FriendFeed is increasingly becoming a popular social media tool for being a social aggregator with community features. It was one of the first to use the “Like” functionality that more and more web sites (e.g. Facebook, Digg, Seesmic, etc.) are adopting. Additionally, FriendFeed has built a social community that allows you to quickly find an answer to any kind of question that you ask, or get to know other people who share similar interests. New users are usually overwhelmed by the social media site, and are not sure what to do or where to begin. Here are ten useful tips to enjoying all that FriendFeed has to offer:

1. Aggregate All (or Majority) of Your Feeds

If you plan on only aggregating Twitter into FriendFeed, you won’t get the full experience of the service. Add as many feeds as you can, so others are able to get a full picture of your interests and you.

2. Setup Your Notifications

You are able to receive email, IM, and/or desktop notifications for your and other people’s posts. It comes in handy when you are away from your computer, but want to ensure that you respond to users’ comments.

3. Select Twitter Publishing Preferences

FriendFeed provides a variety of options to publish items to Twitter. Select the options that you want to post to Twitter. It’s a good way to bypass the Twitter character limit, but still have your Twitter followers see your posts.

4. Choose a Theme

There are seven themes to choose from so you can have a more personalized feel to your page.

5. Edit Your Profile

Enter a brief description about yourself, so that people can get to know you better. An avatar also helps. It doesn’t have to be your picture, but something that represents you.

6. Follow Some People

To get the most out of FriendFeed, follow some people. FriendFeed offers a suggested list that will start you off on the right path. Another great resource is Louis Gray’s monthly list of the “Top Ten People to Follow. It compiles a list of people with a variety of interests who provide value to FriendFeed.

7. Join Some Groups

FriendFeed users have created all kinds of groups that will appeal to someone. This is a great way to find users, who are not on the FriendFeed Suggested List or Louis Gray’s list, who will have items that you are interested in.

8. Get the Bookmarklet

Add the FriendFeed bookmarklet to your browser and ease the way you share interesting items. The great thing about the bookmarklet is that it allows you to share with different groups or individuals, embed images, and publish it to Twitter.

9. Comment and Like on People’s Posts

The only way that people are going to get to know what you think is by the comments and clicking “Like” on their posted items. One great feature is the Friend-of-a-Friend option. You are able to view the content of the people your friend has subscribed to. It helps because you are able to also get to know people who you were not initially subscribed to.

10. Have Fun

Regardless on the reason you are using FriendFeed, whether for business or pleasure, remember to have fun. I have met many wonderful people on FriendFeed and I’m still loving it after being on there for over a year. It can be addicting, so be careful. Other than that, enjoy yourself!

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