I de-friended Robert Scoble on Facebook today. Scoble is really big into Facebook, and has carried on about its value before. It was nice being a generation from so many big names in the tech industry, but it came at a price. I didn’t de-friend him because of reasons named in my previous Scoble ramblings, but rather, because he simply ate up too much of my Facebook experience. Every time he friended someone, it was in my news feed. Even when I made *everyone else* a “high priority” and Scoble only a low priority, it was still mostly Scoble posted a video, Scoble added this app, Scoble removed this app, repeat ad nauseum.
This is not so much a problem with Scoble as much as it is one with Facebook. Any one friend has a ridiculous amount of control over my Facebook experience, and as a result, they can water it down. Instead of focusing on what most people I know are doing, I’m overwhelmed by whatever has caught Scoble’s attention. The Facebook experience is so customizable, and yet, in this area, there is a missing piece. You should be able to ignore people altogether in your news feed. If I had this feature, this wouldn’t be a problem. Boo Facebook, boo.
So, I have no choice, I had to remove Scoble, because he is too active. His “stuff” pushes the stuff that actually is really important to me below the fold.
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Same here. I had put Scoble in the “less about these friends” group, but his stuff still filled up my news feed. Oh, well, I still see his blog via Google Reader, so I’m not missing much. Facebook really needs to fix that problem.
I had to unsubscribe from his blog for the reasons you mentioned. I got rid of him on Twitter as well. He’s just too damn chatty about a whole lot of nothin’ IMO.
Inner Circle is a Facebook application that we wrote to help with this exact problem. It lets you organize your friends into Circles, and gives you the news from them on your schedule. Plus, it lets you share even more with your friends.
Check it out at apps.facebook.com We would be very interested in your feedback.