 20, 2008 at 2:06 am John Worthington
    Sorry if it came off a bit harsh but this is the a very common thread developing on FF. It was more a general preemptive strike against the numerous `well you dont follow me back crowd`. FF for me is a revalation in social interaction and I am now reading a disturbing amount of A-List bashing simply to get page views.
  • July 20, 2008 at 2:08 am John Worthington
    And I certainly do not want to imply this article was doing so
  • July 20, 2008 at 2:23 am Rahsheen Porter
    Point taken, John. I know what you mean about the A-List bashing. I actually didn't mean for the title to sound as harsh as it does, but I'm hoping most people get what I was trying to say with it.
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:12 pm Louis Gray
    Now the page is down. Did the A-List delete your Web site? :-)
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:21 pm Rahsheen Porter
    Darn those A-Listers. Trying keep a brotha down. LOL. I did recently switch my domain hosting, but it looks up to me now.
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:21 pm Evangeline
    Hmm...most of the people I follow don't follow me, and I don't mind a bit. It doesn't stop me from reading what they have to say/commenting when I get the urge.
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:23 pm Louis Gray
    This page is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com.
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:28 pm Mathew A. Koeneker
    :)
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:31 pm Shey
    'Sheen, what's up with your blog?
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:31 pm Rahsheen Porter
    LOL! Noooooo! Why does it work for me...must be some funky DNS thing. Lemme check my account.
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:33 pm Morgan
    can't see the blog post :(
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:35 pm Justin Korn
    I'm seeing the GoDaddy park free message too. Was looking forward to reading after the conversation above....
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:37 pm Rahsheen Porter
    Ok, I think I just fixed the DNS. Should be back up now or in a minute.
  • July 20, 2008 at 7:43 pm possible248
    At first, I saw the GoDaddy parked page. After a couple of reloads, I managed to get ahold of the blog post. The whole "Why didn't you follow me?" thing doesn't bother me because I understand that there are people that are not interested in my content, but I am interested in their content.
  • July 20, 2008 at 8:13 pm Cyndy
    I'm sorry... took me a bit after getting a fit of the giggles seeing my name ANYWHERE in that screenshot. To be perfectly honest, there are a lot of people I assumed I subscribed to yet didn't since they pop up as FOAF so much. I'm slowly working through all the filtered emails to see who actually cares about my blathering.
  • July 20, 2008 at 10:29 pm Rahsheen Porter
    Actually, Cyndy, I was surprised to find that I was not subscribed to you at one point early on. I do actually care about your blathering :)

Add a comment on FriendFeed




LEAVE A COMMENT

Subscribe Form

Subscribe to Blog

« Back to text comment