Written on October 6, 2008 – 1:48 pm
Robin Wauters, Next web enthusiast & Plugg organizer
There’s another iteration of a white-label social networking site creator in town, and its name is SocialGO.
Much like the heavily funded Ning, other social networking software makers such as PeopleAggregator, SocialSpring, Kwiqq, OneSite, GoingOn, CrowdVine, Mzinga, Haystack, CollectiveX, Moli, KickApps, DZOIC, Pringo, SmallWorldLabs and about a gazillion others, SocialGO enables you to create an online community website which can be ran stand-alone or bolted onto an existing website. Features include communication stuff like (instant) messaging, content-sharing for photos and videos, blogging tools, event management tabs, an API and blah blah blah.
If you hadn’t noticed by the number of similar services I was able to find after a 5-minute search, this particular market seems to be completely saturated, and my guess is only 2 or 3 from the list I provided above will prove to be viable businesses.
As far as I can tell, SocialGO doesn’t bring anything new to the table and is therefore remarkably late to the game. You have to wonder why UK-based Bright Things believes it can make SocialGO stand out in the crop. Jumpstarting the creation of social networks by giving away £1000 for the most ‘creative and innovative’ one is hardly going to make users aware of the service at all.
How do they plan to make a dent in the plans of Ning to become the default go-to site for creating social networks on the fly, when the Palo Alto company has someone like Marc Andreessen as Chairman and co-founder and oh … over 100 million dollars in funding? Not to mention the competition they have from existing social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, which offer customization tools to deliver a personalized networking experience for their users as well.
I’m all for taking risks and launching new web services that have a shot at appealing to a large number of people, but where’s the added value in this one? Or maybe I’m just being too cynical here, in which case you have the opportunity to convince me of the advantages of SocialGO in the comments.
(Hat tip goes to MoMB, which recently celebrated its 3rd birthday. Congrats!)
I hope you like that post!
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Written on August 26, 2008 – 11:44 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
On December 17 we reported about a new video streaming service, called Qik. Scoble was their apostle, and The Next Web their platform to explain why homemade porn wasn’t welcome (it concerns the bible). In July Joop wrote about their open beta launch. Now it’s up to me to tell you Qik has received a “significant investment” from Netscape-pioneer Marc Andreessen and his favorite business partner Horowitz.
Andreessen has an impressive track record. He’s the co-founder and chairman of Ning (valued at $500 million) and an investor in several startups including big guys like Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. Horowitz and Andreessen were two of the most important men behind Netscape in the nineties.
Their advice and money will help Qik to firm up their position in the rapidly developing live video streaming market. Flixwagon, Floobs (interview), Kyte, Bambuser (review), and maybe Seesmic are all competitors who are addressing the same eager-to-share smartphone owners. With the Andreessen-Horowitz combo in their team and Scoble as their source of publicity, it’s definitely 2-0 for Qik versus the competition.
(By the way, did you know Qik also works on a jailbroken iPhone? Yeah, video!)
Written on July 15, 2008 – 10:56 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Webjam, a London-based B2B interpretation of Ning, has raised €1.9 million dollar in series A, led by I-Source. The start-up offers companies a simple - iWeb-like - way to build a social network. Although the BBC once wrote about them as “particularly useful for those who want to create a webpage for a society, club or hobby but don’t know how to do it”, I’d recommend that these entrepreneurs focus on businesses. Since the D.I.Y social network market for fraternities and clubs seems saturated with players like Ning and newcomer Neeetz (review here).
Go for the companies
The British, Spanish and French founders (see picture) seem to realize this, as they call their market B2B2C - yet with the BBC calling them better than Facebook, Webjam seems to be tempted to try to conquer this market as well. Don’t do it guys, just offer ready-to-go social network packages to companies. The product is good enough, with the well-functioning drag ‘n drop interface and the clean look. And the result looks ok, as you can tell by this Webjam-powered site. Go get the cash Webjam, then think about threatening Facebook.
Written on June 4, 2008 – 11:20 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Two weeks ago, I met a copy writer and ex singer-songwriter, and a video expert, who wanted to start a social network for independent professionals from the creative industry. They had figured to build one themselves, but I convinced them in five minutes that DIY wasn’t the best approach here. Especially since they only wanted to reach around 200 people. So I told these two enthusiastic guys they basically had two options: create a group within a network like LinkedIn or start a Ning community. Now there’s a third option: Neeetz.
Creating a group within a social network
First thing I told them is they could start a LinkedIn or Facebook group, to check how many people are really interested in actively participating in (another) online community. Main advantage is that most people already have an account, so it’s a one-click matter. Also, they don’t have to check more than one social network. A major disadvantage is the lack of engagement. Most social network users see a group just as some sort of tattoo for their profile page: this brand/ politician / food represents my image. Users hardly check what’s going on in the (most of the times dead) community.
Ning versus Neeetz
So this lack of engagement might make you want to choose for creating a community of your own within a service like Ning. They offer you the possibility to create your own social network with a few mouse clicks. You can give it a custom-made look, without loosing the basic features of a social network. Neeetz takes this a little but bit further by letting you build a network pixel by pixel. That would convince me to opt for this service, as the more you give a social network its own face, the sooner people will feel connected to it, as it looks like a more distinct community, instead of yet another Facebook group rip-off.
And then, once you’ve built an active community, you might want to consider building a network yourself.
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