Over the last two months, I've become a FriendFeed addict. The innovative service essentially aggregates my activity from a diverse set of Web communities and presents it in one place. That defines the "feed". The "friend" half of their name refers to the fact I can subscribe to my friends, or other interesting people, and follow them as well. Needless to say, as the service gains in popularity, it has become increasingly useful, and I would love to see the following things happen for the site to get to the next level.

1) Add a small bio or profile to each person's individual feed page

As noted the other day, FriendFeed gives every user their own page, but doesn't have any background information - in effect, acting like the "anti-Facebook". I believe the service would have a lot to gain if I could optionally put in my company, my interests, my university, etc. While this would be yes, yet another profile, it would be tremendous to have the option to subscribe to all employees from a specific company or to subscribe to other alumni, for example.

2) Add the option to not see updates from particular services

By opting in to follow a FriendFeed user (like me), by default I see all of their updates, from their blog, from Twitter, Last.fm, when they add items to their Amazon Wish List, etc. But sometimes, finding out a person has posted 46 items to their Twitter just doesn't have value for me. I would like to be able to block any service I choose.

3) Given the above, add the option to not see specific updates from specific users

If I gained the option to block a service, I'd like to do it on a granular level, for instance blocking one person's Twitter feed, but opting in to another. For those people where I'd like to see their blog activity, and del.icio.us bookmarks, that doesn't necessarily mean I want to also learn what songs they like.

4) Add the option to follow a specific user's comments

FriendFeed recently added the option to make comments to specific updates, or to "Like" them. Often, I see comments from others I've subscribed to on those items. But I bet they're also likely making comments on feeds I'm not watching. I assume from the user's personalized feed page, I should have the option to "See this user's comments".

5) Add the option to make comments directly to the FriendFeed

Last week, FriendFeed had a special "Festivus" feature that let you air grievances directly onto the feed. A few of my grievances? "There's just not enough Festivus for the rest of us", "Paul Buchheit's blog should have a line at the top, saying, 'Dude, I invented friggin' GMail. Have you heard of it?' " and "Facebook applications involving vampires, winking, and throwing crap are completely useless."

But with the close of the holiday, this option disappeared. Obviously, FriendFeed has the capability to bring this back at any time, and those of us who saw its utility would like to see it return.

6) Add the option to share a private message for specific friends

Assetbar has the option to share specific URLs or messages to a subset of users by checking a "Private" box, and then selecting the recipients. Today, FriendFeed shares all activity with all users, without granularity. I would like the option to either send a specific comment to some people, or to specifically highlight an item from my feed to a subset of people.

7) Add a FriendFeed leaderboard

As silly as it seems, geeks like being measured and competing. It would be interesting for me to learn who the most commonly subscribed FriendFeed users are. It's likely there are some insightful people that I'm not familiar with, and this would be a good way to find them. While I could troll my own Subscriptions to see who they're subscribed to, one by one, or I could watch the Public Feed, a leaderboard would go a long way. Taking this a step further, the site could probably show us who shares the most total items, who Twitters the most, who shares the most items from Google Reader, etc.

8) Develop a Mobile Version of FriendFeed

I'm now occasionally sneaking peeks at FriendFeed using my Blackberry or my brand-new iPod Touch when I'm away from the laptop (as rare as that is), and while FriendFeed has an RSS feed, a Facebook app, and the ability to embed the application in iGoogle or my blog, there's no slimmed down version for my mobile phone for quick reading. With more and more people utilizing the mobile Web and surfing on their iPhones, the addition of this will be essential.

9) Customization of the Feed Page.

As with Google Reader's bare shared items page, the default feed on FriendFeed is simply text on a white background. While not every social network service has the option to "skin" a page, offering different looks for text or background colors, it's certainly nice to have. Spokeo offers this ability, offering users a range of colors, from red to orange, green, blue, purple and gray.

10) The Ability for Users to Suggest New Services

As I mentioned a few days ago, only Google allows customers to add an infinite number of services. With both FriendFeed and MyBlogLog, I simply select from a list they've already pre-determined. As there is undoubtedly a certain level of engineering required, I recognize it's not automatic, but I'd like to add my profile for Ballhype (e.g. Louis hyped 3 stories and made 42 game picks at Ballhype) and likely will find other services of note that have a common URL and user name path.

It can be hard to find fault with a service I already like as much as this one, and that's not how this post is intended. I just happen to want the service to be tremendously successful, and think you should be part of it.

If you're not already a FriendFeed user, you're certainly missing out. You can start with my feed here, or if you need a login, send me an e-mail, and I'll be happy to invite you.

