There is a new social networking site that has created a lot of buzz around the internet.
Viral videos about this new social networking site has been dispersed about YouTube and has many people wondering if this newly emerging social site is living up to all of the hype.
Pocodot.
com is a new social networking site that many are claiming to be the next big thing next to Facebook-if not better.
Pocodot.
com is set up with a similar theme as Facebook and MySpace and shares many of the same generic features.
Claims of popular top-notch stars in the entertainment world are also said to have joined the site for various amounts of money.
Some, including Lady Gaga and Rihanna, have been reported as receiving millions of dollars for their participation in the fast growing social networking site that is pocodot.
com.
With all of this hype about the new social site that may become the next Facebook, I simply had to take a look for myself and see if this site is living up to the media hype.
Pocodot.
com is rather easy to set up with regards to obtaining an account.
Like other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, Pocodot.
com has basically the same structure.
One would initially create a user name and password, then log in and set up their personal profile to fit their personality.
The demographic information used with pocodot.
com is pretty much the same as with Facebook or MySpace: Location, hobbies, interest, bio and other general demographic information is asked of during the set up stage.
One can then upload a profile picture of themselves and even import contacts from their email address to invite other members, or "Dots", as the site refers to members as.
The niche is to connect these dots of people across the nation and the world to reveal the degree of separation one may have with another.
In other words, it is simply another way for members, or dots to mingle and get to know one another through some common medium.
There is an activity and update stream that connected dots can see and respond to amongst each other, along other interactive activities to engage in such as media, apps and a searching tab to locate other dots.
While the system will automatically suggest "dots you may know", according to your personal demographics, one can still search for others through the use of a name or email address.
Again, very similar to Facebook and MySpace is this approach.
However, there are some added features to Pocodot.
com that is not contained in other social networking sites such as Facebook.
Features like story creation and contests.
Story creation involves writing something of interests and broadcasting it over the network of Pocodot.
com for many to see.
One can upload a file from their computer or simply start from scratch with their story.
This differs from other social sites simply in character usage, where updating a status feed or mood may be limited to characters to be used in the text-field.
With story telling on the Pocodot.
com site, this seems endless and also very valuable for those whom are freelancers, professional and/or amateurs.
Journalists and other writers from all spectrums can utilize this feature to self exploit and market their work to others.
This cuts down overhead due to advertising and marketing costs and also gives the writer a platform to work with without the worry of being interpreted as spam, by social networking site filters, as with Facebook.
As a freelance writer myself, I often share my work on Facebook and MySpace for all to see.
I have, however, encountered some dislikes amongst the staff of Facebook in the past as they have viewed my consistent uploading of my material as spam.
Sure I have a Widget for some of my work from certain sites, but simply sharing it directly from the site itself upon publishing is another tool I like to take advantage of, and Facebook seems to frown upon repeated attempts at this.
With the Pocodot.
com contest, it simply involves dots competing for a top rating of the highest person to have completed invites under their belt.
It isn't clear to me as of yet if there is any monetary gain from this contest.
Instead, it merely seems to be for establishing bragging rights at this point.
The contest is also a tool that the people at Pocodot.
com are using to market themselves and attract an abundance of users, as with the endless amounts of viral videos set up on YouTube.
Particularly dealing with celebrities being a part of this new social networking site for substantial amounts of dollars, I took it upon myself to see if this was the real deal.
Initially I did notice a very limited profile of Lady Gaga and Rihanna upon completing registration and set up of my account.
However, there was not much bio information on the two pop-stars, nor any profile pictures.
As I checked back in with the site several weeks later, I did notice profile pictures this time.
However, I also noticed more than one profile with the superstar's name that is Lady Gaga.
Next I noticed the date of birth that is displayed adjacent to each person's profile picture and quickly eliminated some of the profiles as some of the ages were clearly off from the real pop-stars'.
Narrowing down both of my queries of Rihanna and Lady Gaga, I came to one profile for each and requested them both with a displaying message of "I wonder if this is really you...
lol.
" Of course, if it is an imposter, they perhaps would not be forth coming with me.
Yet I hope that Pocodot.
com establishes some form of verified user system as does Facebook, to determine the authenticity of profiles set up by entertainers and other popular persons alike.
Overall, my view of this new social networking site that is Pocodot.
com is one of much potential.
At this point, I wouldn't go as far as to make claims that Pocodot.
com may be the next Facebook or perhaps better, but I am sure that with growing popularity and the fact that it is just something new, that many people will give it a try.
The test of time will fall along the integrity of the site itself.
To maintain a long-lasting shelf life, Pocodot.
com will have to continue to distinguish itself from other social networking sites and create its own identity, or else it will simply fall into the gaps of the two conglomerates that already have a stronghold on the world of social networking.