First, I’m not a regular Friendfeed user.

In theory, I get the idea of having everything (RSS feeds, Twitter, blog posts, comments, etc.) aggregated in one, convenient place – something described as social media aggregation. It makes sense as the digital world becomes busier and more scattered.

In practice, Friendfeed is just too busy and loud. There’s so much stuff being collected and presented that it’s somewhat overwhelming. As a result, I may check Friendfeed out every couple of days to see what’s happening.

Perhaps I’m not getting it but Friendfeed strikes me yet another place to check out along with e-mail, Techmeme, GMail and Twitter. Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm for Friendfeed has to do with my goal to reduce the amount of digital noise – an approach that regularly sees me turn Twitter off until at least noon to reduce the number of distractions.

Nevertheless, Friendfeed has a growing number of disciples (Louis Gray, Robert Scoble, Steve Rubel, etc.) who swear by it. Mike Arrington even claims Friendfeed is luring Twitter users tired of the never-ending technical woes.

The big question is whether Friendfeed is the next Facebook or if it’s just the new, shiny toy for the digerati? Although Friendfeed had 45% more users last month in the U.S. compared to April, it’s still pretty small in the scheme of things.

Perhaps Friendfeed is a solid, niche service as opposed to something with mainstream potential. The chart below suggests Friendfeed is enjoying nice growth but nothing terribly spectacular.

Perhaps as Friendfeed adds more services, it will resonate with a wider audience but, for now, my sense is Friendfeed is the new cat’s meow for the always-on, always-connected digerati, which has a solid track record of happily moving from one cool service to another amid the continuous search the next new thing.

Technorati Tags: Friendfeed, Twitter

After a short absence, my weekly review of the week that was is back. Here’s some of the news, views and other stuff that caught my attention:

- Are Twitter users finally ready to abandon ship?

Michael Arrington suggests Twitter users – tired of Twitter’s technical woes – are moving their conversations to Friendfeed, which has become this year’s Facebook for the where’s-the-next-cool-service digerati.

Truth be told, Arrington is wrong in suggesting the Twitterati will abandon ship.

While there are alternatives (Pownce, etc.) available, Twitter users love Twitter so they’re more than willing to live with the service’s ups and downs, and there’s little that Twitter users are pining to go somewhere else. It’s not the perfect relationship but Twitter has more than enough to keep people happy most of the time so they stick around.

And the thing about Friendfeed is while the digerati love it, it’s a multi-faceted service that’s not for everyone – whereas Twitter is uni-dimensional, easy to use, and a quick fix for bursts of communication.

- A core part of Twitter’s appeal is the ecosystem being built around it. Twitter users may be interested in Twellow, which let you search for fellow Twitter users by name or by category. Given Twitter just raised $15-million in venture capital, perhaps it should think about buying Twellow and Summize.

- Rogers unveils its data plans for the iPhone. The initial reaction is less than enthusiastic given the plans involve a three-year contract and there’s no unlimited, all-you-can-eat data packages. A poll on my blog suggests many people are going to stay away from buying an iPhone, which is a shame given its such a great device. Personally, I’m keen on the iPod Touch.

If you do some back of the napkin math, the cost of a $75/month iPhone plan will cost about $3,500 over the three-year contract. Despite Rogers’ unattractive packages, there will no doubt be lots of people who buy an iPhone. There’s the cool factor and the reality that, for some people, $150 is a small price to play to use cutting-edge technology. Still, they will pay for the privilege.

- In a move that came as somewhat of a surprise, Google hired a Bell Canada executive, Patrick Pichette, as its new CFO. It’s an interesting move given Pichette had a relatively low profile within the Canadian telecom scene, and there are differences between U.S. and Canadian accounting rules. For the curious out there, Google filed a Form 8-K that provided details about Pichette’s compensation, which includes a sweet $500,000 signing bonus.

- With the Canadian government and the CRTC unwilling to address the growing issue of Net Neutrality, a grassroots movement has emerged – SavetheNet.ca. A meeting in Toronto earlier this week was well-attended. To support the cause, you can make a donation.

- For a long time, I’ve been a keen user of Instapaper, which lets you archive interesting stories to read later. Now, there’s a new player, LaterLoop, which does pretty much the same thing as Instapaper but with a great wrinkle: you can download stories in a .zip file to read later when you’re off-line.

- Finally, did you ever wish there was an Evite just for guys? Well, you’re prayers have been answered. Manvite is the place for guys to arrange social events. Its drop-down list of events include cougar hunting, drink beer, watch sports, golf, play Madden and poker.

Technorati Tags: Google , Net Neutrality, Twitter