Is Simplicity All It Takes? Comparing Twitter to Friendfeed

By Albert
In Social Networks
08/04/09 at 12:07
3 Comments

Is Simplicity All It Takes? Comparing Twitter to Friendfeed

As a recent statement of the post from Tech Crunch on the post FriendFeed Is In Danger Of Becoming The Coolest App No One Uses, what is it that makes Twitter such a phenomenal hit compared to the super techie Friendfriend who has been Twitter’s long time competitor with more capabilities than the average 140 character word capacity, Twitter?

The Situation Between Twitter and Friendfeed

Twitter is now being listened to all over the world as a social networking hit and claimed to be the next Facebook, but what is it that differentiates it from Friendfeed, the app with the same features as Twitter, but with much more? Growth on the Twitter phenomenon is growing rapidly everyday and is even seeing media publicity with the growth rate of 33% new visitors each month. Twitter’s once distinct foe, Friendfried is now unchecked in terms of ranking and traffic. Is simplicity all it takes to be able to becoming a mainstream site? Friendfeed had all the capabilities of being a mainstream site and much more compared to Twitter, but why isn’t it?

Simplicity is a Boarder Statement

The answer is simple, clean and clear. We have seen it in the past where the evolution of Google rose beyond Yahoo’s expectations and it was due to their awesome apps and simple site features. Simplicity is just a boarder statement to play in. People only want the required necessities and not the bonus tools that the average Joe can handle as the people in Tech Crunch would say. And that is where Friendfeed is at the moment, compensating for “over doing,” I would say. It is no shocking factor that Twitter is on top. There are just more non-techie people than there are people who are into technology. That is why Twitter played into a clever market and compared to Friendfeed, Friendfeed is trapped in a smaller market that is mostly targeted to only techie savvy people.

Why Twitter is On Top

It is not just that Twitter played in a clever market, but they were more geared from the start. They had all the essential tools, the catchy name, Twitter, and much more. They had their marketing plan and executed it to their fullest while Friendfeed’s marketing plan got sidetracked into a dead end of targeting a smaller market, techy savvy users. Not only was Twitter prepared, but they all everything ready to go. The friendly user interface with the easy essentials as to what the site was used for and the great underlining of using Twitter to connect. Twitter delivered and gave the message clearly as to what the purpose of the site was for, but Friendfeed is on other the end. Until they strengthen their user interface and have a more catchy theme as to what you do with Friendfeed, they will not be able to compete with Twitter. It is no surprise Twitter is such a media phenomenon today, Twitter was just more prepared from the start.