Take Digg + Ruby on Rails + Entertainment Weekly and add them all up and you get PopCurrent, which is just about 60 days old now. This is site that copies Digg’s look and feel but that focuses on entertainment media rather than tech stories. Lots of entertaining video and podcasts rated here.
I was just talking with master developer Ray Slakinski (he did one of the first podcasting aggregators, iPodderX) and he was showing me around PopCurrent and explaining to me the challenges of running a Web 2.0 business that’s less than two months old.
He says most of his traffic comes from MySpace.
Not much traffic comes from traditional search engines yet, but he notices that he’s seeing growth there. He says he is getting tens of thousands of unique visitors per day. The bands there, he tells me, are always trying to find new ways to get noticed and so they talk up when they are high on PopCurrent. Also, people who have podcasts who might have 500 to 1,000 listeners talk it up as well.
Two programmers, who live in Toronto, did this site in Ruby on Rails. It’s been open since June.
One of his favorite video shows that gets featured on PopCurrent? HopeIsEmo, which is a show done by a goth girl. A sad goth girl. But, it’s funny. Thanks Ray for letting me know about that!
Scobleizer 
Thanks for the kind words Robert! I hope your media-savvy readers see value in the site!
Just a side note, Hope Is Emo is not done by a goth girl, but rather by Crista Flanagan of MADtv fame and is produced by the same folks that do AskANinja 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for the kind words Robert! I hope your media-savvy readers see value in the site!
Just a side note, Hope Is Emo is not done by a goth girl, but rather by Crista Flanagan of MADtv fame and is produced by the same folks that do AskANinja 🙂
LikeLike
Digg is about Tech stories? That’s news to me.. most Digg stories seem to be OMG!! LOOK @ DIS C00l Vide0
🙂
LikeLike
Digg is about Tech stories? That’s news to me.. most Digg stories seem to be OMG!! LOOK @ DIS C00l Vide0
🙂
LikeLike
When are we going to see the reverse? The worst news, the most shocking, etc ? 🙂
After all Vault (Guaranteed worst movies in town) was a success. http://www.videovault.com/
LikeLike
When are we going to see the reverse? The worst news, the most shocking, etc ? 🙂
After all Vault (Guaranteed worst movies in town) was a success. http://www.videovault.com/
LikeLike
Met: that’s an awesome idea!
LikeLike
Met: that’s an awesome idea!
LikeLike
I’m not trying to be cantankerous here, but can someone please explain to me what the appeal of this site it? Digg is interesting b/c it’s collecting user-nominated net rankings, and Kevin Rose, who put himself at the center of DiggNation, at least has a personality (love it or hate it, it’s undeniably a form of entertainment.). Ruby on Rails is great in how it simplifies web application production. And Entertainment Weekly entices people because celebrity, entertainment culture and escapism is emotionally addictive.
But why anyone needs a mashup of this type is totally mystifying to me. Robert, dont’ you feel Digg will evetnually cover this within it’s scope? Please explain: where’s the value in PopCurrent??
LikeLike
I’m not trying to be cantankerous here, but can someone please explain to me what the appeal of this site it? Digg is interesting b/c it’s collecting user-nominated net rankings, and Kevin Rose, who put himself at the center of DiggNation, at least has a personality (love it or hate it, it’s undeniably a form of entertainment.). Ruby on Rails is great in how it simplifies web application production. And Entertainment Weekly entices people because celebrity, entertainment culture and escapism is emotionally addictive.
But why anyone needs a mashup of this type is totally mystifying to me. Robert, dont’ you feel Digg will evetnually cover this within it’s scope? Please explain: where’s the value in PopCurrent??
LikeLike
Megan: Digg may cover it within its scope, but the site still seems very tech-centric in its user base to me. I’m not sure it’ll ever be able to overcome that, and diverse into the mom and pop crowd. Especially when so many people in the current Digg user base are…well, assholes.
By focusing on *just* entertainment right out of the gate, PopCurrent attracts a completely different user base.
Just ask yourself: Can you see the MySpace crowd on Digg?
Yeah. Thought not.
LikeLike
Megan: Digg may cover it within its scope, but the site still seems very tech-centric in its user base to me. I’m not sure it’ll ever be able to overcome that, and diverse into the mom and pop crowd. Especially when so many people in the current Digg user base are…well, assholes.
