Brad Fitzpatrick wants to know who your friends are
Remember how NotchUp spammed us all alst week? Get ready for a lot more. Brad Fitzpatrick, the LiveJournal founder who noisily left Six Apart for Google last summer, has launched his first big project: a tool which identifies your friends across multiple social networks, so you can invite them all wherever you go. What this means: If you're sick of zombie bites on Facebook, you're going to hate the World Wide Web after Fitzpatrick gets done with it. But forget the spam issue: Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible idea on principle?
I keep different people on different social networks, and prefer them safely cordoned off. Have you ever been at a party where two of your exes meet up? Fitzpatrick wants to turn the Web into a 24/7 version of that nightmare scenario. Thanks but no thanks, Brad. Sometimes sharing isn't caring.
I did find it adorable, however, that he included a shoutout to his pals Dave Recordon, a former LiveJournal colleague working on similar projects at Six Apart, and Mischa Spiegelmock, a LiveJournal engineer Fitzpatrick reportedly recruited to Google. In a continuation of their mock feud, Fitzpatrick hacked his friend-finder app to ridicule Recordon's LiveJournal username.
Here's Fitzpatrick's video. I especially love the intro where, like a washed-up actor in an infomercial, Fitzpatrick says, "You may remember me from ...":