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October 16, 2008 2:08 PM PDT

FriendFeed: No more hitting 'reload'

by Caroline McCarthy

FriendFeed, that "social feed" aggregator that's ubiquitous among the Web 2.0 set, is just so charitable. Instead of forcing procrastinating office drones to hit the "refresh" button on their browsers to see what their friends are doing, it'll do it for you.

The service has launched a new option called "Real-Time View," which is pretty much exactly what you'd think it is, and FriendFeed says that it's "experimental." In other words, there might be bugs. But if it's whirring along too quickly, you can hit the "pause" button. Kind of cool.

The update was conveniently rolled out on the evening of the final U.S. presidential debate, at a time when there would be a heck of a lot of FriendFeed updates coming out from the tech-friendly news hounds who make up its most loyal pack of users.

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
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About The Social

CNET News' Caroline McCarthy is a downtown Manhattanite who believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life. She's happily addicted to fun social-media tools from Twitter to Yelp to Facebook, sends an inordinate number of text messages, and has a tendency to waste time at the office reading restaurant blogs. Here, she explores all facets of the Web's gregarious side, as well as the unique tech culture in her home city of New York. (Don't call it Silicon Alley.)

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