By focusing on *just* entertainment right out of the gate, PopCurrent attracts a completely different user base.
Just ask yourself: Can you see the MySpace crowd on Digg?
Yeah. Thought not.
LikeLike
Hope is Emo is actually from the makers of Ask a Ninja with the girl from MadTV.
LikeLike
Hope is Emo is actually from the makers of Ask a Ninja with the girl from MadTV.
LikeLike
oops helps if I read the comments above. I’m such a n00b on blogs.
LikeLike
oops helps if I read the comments above. I’m such a n00b on blogs.
LikeLike
Megan: It’s about creating a new user base. Digg is hopelessly geeky, and will always remain so at its core. PopCurrent is starting off fresh, and can thus accrue a totally different audience as its base.
Just ask yourself: Can you see the Digg and the MySpace crowds intermingling?
Yeah, ‘swhat I thought. 🙂
LikeLike
Megan: It’s about creating a new user base. Digg is hopelessly geeky, and will always remain so at its core. PopCurrent is starting off fresh, and can thus accrue a totally different audience as its base.
Just ask yourself: Can you see the Digg and the MySpace crowds intermingling?
Yeah, ‘swhat I thought. 🙂
LikeLike
Social news — or whatever you want to call this phenom Digg pioneered — is a relatively new ‘net thang’. The masses have not yet got it like they’ve gotten MySpace or YouTube. PopCurrent may be the site that’s packaged it correctly for the first time. After all MySpace didn’t invent social networking: they were simply the first ones who packaged it right. They copied most concepts from Friendster who in turn copied Ryze who in turn copied SixDegrees — who in turn probably clipped it from somewhere else. Digg itself clips hard from Slashdot for its format, and MySpace and Del.icio.us for concepts. Already, MySpacers are on PopCurrent in droves … and we don’t see too many of *them* on Digg or Netscape. That in itself is interesting and noteworthy and shows PopCurrent has at least partially succeeded out of the gate in a market segment these other sites haven’t.
LikeLike
Social news — or whatever you want to call this phenom Digg pioneered — is a relatively new ‘net thang’. The masses have not yet got it like they’ve gotten MySpace or YouTube. PopCurrent may be the site that’s packaged it correctly for the first time. After all MySpace didn’t invent social networking: they were simply the first ones who packaged it right. They copied most concepts from Friendster who in turn copied Ryze who in turn copied SixDegrees — who in turn probably clipped it from somewhere else. Digg itself clips hard from Slashdot for its format, and MySpace and Del.icio.us for concepts. Already, MySpacers are on PopCurrent in droves … and we don’t see too many of *them* on Digg or Netscape. That in itself is interesting and noteworthy and shows PopCurrent has at least partially succeeded out of the gate in a market segment these other sites haven’t.
LikeLike
From the orgin. “weblog” Robot Wisdom to a million script kiddies Digging around…and people think we have progressed…funny how the mind of one, beats the “wisdom” of the mashed-up masses.
LikeLike
From the orgin. “weblog” Robot Wisdom to a million script kiddies Digging around…and people think we have progressed…funny how the mind of one, beats the “wisdom” of the mashed-up masses.
LikeLike
Thanks everyone for your comments!
Yes Digg is currently tech centric, and may break free of that mold over time, but right off the bat they are killing of a segment that we accept with open arms — They ban MySpace links. Think of us as a peer-review RollingStone magazine that lets you see the long tail of what people think of your band or song. We also accept podcasts, and books both segments digg wants nothing to do with.
We do share the same segments of games and videos true, but because our community base is different we end up with a totally different mix. Like right now we have some great video podcasts and surfing videos, stuff you never see on digg.
LikeLike
Thanks everyone for your comments!
Yes Digg is currently tech centric, and may break free of that mold over time, but right off the bat they are killing of a segment that we accept with open arms — They ban MySpace links. Think of us as a peer-review RollingStone magazine that lets you see the long tail of what people think of your band or song. We also accept podcasts, and books both segments digg wants nothing to do with.
We do share the same segments of games and videos true, but because our community base is different we end up with a totally different mix. Like right now we have some great video podcasts and surfing videos, stuff you never see on digg.
LikeLike