I was fortunate to score an invite to Rockmelt early after its launch and I have been playing with it to give those who have not had access to it yet
an idea of whether or not they should be chomping at the bit for this new toy that is teasing us all with the “invite only” method that Google tortures us all with when they release any cool new application. First I have to say I am not knocking the method of launch, I think it is sheer genius as it builds excitement and gives the company a chance to ramp up the application, making sure that it is sound. The risk is that no one wants to see the general public react to their product like Google Wave, which even though I love it, was not worthy of such buzz.
In the case of Rockmelt, I also put it on my 14 yo daughter’s computer, and she fell in love with it, because of the way it keeps your social media content at the tip of your fingers. She could easily chat with her friends while continuing working on the site she was on.
The browser shows on the left side which of your Facebook friends are online, and can be set to just show you “Favorites”, on the right you can place quick links to your social media feeds, and it will show you the number of new updates as well as give you quick access to pop up sidebars to review those feeds without leaving the website your on.
The benefits of this browser, it makes it easy for anyone to stay on top of their social media feeds without having to have multiple browser tabs or windows open. The twitter feed seems to be limited to your full timeline or your mentions, I have not yet found a way to post list feeds to the sidebar yet, hopefully this is my short fall and not the browsers, as without the ability to track specific lists, you need to deal with the entire timeline, which isn’t bad if you aren’t following more than 100 active individuals.
The short coming of Rockmelt seems to mostly affect those of us with large twitter accounts and multiple lists, or multiple twitter accounts under our management. However I still like using it as a frame for my Hootsuite. Over all I think the browser is great for most people.
I enjoyed reading your feedback on Rockmelt.
Sounds like what the Forbes speaker was saying at Poynter’s Social Medial Day. All in one integration of social media and websites are going to be the trend.
Now I have one more application to put on my list to try out!