Category: Web 2.0

Wallop is a new social networking site that completely turns the typical MySpace business model upside down. Wallop began as a project at Microsoft Research, and was spun off as an independent venture by Kark Jacob and Sean Uberoi Kelly, with VC backing and an equity stake from Microsoft.

I had the opportunity to test a very early version of Wallop over a year ago, and more recently got a walkthrough of the current incarnation from Kelly.

How is Wallop unique?

In a number of ways. First of all, there are no advertisements. Wallop’s business model isn’t build on advertising, but on taking an eBay-style transaction fee on ‘mods’ purchased by members. It’s a crafty blend of Flash, MySpace and Second Life.
Second, Wallop’s interface is built entirely in Flash. Because their business model doesn’t depend on ad views, there is no need to drive up a page-view rate. This leads to some really interesting and innovative interface options that make Wallop feel more like an application than a website.

Wallop provides all of the typical social networking features — journal entries, comments, friends, photo sharing and so on. But it’s entirely extensible by a community of developers or “modders.”

Flash developers can create their own mods for Wallop, and offer them for free or for sale in a marketplace. In addition, if you see a mod that you like on someone’s Wallop “page”, you can click to purchase it for your own page. The modders name their price.

Mods can include anything from games to ecard-generators to auto-updating photo montages of your friends. If you can program it with Flash, you can create a mod for Wallop.

Control Over Who Sees What

One key feature that I really liked was the ability to create ad-hoc groups of friends, and assign view or comment permission to those groups on an object-by-object basis. For example, Steve might be in my network of friends, but I also include him in a subgroup of friends who like Mott the Hoople. I could also include him in any number of other subgroups that I define (or redefine at will). Then I can post my own Mott-commentary (or photos, music, whatever) exclusively for those friends in that group. A really smart idea that I’m surprised hasn’t taken hold sooner.

How to get Wallop-ed
As of today, Wallop has opened their beta on an invitation-only basis. You can request an invitation, or if you’re a Flash designer, you can join the Wallop Modder Network.

Links:

• Wallop
• Wallop Modder Network
• WallopCorp

Recently I’ve been reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, which describes the new marketplace economics enabled by the Internet. In brief, the Internet exposes consumers to the “long tail” of products (music, DVDs, books — just about anything) that isn’t readily available in the traditional bricks-and-mortar outfits. It’s a great read, though I’m still trying to sort out how to use long tail economics to my advantage.
Robert Young over at GigaOM has written an an excellent analysis that expands (figuratively and literally) on Andersen’s long tail. Young introduces the fat belly.

Having been involved with the Internet since literally day zero of its commercial inception (back in November 1992), I have had a front-row seat watching the power of our medium’s “democratizing” effects. Digg is a great example of such effects as the value proposition of the entire system is reliant on the most democratic of all instruments… one person, one vote. Consequently, I’m a big fan of Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail” thesis, as I find the framework to be remarkably consistent with my own experiences and observations. Yet, when one attempts to understand the strategic implications of Digg, and its role as a democratizing force, even the Long Tail paradigm fails to fully showcase its true, disruptive nature.
While I won’t go into the details of the Long Tail thesis here (read Chris’ book), suffice it to say that what I find limiting is the fact that he divides the power law distribution curve into only two segments… the hit-driven head (what I call the “Big Head”) and, obviously, the long tail. What’s missing, in my opinion, is actually the most important part… the section in the middle of the curve that I affectionately call the “Fat Belly”.

The recognition of the existence of the Fat Belly is critical for many reasons, but allow me boil it all down to this overarching statement: Any economist or political scientist will agree that the health of any democratic society that’s fueled by free market capitalism is measured by the robustness of its middle class. A large and vibrant middle class demonstrates a healthy redistribution of wealth within a nation and its economy, ultimately serving as a catalyst for the power of one vote and equality amongst its peers/citizens. What all this means, and to bring this back down to earth, is simply that I prefer to segment the power law curve into three distinct segments… the big head, the fat belly, and the long tail.

Now, why is this relevant/important? The answer is simple… in my view, the potential success of any Internet venture, particularly for those heavily reliant on the development of an online community of active participants, is directly correlated with the concept’s ability to create a large and dominant Fat Belly… much like a successful democracy will result in a large and dominant middle class. And towards such ends, Digg is one of the best examples I’ve seen.

GigaOM » Digg that Fat Belly!

As I’ve read The Long Tail, I’ve been searching for an application to areas of my own life. Certainly there is “long tail content” in a mature knowledge management system. Well-established websites and forums such as BigBlueBall contain a lot of long tail content, as do blogs that have been around for any time. The big head is great, but unpredictable. The long tail is nice, but not especially valuable unless you can aggregate the value of the entire tail. The fat belly is the sweet spot for most niche players. Not a top ten hit, but popular enough to draw a significant audience.
If you consider Anderson’s long tail theory carefully, you will find that the curve reshapes itself over time, with the fat belly indeed growing bigger.
Here’s to fat bellys!

technorati tags:long_tail, gigaom, chris_anderson, fat_belly