By kristennicole on July 14, 2009 2:08 PM

Amplify Adds Followers. Too Much Like Facebook?

Recently launched bookmarking service Amplify is adding a new feature today that changes a significant portion of its site. You’re now able to follow other users, and they can in turn follow you. Yes, it’s kind of like Twitter, and even more like Facebook’s plans for non-reciprocal following, but more specific to the Amplify service.

If you recall, Amplify works as a browser addon that enables you to create custom clips from across the web. You can then share these clips on various social media and networking sites. With Facebook Connect integration, Amplify readily provides a direct outlet for making these custom clips social. But Amplify is also one of the few social bookmarking sites that also archives all of your content into a more digestible clog (think blog) format.

With the new following options, these clogs become even more resourceful and social, as you’re more able to view content from other Amplify users and vice versa. Just as Amplify, a company launched by the same team behind social bookmarking tool Clipmarks, had created a cute and differentiating term for your archived clips, so too have your new followers been dubbed; sources.

The very term sources speaks to the intent of the new Amplify feature, both instructing and encouraging you to follow users that can provide useful information to you personally. And once you click on a source’s clipped item, you’ll be able to view the full details of the clip including the web location from which it’s been clipped. Several options for further spreading that clip across the social web (Twitter, Facebook, Delicous, StumbleUpon) are included on this page, as well as the option to add it to your own Amplify clog.

By adding sources, Amplify is becoming a bit like Twine, among other previously mentioned services, which makes me think that Amplify is leaning towards the creation of a search tool that possibly works for semantic or discovery purposes. As the ability to archive clips inherently suggests the ability to search, this is something Amplify needs to further develop in order to truly turn followed users into information sources. Some additional filters and advanced search options would be a possible next step for Amplify in that regard.