One of the most common butthurt reactions to web services is the login barrier. Forcing people to create an account before they can use your product makes a lot of potential users say fuck it.
Ted Dziuba on Logins
2 August 2008
4 July 2008
But, do you really have to do everything all at once—while the person who generated that content is tapping his or her foot, waiting for the web interface to respond with feedback? Are all of these things immediately vital to the person watching the browser spin, right now? No. Your user wants to get on with things. He or she wants to see the submitted content get accepted and, as feedback and confirmation, see it reflected in a personal view immediately.
0xDECAFBAD on Users
26 May 2008
One thing to always remember is that Social Software isn’t about features, it is about users. It isn’t about one upping the competition in feature checklists it is about capturing the right audience then building an experience that those users can’t help evangelizing.
Dare Obasanjo on Social Software