Which Caribbean social network will be number one?
February 27, 2008
The race to become the dominant Caribbean social network has become hot and heavy with players. From the pioneers, the newbie’s to the niche players which ones are the real contenders in becoming the facebook.com or classmates.com of the Caribbean? We’ve been tracking the development of Caribbean social networks for the past five years years and there have been some exciting developments over that time. Chief among them are that first there is now easier access to social network software in a box and add to that, tech entrepreneurs have recognizing more the gaps in the Caribbean market and are gunning to fill them. Subsequently- social media in the Caribbean is mushrooming.
The Pioneers: There are the ones who got in the game before social networks were popular generally but particularly this side of the world. These sites competed with the mindshare dominance of the American based sites such as hi5.com and blackplanet.com. First there is vibesconnect.com, which was started by a Jamaican tech entrepreneur Delroy Frazer.
Vibesconnect.com started out focused on snagging the Jamaican market, but evolved and is now more focused on challenging blackplanet.com for the general Caribbean and US-based African American online market.Then there is caribbeanmassive.com started by a Kittian tech entrepreneur Rodney Browne. This site made a direct bid for the Caribbean regional and Diaspora market from the start. We also have ackee.com, which started in 1997 and pitched the classmates alma mater angle, where Jamaicans at home and overseas could reconnect with their friends from high school. They have since extended the reach to the Caribbean. These pioneers have been a minimum of five years.
The Newbies: This group of social networking sites threw their hats into the ring less than two years ago some as little as 6 months ago. We have caribfriends.com the newest entrant, started less than 3 months ago by seasoned Jamaican tech entrepreneur. Caribfriends.com focuses on being a general social network but have also added the classmates angle.Also in this group we have caribgonewild.com, which focused immediately on the Spanish, English and French speaking Caribbean with their own distinct sections, partially in their own languages all under a single site. Caribgonewild.com was started less than a year ago by a Haitian American entrepreneur living in New York.
Then we have caribplanet.com and then easily the most visible Caribbean social networking site idletribes.com, started under a year ago by another seasoned Jamaican tech entrepreneur Jamie Ranston. Of all the entrepreneurs who’ve started a Caribbean social network, Ranston is the only one with previous online community/social networking experience-having worked with what was the very first online community/social networking site that catered to a Caribbean audience at home and abroad via country named and focused sites – HomeView Jamaica.com, Homeviewtnt.com etc. All this leads us to think about which sites are real contenders.
THE REAL CONTENDERS
Based on business models, marketing muscle and membership base, we believe we can cherry pick the top3 real contenders that will become dominant in the market, enjoy profitability and longevity.
Business Model
Vibesconnect.com – Google adsense and affiliate marketing.
Caribbeanmassive.com- Google adsense, joined an online advertising networking, local direct ad placements
Ackee.com – Google adsense
Caribfriends.com- Google adsense
Caribgonewild.com-direct ad placements, cut from member music sales
Idletribes.com – Google adsense ads, direct ad placements
Marketing
Vibesconnect.com – They’ve had membership drive type of contests with hip gadgets as winning gifts.
Caribbeanmassive.com-they do a lot of local radio advertising in St Kitts. They have also had short google pay per click ad campaigns
Ackee.com – undeterminded.
Caribfriends.com – cross linking with high traffic sites such as Caribsingles.com and Jamdeal.com
Caribgonewild.com-undetermined
Idletribes.com-cross linking with high traffic sites, a healthy daily spend of Google adwords pay per click campaign.
Memberships
Vibesconnect.com - unknown
Caribbeanmassive.com - Has just over 7,000 registered users
Ackee.com – Has just over 15,000 registered users
Caribfriends.com – Has just over 1,000 registered users
Caribgonewild.com - Has over 8,000 registered users
Idletribes.com – Just this week passed 7,000 users
NUMBER ONE?
Who do you think are the top 3 most dominant Caribbean Social networking brands and why? We believe vibesconnect.com,Caribbeanmassive.com and idletribes.com are the real contenders.
PERFECT FOR A MULTIMILLION DOLLAR BUYOUT ?
This is toss up between vibesconnect.com and idletribes.com but factors can change that around very quickly in a matter of weeks or months.What do you think?
If you liked this post, why not Subscribe and get Silicon Caribe Today by Email
DancehallSpace- Social Networking for dancehall reggae fans
February 25, 2008
Reggae Month has a few days left and Dancehallspace.com has launched to give dancehallreggae fans globally a place to meet and network with others who share a passion for Dancehall reggae music and lifestyle. It has the usual social networking features such as photo sharing, music, videos and blogs.
Music in the digital age only = digital distribution?
February 25, 2008
by David Mullings
I ask this question because I was recently invited to present at the Global Reggae Conference in Jamaica at UWI Mona on a panel about marketing music on the internet. My presentation focused on using the tools of the web such as SEO, SEM, why a website is important and the opportunities with social media. One of my fellow panelists was Christopher Edmonds from Rebelmix (this was my third panel in 12 months with him) and he focused on digital distribution and the opportunities there.
The Reggae Academy had a separate set of panels two days later and their panel on music in the digital age only had presenters from digital distribution companies, not a single presenter relating to online marketing! The panelists made sure to point out that they only put music in stores but it still needs to be promoted.
I realized that the organizers obviously equate “digital age” to merely “digital downloads” and do not include online marketing and it was a loss for the attendees, especially when compared to the UWI conference. I hope that next time people in the Caribbean seek to educate others about the digital age and how they can benefit from it, they most certainly would make sure to include at least one panelist who can speak to online marketing tools.
