Facebook Chat: Great...Another Chat Client I Need to Manage
For a few select networks, Facebook has rolled out a new way to "chat" online. Inside Facebook has the scoop on using it, so check out the write up over there which even has screen shots included.
While Facebook is doing some neat integrations, and while developers are coming up with more neat application for user to integrate with their profile, I just sort of find this news of a way to "chat", sort of boring. MySpace has had this for at least a year, and to be perfectly honest, Yahoo!'s IM just dominates this space.
For people who have been around the internet and chatting long enough to have a 6 digit ICQ ID, this really comes off as a "< insert yawn here >". What would have maybe had more of a "hey that's cool" reaction is that if Facebook's team would have taken the time and reached out to Cerulean Studios (makers of Trillian) to have them integrate Facebook's chatting abilities into its multi-chat program client.
In today's world of multitasking and trying to limit the clients running on desktops, adding another place I have to manage people I speak to, is just a real hassle. Trillian gives me 90% of the management in one simple place. A lot of people in tech and search utilize Trillian and the impending release of Astra is just really going to rock (I'm testing, and I can vouch for it!). Adding Facebook in for the launch of Trillian would benefit both companies.
From "Inside Facebook":
"What does Chat mean for developers? Currently, Facebook does not support Platform integration with Chat, though a couple of weeks ago Facebook’s Matt Cohler indicated that adding Chat APIs (and Jabber support) is in their plans. Obviously, just like Facebook, developers are interested in finding additional ways to engage their users."
So...maybe that means we'll see something coming in the next few months along these lines. MySpace has it already, I kind of feel like Facebook, is a bit behind here. It would be nice to be able to just add my Facebook account into my Trillian client, heck maybe then I'd actually get notified of emails and friend requests a lot more promptly too!
More discussions over at Techmeme.
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