Fluent Turns Your Inbox into Facebook-Like Stream

Fluent, a new Web-based e-mail client created by three former Google engineers, turns your inbox into a Facebook-like stream that lets you view conversation threads, attachments and mail from multiple accounts at a glance.

Fluent works with your existing Gmail account (including Google Apps accounts), but there are plans to expand it to other webmail services at a later date. Fluent is currently in a closed beta period, but the company is adding new users every day. You can sign up for an invite on the service's front page.

Fluent joins a long line of other e-mail services that try to bring a social networking feel to e-mail. Google in May added a new people widget that includes contact details, recent e-mails, shared documents, and calendar events for all your e-mail contacts. There are also services such as Xobni for Outlook and Gmail, and Rapportive, which was recently acquired by LinkedIn, that also bring personal profiles into your e-mail.

Fluent's approach is slightly different since it appears to be more interested in bringing a social networking sensibility to how you view e-mail messages rather than stuffing your window full of personal details from your contacts.

I am still waiting for my invite, so I can't say for sure how well Fluent works in the real world. But I did take some time to try out the demo version, and it looks like an intriguing way to rethink your inbox. Here's a quick look at Fluent.

Clean interface

Fluent has a clean, basic interface. You have a main column for your inbox that is very similar to social networking streams in Facebook and Twitter. At the top of the stream is a search box. To the left is a single column where you can move between multiple e-mail accounts, view a to-do list, view starred items, view recent attachments, view all mail (for an individual account), and show or hide your e-mail labels. To the right of your e-mail stream you have a column where you can switch between your to-do list or your bookmarked messages.

Each e-mail appears in a separate frame similar to how Facebook displays news stories. The top of each message shows the sender (including an avatar if available), the subject line of the e-mail, and then a snippet from the message. Clicking on the "more" link inside a message expands it into a near full-screen view where you can add or remove recipients and edit the subject line. If you don't like Fluent's social networking-inspired stream there is also a more traditional compact view that shows only the sender and subject line.

Fluent's e-mail settings include all the basics you would expect including an in-line reply window, one-click icons to mark a message as a favorite or archive it. There is a drop-down menu to add labels, forward a message, mark as unread or mark as spam. Fluent also has a one-click check mark icon to turn an e-mail into a to-do item. Fluent also has a slideshow format for all your inbox images that is viewable by message or you can view all your recent image attachments.