FriendFeed is too Easy, and maybe Facebook should follow suit

Though I haven't been a HUGE follower of twitter, or friendfeed, in the past week I've started to slowly come around to what FriendFeed is offering.

So, I decided to give the FriendFeed api a try, and see what it was like.

WOW! that is just FAR too easy. The api set-up is simple, beyond words. I had the api sending data from HearWhere to FriendFeed within maybe 20 minutes of downloading the api pack.

Whether or not people actually share HearWhere shows using FriendFeed is an entirely different matter, but you can try it out on the HearWhere site.

The simplicity of the FriendFeed api, combined with the lack of interest in the HearWhere facebook app, and the upcoming changes to Facebook have also lead to changes sharing HearWhere shows on Facebook.

Now, rather than adding the application, HearWhere will just post a link to Facebook, and that link will be shared with your friends.
Unfortunately, that means that for the time being the capability of seeing what shows your friends are going to with a list of friends going to that show is no longer available.
Though with the low volume of users who signed-up for the Facebook app, it appears that functionality was limited anyway - can't see who's going if nobody has installed the app.

The FriendFeed team deserve a huge congratulations for making their api so simple.

The Widget is dead, long live the widget

Just one day after Fred Wilson somewhat ominously announces the end of widgets as we know them, and mashable promotes iWidgets as the next best thing in making your website go viral, I have decided to build a quick and dirty widget for hearwhere and see what happens.

I side with Fred on the idea that for most visitors, widgets don't do much. However, of course, I like to consider the hearWhere widget a bit different. Rather than just being a showcase of what the blog writer thinks is important, the hearWhere widget uses the viewers location as the jumping off point.

Knowing that Fred is in NYC, showing me a list of upcoming shows happening in NYC doesn't help me, as I live on the other side of the continent. So, the hearWhere widget shows a small list of shows playing locally.

In no way is the widget the ultimate use of hearWhere, it pales in comparison to the abilities of the main website and the facebook app. the facebook app can show you what shows your friends are going to, and a list of shows you have decided to save.

The widget thing for me right now is a bit of a wait and see. Will anybody use it? Does anybody care?

Let me know what you think, and if you think it's a good idea, i'll dedicate more time to making the widget a better product.
For now, I'll be getting to work on another redesign of the site, and trying to get more uses, so spread the word, and go!