Social Web Browser Flock Switching to Chrome [Update: Not true?]

One of the smaller browsers with a diehard following is the Flock web browser. Flock’s goal is to make the web even more social by embedding your various social media profiles right into the browser. The browser allows for easy one click sharing of videos, links, and pictures, via Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, and others. Flock is based off of the Mozilla code base, and could really be considered a heavily modified FireFox. Surprisingly, the Flock team made waves today by announcing that Flock will be switching to Google Chrome under the hood.

The move is controversial for more than a few reasons. First of all, Chrome is not yet cross-platform. Flock announcing their switch to Chrome assumes that Google will soon release a Mac and Linux version. Remember, Firefox is cross-platform, so if Flock were to release their next version on Chrome before true cross-platform compatibility, it would essentially be shooting itself in the foot.

Secondly, Flock, like Firefox, is an extension-able browser. Flock supports changes in themes, addition of new social networks, and other add-ons. In its current state, the Chrome backend would simply not allow Flock to function. One would have to assume that the forthcoming Chrome extensions is the reason Flock made this switch.

So why would Flock switch to a new code base even before these key features are available? It seems rather odd to be done so early in Chrome’s life. Time will tell if this is a smart move on Flock’s part.

Update: Flock CEO Shawn Hardin responds:

Mike,

I was responding to your email from only a few hours ago when I saw your article. It’s important to clarify a couple of things. We haven’t ceased development efforts on the Mozilla platform. Our upcoming release of Flock 2.1 is built on the Mozilla platform. Having said that, the browser space is heating up, and we’ve seen a variety of exciting technologies emerge over the last several months that are appealing.

We always have and will continue to make architectural decisions that balance what’s best for our users and what’s best for Flock as a business. This has resulted in a healthy, growing user base and business for Flock, and we expect this to continue in 2009. In fact, with over seven million downloads almost entirely from word of mouth, Flock enjoys a highly satisfied user base with consistently over 92% customer satisfaction, very strong net promoter scores, and an average of four hours of usage per day.

With a continuing focus on user-centered browser innovation, our team is in active research and development on a range of exciting new enhancements to Flock. It is still far too early to comment on anything specific, but we are very excited about this design phase…