I’m a huge fan of using humans over computers and algorithms to filter search results. Sure, information retrieval (IR) has come a long way, but it’s still missing something and the search folk know it. Precisely why Google is attempting to incorporate a digg-like rating system in its search results . (Rumor has it that Google is offering up to $200MM to acquire digg .) And Google’s latest rival Mahalo, human powered search, is hear to help. Humans are still better interpreters than computers. No Surprise.
Anyhow, the point being Socialbrowse, a Firefox addon , does just what you’d expect it to do if you can read the name — browse socially. (Think StumbleUpon and del.icio.us, but more intrusive.) Socialbrowse is similar to Twitter in that you select whose browses you want to follow. It’s public information when someone tags a page into one of a variety of categories. A notice pops up in the lower right of your browser every time a new page is tagged by someone you’re following. (This is where it can get annoyingly distracting, so don’t install the addon to a work machine.) You can click through to the page, or ignore it. I typically ignore all the popups and use the sidebar option when I’m ready to see what folks have recently enjoyed.
The idea here is to let other people surf the web and filter through the trash. You don’t have time for that. And if you don’t like the pages someone is suggesting, unfollow him. It’s as easy as that. I’ll admit that I’m not the greatest at tagging pages (last one was July 15th). For some reason, knowing that people are going to know I approved the page makes me far more selective of the pages I’m willing to suggest.
Socialbrowse is beta and requires an invite code. (I have a few left if any of you Firefox users are interested in giving it a try.) They are still in the process of creating a logo for their product, which is why I’m missing a graphic for this post. But you can win $125 by entering the create new Socialbrowse logo contest. If you’re a regular web surfer then this is an addon you’ll enjoy. Get it early, get it often. Socialbrowse!
Socialbrowse – Twitter For Firefox? was first posted to justinll.com on July 23, 2008.
It should be noted that the corner pop-up notifications don’t display when the sidebar is active. On my 21″ widescreen, with the sidebar as narrow as I can make it, and Digsby right beside it, I still have plenty of viewing space for web browsing.
Thanks, Shawn. I didn’t realize the pop-up notifications went away with the sidebar open.
It’s a good product overall, and I’m excited to see where it takes us when it comes out of beta.
Justin! Thanks for the great coverage!
Just wanted to share that you can also disable the pop ups by toggling Tools-Socialbrowse->Receive Message Popups
Dave,
Thanks for the tip! Keep up the good work.