Flock is not an invite beta

So please stop asking for invites

There is a signup form @ flock.com . The “announcements” mailing list will be used to seed the expanded (private) beta within a couple of weeks.

The Flock browser will be free to take flight within a month!

I can’t quite say, except that in the case of Flock, we’re using the invite system to start out slowly on purpose. We want to not only be able to scale up organically, but we also want to cultivate relationships with our brave early adopters so that we can build the best experience possible over time. And to that end, we want to make sure that when we do launch publicly, we’ve hammered out all the glaring issues, as well as minor ones, so that sum total Flock makes you more productive, more explorative, and more voraciously social on the web. So for now, Flock will remain available to few kindred souls with enough courage to shove through our bugs and dodge the sharp edges. In the meantime, do add yourself to our invite lottery so that your name will be there when the next round of invites go out! (FactoryJoe)

Currently, Flock could not be an invite beta, because technical aspects in both the Flock Browser and the community infrastructure are not quite there yet. It is more of an alpha There is a delicate balance at this stage between feedback slowing us down and accelerating the development. We will expand the invite as soon as the implementation of the browser and the infrastructure allows us.

And no, creating an account does not mean that you have cracked our system, or found a way to get the Flock browser — though I will admit that before I joined Flock Inc, I thought at first I was being sneaky by doing the same thing. That login connects you and the browser to a reference bookmarks service that will not be part of the public beta. That was an experiment with [our] own hosted bookmark service, “we concluded we’re not an online services company,” says Decrem. Instead we will be partnering with companies and organizations that are leaders in the various web services.

My first hand experience to this process as one of “the keeper of the gate” of Flock invites has led me to reflect on “invite betas”. I do not consider Flock an “invite beta”. I consider it a private beta. Although Flock’s current release is invite only, someone that receives an invite does not have any ability to invite other people. This is different than gmail, WordPress.com and other invite betas.

When I first heard of the gmail invite system I though it was strange, but back then I was happy to be connected to people that could give me access. Later I discovered, the now defunct, cool workaround by Ian “isnoop” Anthony and pumped my invites to it.

Why is gmail still an invite beta?! It is distasteful if it is now stricktly for marketing reasons as such a scenario seems manipulative to me.

The goal of private and invite betas is to create buzz (demand), and get feedback from early adopters, and to test scalability without putting a strain on the development resources. Participating in a beta requires additional technical skill, and understanding that data may be lost.

There is a danger of creating a clique situation, “the haves and the have nots”. Help us not create this situation. Be patient, sign up at Flock.com, but remember that no mater what, within a month, anyone and everyone will have access!

Technorati Tags: flock, flock.com, Bart Decrem, factoryjoe, private beta, invite beta, browser, web browser, social browser, Chris Messina