Sk*rt - A New Community for the Ladies
While sifting through my feed reader this afternoon, I came across an article about a new Digg-like site for women - Sk*rt. It’s growth has skyrocketed since launching a few days ago, and they’re already working on moving to a new host. The functionality of the site is very similar to Digg. Users submit stories that fall into different categories, then other users “vote” on the stories to promote them to the homepage. This format isn’t new, but the target audience is. Many similar sites like Digg, Reddit, and Netscape have a male-oriented user base where stories about technology and politics go over well. It will be interesting to see how this site develops over time.
What other types of communities will pop up in the near future? I think as more people seek out information and entertainment online, we will see more niche communities. Chat rooms and forums have already started this process, but larger communities, like Digg, are being sought out for the ability to share information and news while being surrounded by like-minded individuals.
What does all of this mean for online marketers like myself? The ability to spread viral content will become easier. Catering only to the Digg/Reddit group will disappear and new options will open up. Being able to target content to a certain niche will help gain exposure and better traffic for a site. If there were more communities like this (and I assume there will be) great content could be developed to target that niche instead of conforming the content to fit the Digg mold. Even just having a site with a “softer” side, like Sk*rt, will help a lot of great Web sites, blogs, content, etc. become discovered and gain recognition.