For other suggestions on how to improve other popular products, see:

10 Suggestions to Improve Google Reader
10 More Suggestions for LinkedIn
Eight Reasons the Apple TV is Failing, and How It Can be Saved

1) Google Will Trump Both TechMeme and FeedHeads

Amid the discussion of Google's sneaking in a social network, little has been said about Google Reader potentially tabulating and reporting the most commonly-shared items and most popular feeds. I believe that in 2008, Google Reader will start reporting the most popular feeds, clicked items and shared items. By the end of 2008, it will become equally important for bloggers, if not more so, to be atop this list, instead of on TechMeme. Google will also integrate this information for both Facebook and iPhone, competing head to head with Mario Romero's excellent Feedheads application.

2) Facebook Will Buy Digg in an All-Stock Transaction

With the company being valued at $15 billion, Facebook can offer around 5 percent of the company to Kevin Rose and team at Digg and net them pre-IPO shares of what's sure to be a white-hot 2009 offering. The all-stock transaction would value Digg above $500 million, the highest possible exit for the company. Public companies, including Microsoft, will counter with $300 million of real money and be rebuffed.

3) eBay Will Sell StumbleUpon to Yahoo! or News Corporation

eBay has done absolutely nothing with StumbleUpon since the service's $75 million acquisition. Unlike PayPal, which was a natural fit, StumbleUpon has no fit within the ecosystem of eBay. A more acquisition-savvy businesses, like Yahoo! or News Corp, will end up with the property by the end of the year. Expect this to accelerate alongside management changes at eBay and continued fallout after the Skype disaster. What it will do is pocket eBay some serious cash. This time, StumbleUpon goes for north of $200M.

4) Twitter Will Add Video, Photography Support

Moving outside of its 140-character niche, Twitter will enable bored microbloggers to show exactly what they are doing with still photos and 15 second video clips. Despite the novelty wearing off, many will continue to do so, gaining us precious photos of the window over their computer desk, overexposed facial closeups and pictures of their breakfast. The service will be integrated with Picasa, Flickr and Photobucket.

5) Apple Boot Camp Will Morph to Be Like Parallels, VMWare Fusion

Some time in 2008, Apple's Boot Camp application will no longer require a restart to run Windows applications. Users will be able to natively run Microsoft Outlook, Project, Access and all other Windows-only applications alongside their Mac OS X applications on any new Mac. While developers may decry the competition to Parallels and VMWare Fusion, Apple will remain quiet, and slowly take over the market.

6) At Least One Major Browser Will Embed Ad-Blocking

By the end of 2008, either Firefox, Safari or Opera will natively ship with the ability to block all ad banners and Google AdSense. Publishers and bloggers will make a lot of noise about it, while secretly avoiding ads themselves. A significant percentage of early adopters will change browsers solely for this feature.

7) Assetbar and FriendFeed Will Gain Early Adopter Audiences

Early adopters always looking for an edge will move away from Bloglines and Google Reader in search for something more cutting-edge. Many will turn to FriendFeed and Assetbar, following the latter's launch, to find a rich feed reader with social networking features. However, neither service will enjoy a significant market share prior to the end of 2008, and neither will be acquired by the end of 2008.

8) Video Blogging Will Remain Unpopular, Unprofitable

Despite advances in video capture and broadband speeds, Web users will not gravitate toward long-form video blogs, choosing instead to stick with text and photography. Only the rare extreme niche businesses will find any success with utilizing video for blogging.

9) iTunes Video Rentals Will Decimate Netflix, Blockbuster, Hurt Box Office

The introduction of video rentals on iTunes will not only force a dramatic subscriber exit for Netflix and reduced rentals at Blockbuster, but will also further slow attendance at movie theaters nationwide, as consumers find the service good enough, and much less inexpensive than a night out.

10) Fast Company Will be a Fast Stay for Robert Scoble

After joining FastCompany in early 2008, Robert Scoble will be at first jubilant, have initial success, and then plateau. While he will remain tremendously popular, there will already be discussions by the end of 2008 as to where he will end up in 2009, giving ValleyWag and Uncov, among others, plenty to gossip about.

Other 2008 predictions:
Jeremy Toeman: Technology Predictions for 2008
Paris Lemon: The Year Ahead 2008: 17 Predictions
The Economist: Technology in 2008
Mahalo: 2008 Technology Predictions
Center Networks: 2008 Predictions from CenterNetworks

In November, when I sat down with Emanuel Rosen to offer some comments for the next edition of his book, "The Anatomy of Buzz", we talked a lot about blogging, what the new spheres of influence were on the Web, and what can keep a writer going, even when there's no money and no fame involved. One of the comments I made I believe caught him by surprise, when I said that over time, the very best blogs adapt and write to the readers, rather than the author.

While it's ideal to think the author's likes and dislikes will be so magnetic as to attract a wide readership, it's best to test storylines and topics. Over time, focus on those things which will best engage readers, community and conversation.

