I just wanted to highlight some really well-built websites I might not use every day, but like anyway.
They have a strong brand, they have attention to detail, they have a vibrant membership. They do it right. They are well built.
Their vision is “Let’s use the Internet to get people off the Internet.” They run the platform that helps 5 million people around the world regularly meet up around a huge range of topics. Simple interface, simple value proposition, great results. I went to my first Meetup meetup last month.
What started as an online multiplayer game soon turned into one of the web’s first social networks. Flickr has an amazing community which has grown to over 3 billion photos. Their success was aided by their strong organisational tools and an API that let developers build on the platform. I’m a Pro.
Although it existed long before Youtube Vimeo was never going to take over the world of online video. Home to personally-produced movies, Vimeo has a great community and a culture that shines. They were the first to release HD video capabilities and are well known for creative content. My vids.
If you find yourself regularly jet-setting around the world to various conferences it is nice to know which friends will also be there. Dopplr helps you discover these overlaps and is effectively on a path to kill coincidental meetings in the street. I don’t go far.
We all produce content all across the web, and FriendFeed does a great job of pulling it together. I think the product is really well designed, but the key issue is that there is just way too much stuff happening to keep track of. When they figure out how to filter the stream so that there is more signal and less noise, it will be super useful. Facebook are making progress here but there is a lot of work to be done. My stream.
When I first saw it I was blown away by the simplicity of StumbleUpon – it is a browser toolbar that lets you vote a website thumbs up or thumbs down, or hit the Stumble button to be sent to a website listed in their database that you should like based on your rating history. Amazing concept – and they pulled it off, selling to eBay in 2007. I don’t stumble.
Pitched as the last radio station you will ever need, Last.fm are doing a great job. I remember downloading the Audioscrobbler plugin in 2002 because it would track the songs you were playing with the promise of being able to recommend music down the road. After merging with Last.fm that became a reality and you can now tune in to an audio stream of recommended music based on your history. They sold for $350m a few years ago, and they continue to provide a top-notch service. My tunes.
Tumblelogs are a variation on the blog that attracts frequent short-form mixed-media posts. Tumblr jumped on the idea and created the perfect platform for the format. The site has blossomed and has a diverse volume of posts. They recently raised $4.5m in funding so it will be interesting to see how they evolve over the next few years. My vacant Tumblr.
I jumped onboard when they first launched, snatching one of the early invites to the service. I was underwhelmed to say the least, but now that they have had a year to iterate it has become something with a lot of promise. The value isn’t clearly apparent, but once you play with the well-engineered iPhone app and ‘check in’ at a few different locations you can start to see the potential. Brightkite is virtual graffiti for the real world. My places.
Twttr’s group SMS amongst friends has evolved to become one of the hottest messaging sites on the web. This is a medium where it is acceptable to share the minutia of life – talk about your coffee, a fleeting idea, or what your friends are doing. Twitter gives us the chance to get inside people’s heads on a much greater level than was previously available through blogs. The key drivers in their success were the limitation of 140 character messages (the length of an SMS), and the developer API that has 10x the traffic of the website itself. Follow me!
I truly believe this is the future of news. Qik is a simple but powerful platform that lets you stream video from your mobile phone to a website, with live text-chat for instant feedback from viewers. With over 3.3 billion active mobile phone subscriptions today, we can reach and broadcast stories of places the media can only dream of. Qik are well-placed to grow and dominate this area. My Streams.
They started as a dating website with a twist but when they figured out that there were no single people using the site they turned into a social casual gaming site instead. Their main metric is “hours wasted”, and who can argue with that? The first IILWY game I got addicted to was Blockles, a multiplayer tetris-clone. They have added a bunch more now and they even have their own version of Pacman that is quite fun. My addiction.
Is there anything you think should be added to the list?
By Ross Hill - December 29th, 2008 at 9:29pm with 1,341 views - 12seconds dopplr flickr friendfeed iilwy last.fm linkedin qik stumbleupon tumblr twitter vimeo
