Looking For Divers Who Write

[tangfish]

Hello SB community, I'm looking for people who enjoy writing to take part in the private beta testing of a news service I co-founded. The site is called Newsvine, and here are the basics:

We have tens of thousands of news stories from the Associated Press and ESPN, alongside content submitted or created by users. Newsvine is a community-based news site, with interactive aspects. No editors determine what news is "important", instead you can vote on articles, chat live within each article and leave comments. The idea is that users themselves should be able to decide what is newsworthy and what isn't. You can basically create a personal column for yourself by writing stories and saving links from other articles around the web you find interesting. These articles you create appear alongside those from the AP and ESPN, and are subject to the same democratic process. Even if you're not into writing, Newsvine is an awesome place to just read the news.

There is no cost for using Newsvine and in fact, the users keep all of the ad revenue (we don't have ads yet) from their columns. You won't make a zillion dollars, but you could make a modest amount on a regular basis and you can choose to keep these funds or donate them to a charity.

If you want to know more about us you can either read my short description on my blog, or you can do a Google or Technorati search for "newsvine".

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in trying, please send me your email address and you'll receive an invite (once you get in you'll have 20 invites of your own).

I'm not asking SB members to do this because we need more testers (we're currently at about 10,000 and adding 1000 or so a day - after being open for a week), I'm posting this here because I personally would like to see more divers have access to our service, whether they read or write about scuba-related subjects or not.

You can also PM me with your email address but I don't check those as often.

 

[Damselfish]

There should be guest access. I looked but when I have no idea what's on a site and am greeted with a bare login page I'm simply not going to bother to register or mess around getting invites.

 

[tangfish]

Or....you could just not respond if you're not interested (as it seems).

 

[H2Andy]

FS, i moved your thread here. ScubaBoard TOS does not allow self-promotional
threads outside the marketplace forum.

best of luck

 

[Damselfish]

Or....you could just not respond if you're not interested (as it seems).

mmm no, I was interested enough to go to the site. I'm expressing my opinion of sites that are designed this way, and suggesting that you might get better response if it were different. I'm sure some people share my opinion.

Don't post here if you don't want opinions.

 

[tangfish]

Its not that I don't want opinions, its that the nature of a "Private Beta Test" is that it's by definition, uhm, private. We'll be opening to the general public in a month or two and I was offering access to anyone at SB who wants a look prior to that. The barrier to entry being that you have to A) click a link from an email...and B) choose your username, etc.

Its strange how this is to much to ask (or to little to offer) here, yet on other sites like slashdot and digg.com, people are going to great lengths to circumvent the invite procedure by trying anything and everything they can to get access.

 

[SDAnderson]

Its not that I don't want opinions, its that the nature of a "Private Beta Test" is that it's by definition, uhm, private. We'll be opening to the general public in a month or two and I was offering access to anyone at SB who wants a look prior to that. The barrier to entry being that you have to A) click a link from an email...and B) choose your username, etc.

Its strange how this is to much to ask (or to little to offer) here, yet on other sites like slashdot and digg.com, people are going to great lengths to circumvent the invite procedure by trying anything and everything they can to get access.

Here's some additional unsolicited advice: be nice. Remember, you want something from "us" and have little to offer in return. It seems to me that you're rather hostile for someone who is looking for unpaid help with his unproven commercial venture. Set the bar for admission as high as you want - it's your space - but don't be surprised when people decide not to jump the hurdle and try to limbo underneath it.

Personally, I didn't sign up because I'm leery of email harvesting scams. On the assumption that you're on the up-and-up, I'll wish you good luck with your adventure, however. I'll look forward to reconsidering signing up if you get the project up and running.

 

[Cacia]

Very creative looking homepage! The photography is wonderful. Do you know anyone who has the inside scoop on Bhutan? The Buddhist temples.....?? Just curious, what is the picture of (macro) at the very top?

 

[tangfish]

ReefRaff, I'd like to clear something up here:

Some people may consider an invitation to join a participative community an opportunity (and one that they'd be grateful to accept). Others may see participation a 'favor' they are doing for others. My post is only meant for the first group of people, the second group is certainly welcome to pass. I mean this in the nicest way. :11doh:

Catherine: thank you for the kind words. To answer your questions, I don't know anyone who has the inside scoop on Bhutan. I did however, travel to Myanmar, where I found a small town surrounded by thousands of beautiful Buddhist temples. You can read about it here. There is also a photo gallery (click the photo). I hear the diving is splendid there but didn't get a chance to get wet since I was inland.

 

[Damselfish]

BTW, if you have 10000+ people in your beta and anyone can get in, it's not a private beta.