If you liked this post, why not Subscribe and get Silicon Caribe Today by Email
TOP 10 Jamaican sites visited by Jamaicans…now
February 21, 2008
Six months ago we checked with alexa.com and published the top 10 Jamaican sites visited by Jamaicans, it caused a little controversy with its surprises. Many people were asking Jahkno.com who? Never heard of them what do they do and are doing to be number one? Regardless, what we discovered from the top 10 list was that without question, the 18-35 age group is online in full force.
In that report we also made it clear that alexa.com a leading web information company that tracks and reports on site rankings globally, is the single way in which to measure this Top 10. Let us know if you agree with the alexa.com rankings.
Here we go again, six months later to see who’s still standing, who’s new and worth giving a click check.
TOP 10…more like TOP 19 ( February 2008)
1. Mediazoneja.com – A Message Board with 4,692; 18,836 Topics
2. Uwi.edu
3. Jahkno.com - Jamaica’s #1 Online Music Community ( Previously No.1)
4. VibesConnect.com - A social networking website for people of Caribbean and Afican Americans backgrounds.
5. JamaicaGleaner.com – daily newspaper site
6. JamaicaObserver.com – daily newspaper site
7. Digicelgroup.com – the group site of the number one mobile provider
8. Smutvibes.com – The name says it all
9. Digiceljamaica.com - the country site of the number one mobile provider
10. 876radio.com - A partyflavoured community site
11. Wheelsjamaica.com – a message board full of car enthusiasts
12. Cwjamaica.com – the country site of the number two mobile provider
13. Jamaica-star.com – the daily evening tabloid
14. dancehallreggae.com -a community site for dancehallreggae music fans
15. utech.edu.jm
16. Tech Jamaica- tech news, information and forums. techjamaica.com
17. Uwimona.edu.jm
18. idlerzlounge.com
19. Watever.com
The Top 10 ( September 2007)
1. Jahkno.com
2. uwi.edu
3. jamaica-gleaner.com
4. wheelsjamaica.com
5. jamaicaobserver.com
6. vibesconnect.com
7. uwi.edu.jm
8. jamaica-star.com
9. digicelgroup.com
10. digiceljamaica.com
If you liked this post, why not Subscribe and get Silicon Caribe Today by Email
Samsung to Release 2 Google Branded Android Phones This Year ?
February 20, 2008
According to Man-about-town, Robert X. Cringely, Samsung is readying not one, but two separate Android-based phones, one of which is due in September, with another model following around Christmas. If you believe what you read (and what his tipster says), these phones will not be labeled Samsung, rather they will be released as Google-branded gPhones. More here
Reasons People Fail At Making Money Online
February 20, 2008
I’ve been in the tech industry at various levels and in various sectors over the last 10 years, locally, regionally and internationally. Been following my passion for all things dotcom and telecom and have had some successes and a couple of flops. Read more
HTC Cruise channels the iPhone and iPod Touch
February 19, 2008
Gadget Tuesdays- The HTC Touch Cruise is sleek, stylish, and compact. It has a 2.8 inch LCD gives you an excellent multimedia experience in a mobile device. The HTC has a TouchFLO interface,which means you can use your fingers to quickly browse through e-mails, web pages, messages, music, and images, making navigation a breeze.Live HTC Home screen displays real-time data including weather updates, a large clock, anapplication launcher provides easy access to favorite programs. The dynamic 3D Touch Cube interface (part of TouchFLO) enables you to quickly call contacts, open applications, listen to music, and browse media files.It also has Built-in GPS functionality and the included software enable you to find the fastest route to your direction, locate restaurants and services on the way(where available). The Touch Cruise also features a 3-megapixel camera and second VGA camera for video calling (where supported by your carrier). Additionally, the Touch Cruise comes can give you up to 7 hours talk time. Finally, the Touch Cruise is quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G, enabling it to take full advantage of global 3G including AT&T’s HSDPA network in the US. source.If you liked this post, why not Subscribe and get Silicon Caribe Today by Email
USB Sushi?
February 19, 2008
Gadget Tuesdays- Asian food meets USB technology. Never again will you have to choose between having sushi or having a USB memory drive–thanks to the USB sushi drive. These USB drives are hand-made-in-Tokyo sushi replicas. The convincing USB sushi drive comes in several flavors. And no we’re not kidding. source.
If you liked this post, why not Subscribe and get Silicon Caribe Today by Email
Capital Blu takes on David SMith’s Olint and MTI Traders in Jamaica
February 19, 2008
First there was David Smith and Olint, then a bunch of others forex trading investment clubs, then the Financial Services Commission stopped the party until they all get regulated and approved. Now on the eve of the forex trading clubs getting a greenlight to offer forex trading services to Jamaica, Capital Blu Management has thrown its hat into the ring.With full page ads in newspapers, announcing a free seminar to explain how forex trading works and offering education materials along with it, Capital blu has also pit itself squarely against MTI Traders, which has been the dominant forex educator here in the last two years. MTI Traders had an easy run to the minds if Jamaicans with a single fact, they were the ones that trained the forex trading poster boy David Smith.So in one fell swoop Capital BLu takes on David Smith’s Olint as it plans on managing members account in addition to training individuals who want to trade forex on their own and of course also providing a trading platform. Ahhh competition!!If you liked this post, why not Subscribe and get Silicon Caribe Today by EmailSee related storiesMillion dollar domain forexjamaica.com up for sale on jamdeal.comDavid Smith’s Olint partners with iTradeFX in a US$100 giveaway to JamaicansThe Forex Fever Growing and Growing in JamaicaCapitalor-Swedish Forex company targeting Jamaica. The CEO Interview.
iphonejamaica.com - the online buy and get it unlocked resource
February 18, 2008
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking after you read that headline. You probably said to yourself, but the iPhone hasn’t officially reached Jamaica in fact the Caribbean as yet. Read more
