Many moons ago, I wrote a blog post on my personal blog site about how comments do not equate to a community. I had a lot of gripes with the lack of accountability in regular comments, the linear and inflexible nature of the tools available for commenting, and the general one-dimensionality of the experience.
For the longest time Zadi and I were watching the open source projects and commercial sites offering web community tools in the hopes that we could roll out a social component for JETSET. Drupal was the leader and the obvious choice, but quite frankly it lacked attractive templating options. It is also pretty far from a turnkey tool, or at least it was when we were reviewing packages.
Then we found Ning. We were immediately impressed by how easy it was to set up a social network site, customize it, and be up and running. In two days in May, over ten total hours, we built the MIX site that still looks the same today. Our hardcore fans could immediately begin uploading photos and videos, talk in threaded forums, customize their own profile pages, connect over common interests, interact with us about show topics and ideas, and so much more. Just like that, we had a real community.
Welcome to the new Smashface site and blog!
Smashface was founded in 2003 in New York. At that time, we were doing small-scale documentary work and doctoring screenplays. Seems like a lifetime ago.
When we came out to Los Angeles in January 2005 online video was maturing into a force to be reckoned with. After some experimentation we developed JETSET, where we were free to explore the best ways to interact with the people who watched the show.
After a couple of months creating that show we realized we were not utilizing the concepts and tools that make web shows unique. To truly engage and interact with our audience we needed to set up the show in a way that made them a part of it. It took some trial and error, but we experimented with our format, our calls to action, and we developed a community tool that works quite well.
Now well over a year and half into JETSET, we have serious experience cultivating a community around a web show and we're going to use that knowledge to inform all of our projects going forward. And we intend to push that interactivity as far as present technology can take it, as long as it's a good experience for the audience.
