Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Do You Squidoo?

I have been taking part in the beta testing programme for Seth Godin’s new web-2.0 startup Squidoo. They have just lifted their blogging embargo as of today, hence this post. What is Squidoo all about? It is an online social application. It is based on the idea that everyone is an expert on something (read their PDF which outlines their philosophy). The site allows anyone to create (ideally) focussed, one-topic web pages. Squidoo lenspages are construced from different classes of modules and everything is RSS-enabled and AJAX-powered. With Google Adsense integrated as well, there is the opportunity to generate a revenue stream if your content is compelling enough.
One key idea is that your own personal lens-page could be a companion to your blog. Someone coming to your blog to the first time may not want to re-read a volume of existing posts to understand what you are about. A lens-page could give that reader a snapshot overview of who you are and where your head is at. Equally a lens-page can be about any topic that you are interested in.
Have a look at my first quick effort at assembling a lens-page, for some idea of what this service facilitiates. I do not have any substantial content posted there yet, as I was concentrating on exploring the interface and the tools available today.
Some more fully-realised lens-pages examples are the Squidlens and Seth Godin’s personal lens-page.
Now that this service is in public beta you can start building your own lens-pages and linking them to your blog.
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