The following list contains 10 of my favourite technology related FriendFeed groups. It’s by no means comprehensive, but should offer a good starting point for anyone who wants to get more involved in the social and conversational side of Friendfeed.

• Adobe AIR Apps – The best place to find really great desktop applications covering a range of uses, from music to design to social media and more. You will need to install Adobe AIR to use the apps, but it is free!
• Art Room – Although, this isn’t strictly related to technology it is a useful group, especially for designers seeking inspiration. You’ll find everything from links to sites about old masters, to the work of talented graphic designers. Definitely worth a look!
• Friendfeed Feedback – If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for the Friendfeed team, this is the place to post them.
• RWW: The Future of Tech – The Friendfeed presence of the ReadWriteWeb blog. Lots of interesting techy talk about the web, both present and future.
• Social Media – Post social media links, join discussions, ask questions and share ideas.
• The Apple Room – Discuss your love of all things Apple, and share advice and recommendations.
• The Blogger Discussions – News, recommendations and conversation about all things blogging related.
• The NextWeb Forum – News and conversation covering digital media, technology and related topics.
• Twitter – Discuss your love or loathing for Twitter, and share useful applications and services.
• WordPress – News and conversations about the popular blogging platform. A good place to ask questions!

That’s my list, I hope you found it useful. If I omitted any of your favourite groups why not share them in the comments!

FriendFeed: 10 Great Technology Groups is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

But there are other social networking sites which allow you a lot more room when it comes to posting messages for your followers to read. They probably haven’t got a fraction of the publicity that Twitter has had lately though, so perhaps it is an unfair comparison. But do people generally prefer the brevity of those Twitter messages, or would they rather have a bit more space to stretch out in?

Personally I don’t think that either short or long messages are better than the other. I think the main thing to bear in mind is what the nature of your message really is. A lot of people like Twitter because – ironically – it stretches your writing skills. You have to be brief to get everything in. But does that mean you have to miss essential facts out altogether?

I’ve spotted people on Twitter who have basically written short articles and posted them in bite sized chunks. The title appears in one tweet – something like ten tips for better writing, for example – and then you will get ‘tip one – edit your work’ or something like that as the first short tip. This is followed by nine more tweets of a similar nature.

It can be good to have more room to blog or post a message on your choice of social networking site of course. But if you only use that space to waffle in, then what was the point in the first place?

Perhaps the key then is not whether one form is better than another. Perhaps it is simply which one suits the message you have to give at the time. If a social networking site allows you limitless space to post a message in, that doesn’t mean you have to write an essay. Think about what you want to say, say it, and then move along. Nothing more to see here, you might say.

Of course it is more frustrating when you have a longer message to get out and Twitter’s 140 character limit won’t permit you to do it. In this case double tweets are really your only option.

But the most important rule applies to every message you will ever post on any social networking site. It’s simple – check everything before you hit the ‘post’ button, or make it live. If you do that, you’ll be more assured of striking the right balance, no matter how long or short your message might be.

Social networking, short messages or long messages? is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology