Do you really want to know what your friends are doing online right now? Do you fancy a bit of online friend espionage? What article they are reading in the New York Times online or what iTunes track they are listening to in real-time? If so, Slifeshare is the new social network for you.
It’s not very often that I read an About page on a website that I am reviewing that does not need to be edited a little bit in my opinion. I love about page’s that are straight to the point, we all know how short people’s attention spans are when it comes to reading text online. The ability to describe your service and the benefits that it offers to new users in one sentence is a real strength. So I was very impressed with Slifeshare’s about page which states:
“Slifeshare is a live network where you and your friends stay in touch by following each other’s computer activities, in real-time. Share notes, web pages, videos, feeds, music, applications and more with your friends, family or the world. It’s about social awareness and being connected, all the time, to those you care about.”
Its often the most simple services and applications that become so addictive and Slifeshare has that sort of potential. All that is required is a simple download of a small application called ‘Slife’. This will enable your machine to start sharing your activities with other members in your community.
From a privacy perspective, the call to ‘download this little app’ as part of the Slifeshare sign-up process was the point at which I became slightly suspicious. I am not a huge one for conspiracy theories, however, I don’t like spyware either. A quick trip to the help section on the site revealed some re-assuring answers to the doubts that I started to have.
In terms of cost, you can get a basic membership for free or alternatively splash out and spend a huge $2 per month for ‘premium’ membership. The upgraded membership will enable additional profile features such as a premium icon for your profile, an advertising free interface and most importantly a widget that gives you the low down on who exactly has been visiting your Slifeshare profile page.
One aspect of Slifeshare that I find very cool and progressive is the developer center. In true Facebook-style, Slifeshare are taking a very ‘open access’ approach to their service offering an API in XML format. Developers can go nuts and create mash-ups from the long list available profile content. Very cool indeed.
I suppose the success of this web 2.0 start-up will ultimately hinge on how transparent individuals really want to be about their online life. Slifeshare suggest that their service is a great way to avoid the hassle of having to use IM or the ‘poke’ feature on facebook to keep in touch with your large group of friends.
Whilst I have never really found using IM or facebook to be slow or much of a hassle, I am always keen to try things that give me what I want faster and Slifeshare could potentially be good from that perspective. As the very simple corporate policy of arguably the most successful online business suggests ‘Fast is better than slow’.
