Song of The Day: Tunnel of Love - Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Web 2.0 Case Study: Gawker Stalker
I was getting ready to delve into another fascicle on Carol Bartz’s guidance on leadership, but couldn’t resist the the urge to write about a popular site–yet unpopular to celebrities–that uses Web 2.0 mashups: Gawker Stalker. The mashups contain some of the usual suspects: Google Maps, Google Images, communities providing data. Apparently, one sends sighting tips to tips@gawker.com and the editors and site do the rest. However, the site has attracted negative attention from various celebrities and their representatives.
During a local newscast last night Jessica Cohen, an editor at Gawker, defended the site; basically saying that the interests and tips, even a Gawker Stalker interest or tip, comes with the territory, etc.
Afterwards, I had to check out the site to see what all the fuss was about…
The site is fairly compelling in my opinion. Although I don’t consider myself one to be overly absorbed with celebrity happenings or gossip, I ended up being lured to follow links, to read bios, and to reminisce about movies and music. I guess the celebrity lure and the compelling gossip got me! However, the experience for me was relatively positive and I could see people enticed to purchase memorabilia or advertising, which it looks like the site is already doing.
Although I do believe that some of this fascination comes with the territory, for celebrities I can understand the angst. First, the site’s name, Stalker, doesn’t help. Second, I could see how the up-to-the-minute sightings and locations could be disconcerting. What if the name were changed? Hey! What about VelociPeek? It is nice and I could let go of my affinity to it for a reasonable price! :)
Also, maybe the frequency of updates should be dialed down a bit. No one complains, as much, about a weekly magazine or daily website where the whereabouts and happenings lag. This gives people a chance to escape—maybe even have celebrities update it on some agreed frequency. Moreover, one could see limiting information and locations to business-related activities like movie premieres, etc. However, with all the buzz the site will likely continue as-is.
Regardless of one’s opinion, it is Web 2.0 in action: welcome! The Web is a-changing.