On some level, there's no question that's happened here. While I remain opinionated on politics, I don't talk about it here. And while I watch plenty of sports, I'm taking that commentary to Ballhype and Sports Blogs Nation instead of to louisgray.com. Over time, I've optimized the discussion on louisgray.com to discuss how I use and interact with technology, what new services I find interesting, and developments I think will impact people on the Web and in the real world. Living in Silicon Valley and participating in the Silicon Valley life gives me some edge at this level for technology, while it doesn't give me a leg up for politics and sports, in comparison.

So when I talked with Emanuel Rosen, that's what I told him. Over time, I learned that you, my readers, are RSS-savvy. Most of you read TechMeme, and are familiar with the A-list bloggers. Most of you hold strong opinions over what the best search engines, operating systems and social networks are, and believe strongly in innovation, openness and entertainment. Most of you have a dry sense of humor and don't mind the occasional off-topic post, so long as you know the next few will be on something you're interested in, whether it's RSS, Google or the Apple TV, the future of Web advertising, FriendFeed and Spokeo, iTunes or the iPod.

Through 2006, I was finding my footing. I posted on what I felt like, in no particular order or frequency. While I believe some of those posts were pretty good, I didn't stand for much, and as a result, I didn't get all that many readers. In 2007, I think I listened a little more and participated a little more. And I hope that as I've adapted my focus to what I believe yours is, I won't have lost the core elements of what makes this blog personal.

Also see:
Why Do I Blog? An Introspective Look
I Still Get Excited About Silicon Valley
Are You An ACTIVE Hub?

Recently, I updated my Blogger template to include a new feature from MyBlogLog called the "About Me Widget". Introduced two weeks ago (See the MyBlogLog blog for more), this widget aims to summarize all the different services you use, from Digg to Del.icio.us, Flickr, Last.fm, LinkedIn and more, and give you a nice-looking, customizable, tool that keeps everything in one place, rather than what you see on many blogs, where you can have any number of links or graphics combining to do the same thing.

While MyBlogLog is aiming to be "The DNS for People", and has a ways to go this is a great start. But even this widget, in its current incarnation, has holes, and others, like Google and FriendFeed, are serving up knowledgeable profiles of their own.

See the below graphic - which one knows me best?


Let's take a look:

1. Google's Profile (... More)

Positives: As seen on my Google Reader shared links page, the Google Profile is extremely flexible. I can add an infinite number of services and label them however I want, as well as add a picture. If the service is a popular one, or Google can grab the "favico" icon, you will see that next to the service.

Negatives: The downside of inifinite flexibility is that you're really working with a blank canvas, and have to put it all in yourself. Also, it's not entirely clear if this profile is portable, out of Google's apps and to your blog or anywhere else.

2. MyBlogLog's "About Me Widget" (... More)

Positives: As seen on the right side of the blog, the "About Me Widget" can be customized to fit the look and feel of my blog, is well designed, and gives a uniform view for all my services. MyBlogLog also simplifies the process by filling out the basic parts for each service, and just asking me to add my user ID to complete the URL. As with Google, it includes the "favico" icons as well. MyBlogLog also gets bonus points for automatically importing my MyBlogLog sites and community links.

Negatives: MyBlogLog's trying to do me a favor by setting up a pre-determined list of services almost had me not installing it. Where the heck is FriendFeed after all? If I could add a new service to MyBlogLog and include FriendFeed, or Ballhype, or any other service where I have an ID they haven't thought of, it would be outstanding. Also a big miss - the ability to add e-mail or cell phone information. If they got some customization, I could further clean up my sidebar.

3. FriendFeed's User Profile (... More)

Positives: FriendFeed not only tracks where you can get my services, but actually does the dirty work by finding out what I've done on each one. It shows the "favico" icons for every service I use, and is continually adding more services for me to add to my feed. It also displays to anyone interested which other users of FriendFeed I've subscribed to.

Negatives: FriendFeed isn't trying to tell people who I am, so there's no summary or "about me", no room for e-mail, cell phone data, etc. It also, like MyBlogLog, is working in a set structure, so I couldn't add a profile for Ballhype there, until they set it up. It too isn't intended to be portable, although a Web widget for your entire feed is available.

So who wins?

Well, right now, as far as presenting on my blog, MyBlogLog is winning, though I'll still be miffed if they don't make it easy for me to add FriendFeed to my list of services pretty soon. I've already asked.

FriendFeed is a must-have service I'm checking multiple times a day, and if you need an invite, let me know in the comments. I feel FriendFeed knows me the best, as it knows all my activity, although the profile is light today. As for Google, again, they're building apps that are for engineers, and not real people. There has got to be some structure, and just maybe, over time, they'll get some.