So I’ve been playing with FriendFeed for a couple weeks now, after my initial total dissage. I’m liking it, I’m liking some of the tools and API functionality I’ve found, and some of my online compadres are coming to the same conclusion I am: Twitter was Round 1, but it’s time to move on.

I’ll keep my account, of course, and I can probably even sync some updates over there…but I expect my @replies there will drop off. Picking up your friends and connections to move can definitely be a PITA, but the fact that FriendFeed is in one sense an aggregator of other stuff (like Twitter) helps with that quite a bit. Incrementally moving over becomes a bit easier…and even if a Twitter buddy doesn’t have a FF account, there’s a nifty imaginary friend feature that lets you create a stand-in account. Good idea; it further reduces the cost of jumping on board.

However, I also struggle with the centralization these sorts of services do; the way in which they pull the conversation away from the primary source. I saw the notification for Dave Slusher’s decision to move in FriendFeed, for example, but I deliberately chose to respond at his blog instead of in FF (and then steal shamelessly from my comment there for this *grin*). I think both styles can work, but I don’t want to lose commenting directly at blogs b/c we’re all interacting in meta-meta-meta services. I guess it’s just a balance to be aware of.

Come on in, the water’s fine, all.