Alex Peters: Doing All the Wrong Things the Right Way.

Simler

Coolest new social networking site out there.  It’s smart,  it’s easy to use, and you can meet new people who share your interests with the click of a button.

I can’t say I’ve gotten too involved in the Simler community, but from my experiences using it during this Beta period it has been nothing but good clean fun.

This is sort of how it works:
Instead of having an in depth profile like on Facebook, you tag your interests the way you would tag subjects in a blog.  By clicking on tags you can see the profiles of other people who are interested in a subject.  When you view a subject Simler will show threads of discussions that people are having about it, much like on a message board.  From there you can chime in and join a discussion by commenting on it, or start a new one by posting a question or comment of your own.

The way you interact with it is kind of like Twitter, but the way you share questions and responses makes it more of a marketplace like Craigslist.  It’s much more linear, and has a lot more potential for sharing useful information.   I’m really interested to see how Simler looks in a year because it has potential for massive growth.

Here’s what I mean:
Say you have a friend on Simler.  You both share interests and have interacted before.  When they add a new tag, Simler shows you the tag they added.  It turns out you like that tag too and you add it on your account.  From that tag you make friends in a discussion.  You create a tag for your favorite movie from third grade, it reminds the friends you just made of a time when they watched it at their neighbors house and it makes them so happy that they add the tag.  One of their other friends sees the new tag you just made, and so on and so forth.

So far my favorite thing about Simler, that really sets it apart from every other social networking site I’ve used, is that there aren’t any assholes.  Almost all of the users I’ve interacted with seem to be savvy, young, professionals who work in a variety of fields.  Everyone is friendly, and everyone seems to be getting along in Beta mode.  I almost think it should stay invite only, but I don’t think that is the intention of the developers.

Simler is fun.  I’ve enjoyed every interaction I’ve had on it, and if you’re interested in jumping in and testing the waters before it’s released to the public you should send me an email because I have 10 invitations left.

-AP.

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