moblog:tech, the new name for UK moblogging pioneers MoblogUK, has entered a new phase and is now looking for an ‘equity for investment’ deal.
The privately owned moblog:tech (MT) launched Moblog.co.uk in 2003 and is now now one of Europe’s biggest moblogging community sites. In fact pictures from the London bombings appeared first on the site, showing at the time that the emerging phenomena of ‘citizen journalism’ and user generated content could have dramatic impact on new events.
Moblogging – as they define it – is the process of posting online images, audio and video from mobile phones. Right now the site generates advertising and subscriber revenues, and features “Promoblogs“. These are branded promotional websites to which a rock band, or event or a community can send content from their mobiles. These are then customised or held as standalone micro-sites, and are also featured within the moblog:UK community. Clients pay a license fee for a 3-month or annual Promoblogs.
MT also offers the Participation Toolkit which allows them to create a separate white-label moblogging community site for a client and their target audience. This is possibly their most valuable asset at this time, outside of the online community of MoblogUK. A major client for this so far is Channel 4’s Big Art Mob project.
MT has a pretty experienced 5-person management team which includes, Mat Brown and Ben Godfrey (tech), Jonathan Allen (community), Lori Faye Fischler and Alfie Dennen (sales and marketing).
Dennen is also well known starting the “We are not afraid” viral campaign after the London bombings of July 2005.
ValleyWag today runs an interesting insider piece from a startup developing Facebook applications. Until recently FB members could invite all their friends to an app. creating massive viral adoption. Hence why some apps like Top Friends by Slide ended up with millions of users. Now Facebook is limiting app invitations to just 10 per day. That mean anyone creating a new app and trying to go viral has a mountain to climb. This is basically Facebook shooting themselves in the foot. Previously there seemed to be a great ecosystem developing where startups would be able to hook into revenue share deals based on the adoption of their app. Now, the ‘head’ of the apps ‘long tail’ will win because FB has artificially rigged the system in favour of those apps that came out before the “invite all” gate closed. Given that there are even a few UK developers who were banking on the Facebook app platform to create some success, this news makes for some depressing reading. Why is Facebook the new AOL? It’s just another a walled garden baby…
Parkatmyhouse.com has 1000 uniques per day and has a had a lot of press coverage. Partnered with Zipcar and which is helping them to move to the US market. The founder claims to have had a sudden amount of adoption by users in London. The future is increasing the user base and syndicating content around restaurant web sites. Also extending the brand into: Liveatmyhouse, Sleepatmyhouse, Holidayatmyhouse.com and is looking to raise investment.
New initiative for starups launches. Here’ the blurb form their site:
“Seedcamp is where Europe’s top young founders can come together in one place. From securing funding to developing the right network, young entrepreneurs in Europe face challenges in building globally competitive technology businesses. Through the provision of seed capital and a world class connection of mentors, we are providing a catalyst for Europe’s next entrepreneur generation. We welcome Europe’s brightest and most ambitious young entrepreneurs to take part in Seedcamp.”
The BBC reports on research by Danah Boyd which found that Facebook users come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college while MySpace users tend not to have gone on to further education. While “class” in the US does not map directly to income it is more about social life and networks. Hence Facebook users tend to be white and education oriented while MySpace teenager tend to come from families from immigrant backgrounds.
This rings true in my view, and maps to my view that in the future the really powerful networks will be closed ones. You can’t get to a Facebook profile unless you are registered and it’s not open to the Web. On MySpace anyone – logged in or not – can reach you, and it also reflects a teenager’s general “posture” to the outside world much more because of its public nature.
From Brand Republic: “The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and 10Duke have launched the first specialist tennis-dedicated online network, claiming that vertical communities will displace the likes of YouTube and MySpace. The ATP is using 10Duke’s technology platform to take its existing offline community online. Users can upload footage to 30Love.net via online and mobile to show off their tennis skills. Tennis fans can access behind the scenes clips from the pro tennis tour, view exclusive player video clips and share photos, videos and personal profiles.”
Again, from Brand Republic: “Sky is in talks with Facebook about launching a permanent branded presence on the social-networking site created for students. The satellite broadcaster is running its first ad campaign on the site to gauge whether the site’s 3.7m monthly unique users are willing to interact with its brand. If the trials are successful, Sky intends to invest in the development of a Facebook group to promote its premium subscription services, flagship programmes and bundled TV, broadband and telephony package.”
Comment: Somewhere along the line the plethora of social networks will break and users will rebel. They don’t want to log into 10 social networks before breakfast just to pick up every single “poke”. Either OpenID will work as a concept (although it’s sorely in need of a re-brand, since who wants their ID open?) or they just won’t join a niche networking site, prefering instead to set up their own Tennis group inside Facebook, et al. And guess what? Sky is getting in there early and setting up its own. This seems like the smarter move.
It’s all very well for Facebook to be smug about it’s new found success but a new report suggests that the latest vogue for social networking is built on the same shaky ground as any other site on the Net which is but a click away.
In particular, MySpace users are chronically unfaithful, according to Parks Associates‘ “Web 2.0 & the New Net,” a new report that focuses on the social networking market. Nearly 40% percent of MySpace users keep profiles on other social networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook. Loyalty among the smaller social networking sites is even lower, with more than 50% of all users actively maintaining multiple profiles.
The report also found that nearly half of all social networkers regularly use more than one site; one in six use three or more. The end result is mish-mash of sites, blogs and profiles tied together by links, widgets, and the users themselves. “MySpace is a growing ecosystem and one that ironically now extends beyond MySpace itself,” said John Barrett, the lead author of the report, “Web 2.0 & the New Net.”
Indeed. Some might say it’s either an “ecosystem” or it’s part of a diaspora to other networks. The jury is out.
Although Parks calls this trend a “fertile ground for new social networking sites and application providers”, the reality is that Facebook is getting all the media airtime at the moment, and one wonders how long MySpace can continue with its tendency towards a walled garden (promoted by aging News Corp. executives) strategy in the wake of such extreme competition.
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