Google Reader users can now leave comments on shared items. Google has introduced it as a way to have a discussion with friends outside of a site's main commenting system, and specific just to that shared item and their group of contacts.
To help manage this new stream of information, Google Reader now has a filter that shows you the latest conversations in one place. Here you can view all the latest chatter, and continue to add more comments just like a forum.
The new comment view lets you view and reply to comments in-line with a post.
(Credit: CNET Networks)In addition to reading and adding comments through Google Reader in your computer's browser it also works on Reader's iPhone version.
It's all very much like FriendFeed, although the privacy it a bit tighter since only friends of the person who shared the item can see what was said. Another limitation is that comments are limited to the friends' shared items section of Reader, however Google says it will be making its way to the "all items" section of user's feeds in a later release.
On the surface this may seem like a very small feature. But if Google were to open up the commenting threads to all Reader users, regardless of their friendship, and enable publishers to feed these Reader comments into their own blog comments, it could make Reader more than just a feed catcher the same way FriendFeed has enabled blogs to suck in the conversation that's happening outside of their own pages.
Searching forums for specific posts can seriously suck. Most have proprietary search tools that can be unfamiliar or downright difficult to use. Some even require you to fill out a captcha to avoid getting attacked by bots or having its forums infested with spam. Twing is a new service that's attempting to solve these problems with a search tool that scours hundreds of user forums and lets you search by individual posts or a topic thread all in one place.
I found it to do a pretty good job giving me some basic results with simple queries. You can also filter down your results with a myriad of tweaks, right down to what type of forum content you're looking for, be it audio, video, or images. These filters and special terms can be stacked on top of one another, letting you hone your search a little or a lot depending on how much effort you put in. I found I was able to get a general list of posts that had something to do with what I was searching for with a fairly minimal amount of effort--which is a good thing.
In addition to a search, there's an entire directory of forums listed alphabetically or by interest. This is actually one of the coolest facets of the site, as it will tell you how many posts and users a forum has, along with its growth (presumably within the past 30 days). It's a great way to see what's hot, regardless of what forum platform it's on.
What wasn't working when I tried out Twing earlier today was a neat little info button that expands below each search result. I'm assuming it gives you a quick overview about the forum the post is in, but it was coming up blank. Presumably when it's working, you can see whether the forum you're about to view the post on is populated with a large audience and a lot of topics, or just small with good SEO.
Competing forum search tools include: Boardreader, Omgili, and BoardTracker.
Related: Meetro team launches Lefora, free hosted forums
Search forums for exactly the post you're looking for with Twing. (click to enlarge)
(Credit: CNET Networks)
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