Google has added support for Notes to Google Reader, allowing users to share notes or add notes to shared stories.
The add a note feature is located in the “Your Stuff” menu at the top of the Google Reader sidebar. Tumblr style, the feature allows users to share with friends “whatever pops into your head (for better or for worse) by typing anything into the text box at the top of the Notes page,” according to Google.
The share items with a note gives users the ability to add a note with any shared Reader item. Google explains:
If you are like me, you might want to share something in Reader, but think your friends might not “get” why you are sharing it. Use the “Share with note” button on the item toolbar to create a copy of that item with your own note attached to it. Now your friends won’t have to wonder if the B-movie about an evil floor lamp you shared was intended to be funny, sarcastic, ironic or the real motivation behind your next movie night.
Users can also add notes from the browser with a Reader Notes bookmarklet. Minor changes include the choice of new styles from the shared items page, and the Google Reader list view will now highlight when an item is being shared by a friend.
The new additions will provide additional appeal to Google Reader’s sharing feature, which has slowly grown in popularity over the last 12 months (least I see more and more friends sharing this way). The ability to have a discussion around shared feeds is still missing, but as we noted back in September is being developed by Google.
thanks to Bowrd for the tip
Google should just buy facebook.
This is a great application for sharing academic notes, whether its class notes, review session notes, etc, in a collegiate setting. The attach comment feature resembles a sticky note type of device. Thanks for the article TechCrunch!
Check out gothamtechminute.blogspot.com to see more interesting commentary on some of TechCruches awesome articles.
Good PR for Tumblr and FriendFiend. Seriously why include them? Why not Bloglines or Newsgator?
Pretty clever.
Now if they could just make it so you could pick which of your google contacts you want to share with, that would be great.
Is there an iGoogle gadget for GReader that has any of the sharing functionality? My most read feeds are in a gadget on my personalised Google page. I don’t use the sharing feature because it is simply missing here …
FF-Fasting
because the feature set is moving towards Friendfeed and Tumblr. You can already have a “link blog” in Reader, now you can have one with notes.
Notes are much-needed handy tools.. clever (and does prove that Google does know what the user needs and wants)…
This feature sucks. I’m getting tons of duplicates thanks to it. In fact, if you share an item, then share it again with a note, it creates two versions in your Shared Item Blog.
Plus, this just points to why FriendFeed is getting tons of attention among early adopter types. We need centralization and centralized comments!!!
Seeing things 20 times in all of my various services really sucks.
FriendFeed does this stuff a LOT better than Google Reader does.
Come on Robert, you just share it with either a note or without a note, not both. I’m not getting duplicates.
This is a GREAT feature that I’ve been calling for ever since sharing via tags/stars was enabled quite some time ago.
FriendFeed may be similar, but it doesn’t share items you are reading. Some people with their own blogs will probably not need this new feature. But, folks like myself, who read and share a bunch of items but don’t like the moderate fuss of a blog will find this an extremely functional way to have a pseudo-blog. It’s more than a link-blog too, because most items will include the full article along with the note.
Me and my workmates share a lot of stuff on Google Reader, so this is awesome for us.
Shame Scoble couldnt figure it out
I have to second Jeff’s comments:
“Now if they could just make it so you could pick which of your google contacts you want to share with, that would be great.”
there is some stuff I want to share with my close friends, other stuff with people I have more professional relationships with.
Would be much better if the feed collectors like FriendFeed or Mysocial 24×7 could also aggregate the notes. I am sure there is shortcoming in the API or somehow Google restricts it. I have added Google Reader service in my Friendfeed aggregations. If GR aggregations come with the notes in FF, I don’t have to write a comment on Friendfeed page (and then start discussions on it). It would happen in one click. Also Google shared items have much less visibility than FF visibility. They should do something to increase that.
Hey Duncan,
How do you keep your RSS reader so clean? That’s pretty ridiculous how you only have 16 unread items. Incredible!
