You probably won't have heard of Islandoo, or of the company behind it, Mint Digital, based in Vauxhall. Paul Kelbie in the Independent:
It started life as a website where wannabe reality-television participants could post their audition clips. After less than six weeks, Islandoo.com, a site for would-be contestants for Channel 4's Shipwrecked, has become an internet phenomenon to rival the social networking site MySpace.In its short life, Islandoo.com has attracted more than 18,000 profiles, more than 1.5 million comments from participants and more than 10 million page views.Islandoo.com asks wannabe participants to upload pictures and videos that are available for all visitors to the site to view. The most popular are then put to the vote every Friday, the winner gaining an audition for the show.
It started life as a website where wannabe reality-television participants could post their audition clips. After less than six weeks, Islandoo.com, a site for would-be contestants for Channel 4's Shipwrecked, has become an internet phenomenon to rival the social networking site MySpace.
In its short life, Islandoo.com has attracted more than 18,000 profiles, more than 1.5 million comments from participants and more than 10 million page views.
Islandoo.com asks wannabe participants to upload pictures and videos that are available for all visitors to the site to view. The most popular are then put to the vote every Friday, the winner gaining an audition for the show.
Shipwrecked gets tens of thousands of applications. Islandoo uses Web 2.0 techniques to let the fans filter the best candidates to the top - it's worth checking out some of the 'islanders' that have subsequently been called for audition, such as joeyboy135 and cat17.
However, the community has obviously taken on a life of it's own.
Burnsybaby, Islander:
"This site is more addictive than crack"
Gabsy, Islander:
"I'm literally just doing this and making a cup of tea roughly every 45 minutes... MySpace has already got me by the balls and now this!"
Mint Digital's Andy Bell:
It is famously difficult to predict how a community will interact with a piece of software. What has astounded us is how friendly Islandoo is. As I write, our newest islander (our 9744th) is a girl named melodyblue. She joined Islandoo 12 minutes ago. She already has 12 comments and 9 fans.Our recent research suggests MySpace is like a pub where most people chat to their existing friends, boys ogle girls and occasionally you bump into someone new at the bar. By comparison, Islandoo is the world’s friendliest party. As soon as you open the door, dozens of people want to say ‘hi’ and start a conversation. It is great buzz (and, anecdotally, a great way to meet people).The flip side of this is 'fan spam'. Islanders have quickly realised that a good strategy is to fan as many other islanders as possible - there is a good chance you’ll get fanned back, increasing your prominence.
It is famously difficult to predict how a community will interact with a piece of software. What has astounded us is how friendly Islandoo is. As I write, our newest islander (our 9744th) is a girl named melodyblue. She joined Islandoo 12 minutes ago. She already has 12 comments and 9 fans.
Our recent research suggests MySpace is like a pub where most people chat to their existing friends, boys ogle girls and occasionally you bump into someone new at the bar. By comparison, Islandoo is the world’s friendliest party. As soon as you open the door, dozens of people want to say ‘hi’ and start a conversation. It is great buzz (and, anecdotally, a great way to meet people).
The flip side of this is 'fan spam'. Islanders have quickly realised that a good strategy is to fan as many other islanders as possible - there is a good chance you’ll get fanned back, increasing your prominence.
It will be fascinating to see how it develops.
Update: Will McInnes:
Islandoo proves that the development of crazy cool new online communities is just starting, and that it's totally do-able for the right client, the right project, the right niche.YouTube and MySpace and Bebo and SecondLife aren't the peak of this web2 interjoinedness. They represent the start.People will look back on these and even earlier prototypes like FriendsReunited as just that - early prototypes; funny cruddy, flakey, brilliant, world-changing
Islandoo proves that the development of crazy cool new online communities is just starting, and that it's totally do-able for the right client, the right project, the right niche.
YouTube and MySpace and Bebo and SecondLife aren't the peak of this web2 interjoinedness. They represent the start.
People will look back on these and even earlier prototypes like FriendsReunited as just that - early prototypes; funny cruddy, flakey, brilliant, world-changing
Robin Grant
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