Flock is the first major browser geared toward social-networking addicts.  Available for both Windows and Mac users, it will do absolutely nothing for you if you’re looking to get away from MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogging, and other Web 2.0 mainstays.  If, on the other hand, this is one addiction you’re looking to feed with a shovel, this app has everything you need to stay one step ahead of the bleeding edge.

Based on the same code used for Firefox and sporting that browser’s security and performance features, Flock is specialized for social networking.  Customize it with the various site that you use–including Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, and MySpace — and it displays a list of your friends in a panel on the left side of the screen.  You can see status messages, profile updates, and any photos and videos that have been added as well as update your own information, and share images and links with your friends by just by dragging and dropping.  If you’re the type of person who constantly checks Facebook or MySpace, this is the browser for you.

Most of Flock’s special features revolve around its nine special menu buttons and the sidebar that sits below them.  Nine buttons at the top of the collapsible sidebar make accessing any of your social-networking or frequently used Web sites easier than Twittering your breakfast.

Each button either helps you get your message out faster, such as dragging and dropping photos into Flickr, or helps you read blogs quicker, as with the integrated RSS reader. The People button turns the sidebar into a nifty way to track your social-networking accounts. Bloggers can set up Flock with login information for their LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, or Blogger accounts, and then write and post entries to one or all directly from the browser.  Most regular Firefox extensions work, too. Even though it’s resource-heavy, Flock is the only way to go if Twittering, Facebooking, or YouTubing is how you spend most of your time online.

Where most browsers make you go out and find all of the sites and pages you’d like to see on the Web, Flock works in reverse: It brings the information to you!