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Reduce Social Network Hair-Pulling with a 'Pause' Button
Posted by Gina Trapani at 3:58 AM on August 27, 2008
FriendFeed introduces a new feature on their beta site: a "Pause" button "fake following" mode, which lets you follow someone without seeing their updates. In a similar vein, productivity guy Merlin Mann proposes that all social networks build in a "Pause" button, which would protect you temporarily from a stream of unwanted updates for a certain amount of time without de-friending folks. Along with a "Pause" button for social networking, we also want a "Snooze" button for email, tasks, and reminders.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
kyanos
Posted 4:19 AM 27/8/08
I read the article this morning and I don't think this is actually a feature, rather it's something he would like to see added.
kyanos
The How-To Geek
Posted 4:41 AM 27/8/08
This is a great idea, would make me a lot more interested in joining/using social networks.
The How-To Geek
Gina Trapani
Posted 4:30 AM 27/8/08
@kyanos: You're right, I completely got this wrong. The Pause button is Merlin's idea, fake following is a new feature in the beta FriendFeed. Updating the post now--note to self: fact-check before hitting publish. ;)
Gina Trapani
rorowe
Posted 5:34 AM 27/8/08
Twitter has a few third party sites that "snooze" a follower or group of followers for a set period of time. It'd be neat to make it a simple check-option in all sites (or even globally?!)
rorowe
Boter
Posted 7:20 AM 27/8/08
All that noise is my main reason for not using them.
Does anyone have a success story of how a social networking site has help them in anyway? (aside from linkedin I mean)
Boter
petergarner
Posted 7:39 AM 27/8/08
Actually, It seems to me that Facebook used to have something like this feature hidden away in the bowels of the account settings, though I'll be damned if I can find it now. You could choose a certain number of people who would have low priority in your news feed. In any case, with the "new" Facebook, you can choose to have less or more about any given friend or app appear in your feed. Not sure how effective it is, and certainly it's not an actual "pause" button, but it does seem to do at least some of what his Merlinship wants.
petergarner
qrius
Posted 7:52 AM 27/8/08
yeah, there's too must 'noise' w/ facebook, twitter, etc.
I joined for 1 day, and I hated being poked, superpoked, and gifted, and asked to join a new group, etc. And twitter, I just don't get it. are people that into telling people the details of their mundane life?
check out this exciting twitter life.
qrius