UPDATE: Philtro was acquired by CityVoice in late 2009.
A few weeks ago, I opened up my RSS reader of choice (NetNewsWire, actually) to quickly scan the titles of the new posts available and mark the rest as “read” immediately. Total time spent: 5 minutes. Total value gained: 0. I needed to find a better way to filter my feeds or risk contuining this daily charade.
There’s no doubt that RSS (and Twitter) have become essential to the online experience, we’re all getting busier and the amount of information we get bombarded with increases (exponentially?) on a daily basis. What we really need is a tool to help us manage the increasing amount of information we’re dealing with so we can get some of our precious time back.
The existing market for RSS readers and Twitter clients is huge, however there’s not much out there that actually tries to save you some time. In fact, I haven’t found a single client that can single-handedly reduce my Twitter & RSS overload. I want to change all that with something that is simple to use, fun to use and makes life easy again. That’s why I created Philtro.
So, what does it do?
Philtro lets you rate articles and tweets so you can find the most interesting, relevant posts first. It’s like a spam filter for your RSS & Twitter subscriptions. Philtro helps you sort through hundreds of posts to find the ones you want to read. Just signup, add your Twitter account and/or RSS feeds and start rating your stuff. Philtro takes care of the rest.
Just under two weeks ago, I launched a private beta version of Philtro and starting receiving great feedback from the early testers. (Thanks everyone!) I’ve been rolling out bugfixes and improving Philtro on a daily basis but it’s time to start spreading the word. If you or anyone else you know is overwhelmed by their RSS or Twitter feeds, signup for the Philtro beta!
If you want to help improve Philtro or just make me feel good about myself, here’s how you can help:
- Sign up for Philtro. (Yes, it’s completely free.)
- Send me some feedback via email or Twitter.
- Spread the word: tweet, blog, or send a link to your favorite journalist about Philtro.