Flickr
Friendster, LinkedIn, Tribe, Orkut — I’ve joined them all at some point, spent a few weeks (or a couple days) filling in info, inviting friends, clicking around…. and then never coming back. It just gets to a point where you’re filling in forms over and over again. You’re spamming your friends over and over again. You’re reading message boards over and over again. Unless you’re looking for a date, or a business contact, it’s just not fun after a while.
It seems that Flickr, announced yesterday, is different. It’s from Ludicorp, the same group of nerds who made Game Neverending. I played GNE for a while when it first came out, and while it wasn’t really my cup of tea, I was impressed by just how usable it was.
Flickr feels the same way. The interface just feels more comfortable. It’s certainly more flashy, but not overly so. You spend less time filling in textareas and more time uploading and sharing photos, or actively chatting with friends (instead of making message board posts). It’s the little touches, like the random greetings on the front page, in different languages, that make this piece of social software (there, I said it) special.
So I definately recommend that you check it out. I’m not going to invite you, because you’re probably tired of it. But if you do sign up, you can add me as a friend. My email address is flickr AT mylesgrant DOT com.
That said, I’m probably going to get bored with it too.
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