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September 27, 2006
I Don't MySpace, I Wallop
Software giant Microsoft is not content with being left behind in this age of online social networks and blogging so instead of buying up established networks like Friendster and MySpace (both of which have already been bought by other companies), they went out and created their own.
The service is called Wallop - and as they put it; "discover an exclusive social experience like no other". So let's dissect its features, shall we?
For one, the design is slick. It uses almost every arbitrary web 2.0 design rule; glassy interfaces, big type, lots of rounded edges, and icons. Throw in a bit of Windows Vista and you pretty much can picture what Wallop looks like, or you can click on the image above to see a bigger version. Overall it puts MySpace and Friendster to shame. Just like the aforementioned, Wallop lets you keep and organize a list of friends, blog and store photos. However, it goes a few steps beyond by allowing you to share music, web links and features a fully integrated chat module (we'll get into what modules are later) and email system. The most important feature is customization.
People LOVE to deck out their MySpace and Friendster pages. Unfortunately, most of them have no design sense or coding skills so pages end up bloated, bogged down, and left looking like some rudimentary web design 1.0 class project. This is where Microsoft's strength weighs in. The interface looks like a desktop application. Every component (friend's list, pictures, music, blog, web links, chat) lives in a widget like window. So in essence, you basically have a computer desktop environment where you can change the desktop background and re-skin all the modules or widgets. This allows everyone to personalize their page without compromising on functionality. The friend's sorting feature seems particularly interesting. It allows you to group your friends into different communities, i.e. family, work friends, drinking buddies, ex-b/f's, etc. Each group and each person sprawls lines to other people they know or are connected to. It's sort of a visual diagram of the 6 degrees of separation theory. There's a lot more to it but with those features, it makes your ordinary friends lists look antiquated.
Wallop is devoid of advertisement banners but features a new system for people and companies to make money by creating cool widgets or modules and selling them thru what they call the Wallop Modder Network.
Wallop looks to be a fully fledged online social community that addresses many of the issues with current communities. The service is beta right now and accepting new members by invitations only, sorta like what Google did with their mail service. With Microsoft as it's daddy, I'm sure we'll see tons more features and services launched once the site goes public. For now, enjoy MySpace and Friendster because Wallop may just be the next big thing in online social communities.
Posted by tranism at 1:54 AM | Permalink
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Comments
Okay, I am pretty much anti-Microsoft with anything they make, except for msn. Which I only use because I don't know anyone who uses iChat or aim (they also need to update the mac verison of msn, stat!).
But this Wallop looks pretty damn sweet. 100 times better than MySpace. Which annoys me so much now. People put way too much crap on their MySpace pages. Wallop has a very clean design to it. I wonder if they'll be somehow working the Zune and Zune marketplace into Wallop at somepoint, allowing for more music to be shared. Possibily downloaded from your friends Wallop page to your Zune?
Posted by: Johnnie at September 27, 2006 5:52 AM
@Johnnie:
I wonder if they'll be somehow working the Zune and Zune marketplace into Wallop at somepoint, allowing for more music to be shared.
Now — that would actually be a smart PR move. Now, we're talking MS here — so I'm going to go with 'no' on that one... =P
Posted by: Arnor at September 27, 2006 8:31 AM
It looks alot like apples first run of OSX... ou think Web 2.0 was created by or from Apples love child?
Posted by: gunmetalblue at September 27, 2006 3:24 PM
Is anyone a member and want to invite people [ me ;-) ] for the beta?
Please email me: xenonin@gmail.com
Thanks,
Divus
Posted by: Divus at September 27, 2006 4:58 PM
Microsoft's social networking site Wallop has raised $10 million. The investors are Norwest Venture Partners, Bay Partners and Consor Capital. This is just one week following Soapbox's launch. You can bet the Wallop spinoff is a sign of more Microsoft spinoffs to come. Microsoft is a hotbed of innovation trapped inside a big software company waiting to be unleashed. I would bet there is more to come. I can just see a line of VCs waiting to invest in these Microsoft spinoff companies. Read More
Posted by: Mr Wave Theory at September 27, 2006 5:28 PM
This is kicks Myspace's butt lol! I want in, someone let me in
Posted by: Cricket at October 6, 2006 6:48 AM
I would like to try Wallop. I am appreciate if you invite me. Thank you.
Posted by: Louise at October 12, 2006 8:38 PM