Social media has changed the way we interact with the internet. We spend time sharing our thoughts, showing our photos, and connecting with our friends through messaging and chat. We discuss our feelings on current events in real time. The problem for a large number of us comes from our inability to do all those things from a single program. What needed to happen was for someone to integrate our need to be connected with our ability to access information.

Rockmelt: Welcome To The Social Browser

Rockmelt is based on the source for Google Chrome, meaning that it has access to the Chrome Web Store and all of Chrome’s extensions. However, Rockmelt is something much bigger than a Chrome variant. It is a full social integration into browsing. The team at Rockmelt took the idea of the internet connecting you to your world, and redesigned the way a browser works. They started by adding a full suite of Facebook integration tools. From the very start of the browser, you log-in via your Facebook account, establishing your place in the cloud. Next, they added Twitter to the equation, giving you access to all the tweets in your feed whenever you want them. They then integrated the ability to watch RSS feeds from the browser’s framework. All this with the added ability to browse the web the way you know with Chrome.

Make The Most Of Rockmelt’s Biggest Features

1) Facebook Chat – Rockmelt does a very good job of giving you access to your friends on Facebook at all time. The left hand edge of the browser is dedicated to a chat interface for Facebook. You can view all friends online, or you can set favorites by clicking the star icon in any open chat window. Once Favorite friends are set, you can click the star icon on the chat edge to view just those friends. Using this favorites features is one of the best ways to make Facebook Chat work for you. You know when the people you want to talk to are online, and are given immediate access to them and their profiles.

2) App Edge – Rockmelt’s “App Edge” allows you to create shortcuts for your favorite sites, so long as they have RSS feeds. These shortcuts allow you to monitor your favorite websites for updates. This counts for Facebook and Twitter feeds as well. To make the the most out of this feature, add sites you visit and read everyday. If you are using time out of your day to check them for updates, add them to your app edge. It may not sound like much, but I find that I spend less time hunting for stores I care about by having the ability to monitor updates from sites that I am always interested in.

3) Instant Search – One of Rockmelt’s most hyped features is its change in search, specifically the built-in search bar. What they have done is produce results in a small pop-up window, similar to the others user in Rockmelt’s interface. The best way to make the most out of this feature is to use it instead of going to Google or typing search terms into the address bar. The ability to pick directly from an instant list without leaving the page you are on is incredibly time saving. You will find yourself getting things done much faster through this change in the way you search the internet.

How To Get Rockmelt

Rockmelt is still in invitation only beta. The easiest way to get it is to sign up via their site. You can use your Facebook login information to request an invite. If you want to see my thoughts on Rockmelt, please visit my review on Tony’s Brain.

What do you think of Rockmelt? Does it help you  be more productive? Please let us know in the comment section below.