@scobleizer – I won’t go as far as “sucks” but there is no tag support that I was able to find.
FriendFeed is carrying the conversation backchannel for the backchannel for Twitter. I am not shifting the conversation with FriendFeed but noticing a trend of your backchannel being shifted away from your own property:
WordPress:DISQUS::Twitter:FriendFeed
Google is just bringing it back into their backyard with additional features like Notes.
Or, to generalize
WordPress:DISQUS::prettymuchanythingelse:FriendFeed
I actually see the duplicates thing only just beginning. So, a service like FriendFeed will have to navigate this — and you should note that as a Plaxo Pulse user you can squelch updates per service per persona. Watch Plaxo’s product team for S:N functionality.
Google Reader note sharing is kinda lame {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/yoBDNifsVa_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Google Reader note sharing is kinda lame ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/Ji7KiMCffA”}}}
all in the name of social networking.
Interesting video comment by Scoble
!!
Cheers!
This seems to be where the cool kids play.
I would totally switch to FriendFeed, except the UI sucks. Unless I’m missing something, I can’t use my keyboard to go from feed item to feed item, I can’t hit “shift-s” to share, I can’t star items to view later. I love the ability to comment, especially as a blogger – would love to see a Wordpress plugin that integrates with this and the comments on my blog (need to check the FF UI – maybe I’ll create on). Also, would love to see FriendFeed get in with the Firefox 3 beta to have FriendFeed as an option when I add something to my RSS Reader – they do both have the initials, “FF”, after all. If FriendFeed can get over these issues I’ll make the switch, but I simply can’t use FriendFeed like I can Google Reader right now, so despite the quirks, I welcome additions like this, hoping Google will improve on the weaknesses.
Nice video comment, Robert. Just as a friendly tip: next time you wanna demonstrate a new feature/product/service, use screencast software instead of a webcam! Try the Jing Project or Debut Video Recorder. Both are free. Spare us the pixelated video!
Hey, Robert. I learned of your Seesmic comment on TechCrunch via my Plaxo Pulse notifier that let me know of the tweet that you shared into Pulse (among other places).
How cool. Thanks for sharing!
BTW, Robert, I agree it’s a headache to get duplicate shared items. I’ve had the same complaint. I still think Reader has a better UI than FriendFeed though.
Jesse: I think the UI is totally different and I like both for different reasons.
John McCrea: ahh, my plans for world domination are working!!! Bwwwaaahhhaaahhhaaa.
I think it seems likely that a third party could create a service to take advantage of this and provide something “twitter-like”.
Hey I really like all the new features, but I’ve already found a huge problem with it. When you share an item, you can alter the html markup of the original article. I wrote it up (with screenshots) Google Reader allows me to (surreptitiously) alter the text of any article.
Works for me Robert {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/gouPZrjmUX_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Works for me Robert ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/EKtPAIN3lH”}}}
Bwana, weird, I’ve done it three times now on both Windows and Macintoshes. Maybe my account is just doomed.
Jay (Twitter @qthrul) : Thanks for the props. (I head up marketing at Plaxo.)
Robert Scoble: lol
@John McCrea – props well deserved, please keep setting the tone for conversation. I look forward to a Plaxo Pulse and FriendFeed usability arms race.
Implementation issues aside I think most people are missing the real significance of these new features. Bear in mind that you can now post notes (without sharing) to your shared feed/page which means Google Reader has taken a huge step towards what I’ve been calling Google ReWriter for more than a year. Now it’s encroaching on Blogger’s territory and will eventually assimilate that tool. No need for separate web/feed reading and publishing tools when you can do it all with a single web annotation suite – Google ReWriter.
Reader team should have taken the next step of posting the notes on a blog (at least blogger).
It’s great and everything but I just don’t get how it won’t let you delete notes. I pride myself on a clutter-free Google Reader and this flaw is just gonna screw me over. Humpf
I like very much the writings and pictures and explanations in your adress so I look forward to see your next writings.
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