As users log on to the site, they’re greeted with “Join #waywire”. Users, who were promised they were going to experience something new. These users were greeted with their old friend, the #hashtag.
Yes, this observation may be a little nit picky but unluckily for waywire.com, the hashtag greeting is the smallest of their problems.
One of the main problems is that waywire.com is just another site that streamlines online video content. Sure, they do it in a visually pleasing manner but how well is this content curated for the user? On the neatly organized panel of videos are a very tiny number of re-wires or “w’s” that each video has earned. It works like a re-blog on tumblr. The most popular video only has 10 re-wires with the average number of re-wires about 3. Concerning to say the least, since the page has over 5,000 facebook fans. This suggests that the content isn’t all that pertinent to the user.
Another peculiar thing about Waywire is their mission. They believe that they exist to provide more meaningful, important and pertinent media as opposed to the celebrity gossip heavy programs that exist out there. They think of themselves as revolutionaries of sorts as suggested by their Youtube Promo video.
It would seem a bit arrogant and naïve of them to suggest that they are going to change the kind of information we digest by “changing the way we watch video online” by simply providing some sort of curated streamlined video content. It’s also quite difficult to grasp how they’re being revolutionary if they aren’t even providing any original content. Most of the clips on the site are from popular news channels such as CNN, HBO and NBC.
Reddit.com has proved that the most successful curatorship happens at the user level in niche categories. Waywire doesn’t seem to grasp this concept and that’s why they won’t be changing much.
Source: WayWire
[cb]WayWire[/cb]
