So, you might be able to tell that I chose to do some experimenting with ping.fm. It is billed as a web app that will tie all your social media tools together so that you can use update status, post a blog, or microblog in one place and have it syndicated all over.
I appreciate the development effort. It was pretty user friendly to both explore and to understand the basic functionality. The advanced functions just made me want to go back into my cave. There are some ways to preference how each of your social media spaces are updated based on the way you send out a status update.
I can't find any real compelling reason to use it as my hub to send status out, maybe I just don't get it. If I use it as my hub, I can't see the emerging conversation that happens outside of it. There are enough ways to create a full circle with the popular tools out there without thinking of ping.fm as the main hub.
There is one reason i can see using it. Ping.fm introduced me to seesmic.com. It is a service where you can do a quick webcam video and it integrates on the fly with ping and turns it into a short url. Again, I can't see the responding conversation if I stay inside ping, but it is a very cool way to get a quick vid out.
I guess ping.fm was created with the idea that people want to get their updates out, and don't care as much for the conversation that happens after. For that reason, it's more compelling for businesses who are using social media as a broadcast channel (which is the wrong reason to use it) instead of the indivdual who is particpating in a conversation.