After reading Brad Feld’s Me.dium post, I took some time to play around with their Firefox plugin.  Short version, they track what page your browser is on and graphically display other people that are viewing that site or similar sites.  You can then chat (directly to friends or by “shoutout” to the public) with others that are looking at the same stuff.

The GUI is pretty slick.  Very responsive and fast with an interesting view on showing your network.  One of the designers talks about the thought that went into conveying the complex information.  Kudos to the developers and designers.

However, I just did not feel comfortable talking with other people or having other people see my name associated with what I was reading.  I felt it would be like if the librarian gave someone my reading list or if iTunes broadcast every song that I played (I hate to admit that I like the Dixie Chicks).

I use sites like del.icio.us to track my bookmarks and do not mind making things public, but it just felt a little too Big Brotherish for me.