I spotted this blog and was unable to comment due to some error in the system. I was wondering how balanced and depth the research was that was undertaken to reach his conclusions. Its a nice marketing blurb for all the parties concerned. As I have not tested many of the systems I will not comment. I like to keep my opinions reasonably clear of bull and definitely would rather err on the side of truth.
The list mentions 10 sites, My first impression was that many of the sites that are being proclaimed superior are all in the same network as the author. So is the author giving his friends a little nudge in terms of publicity or does he actually believe these are the best that South Africa has to offer?
I agree, Amatomu and Afrigator are brilliant projects. Both are in need of a little something to smooth out the ride. There is nothing that can stop these from going all the way to the top. I use both and find Amatomu brings better results at this stage. I would not write Afrigator off.
So far I can’t fault his thinking. Being a member of MyGenius I can only add that this is an awesome idea but it is by no means as good as it could be. There are a few things that could be done to improve the user experience. But would I drop it from my top ten. No, I don’t think so.
So far so good, but then he added MUTI to the list. Here I have to disagree, MUTI has lost credibility in the view of many because of off line collusion among some members. MUTI has no set of rules or guidelines to give new members an inkling of what is expected. Self promotion has been declared against the rules by a few members and they actively collude to remove self promoting articles from the list. Off line collusion will destroy social networking whether it is to raise the profile of some, or to do the opposite. I would not add MUTI to the top 10 because factually the management are condoning the actions of these members. Sadly this is not going to allow for the transparency offered by sites like DIGG or REDDIT. I think its the number of users than can influence a result that makes a difference. On MUTI 6 or 7 users can control the site. My advice to MUTI is to kill that collusion before you destroy your credibilty entirely.
As to the others I will delay comment till I have had tome to actually look at and test the systems myself. I cannot judge them without testing them first.
A few sites worth mentioning here that could change the way of the web,
Marks SA Blogger based on the Pligg platform So the site is not unique nor is it claiming to be but it offers a much needed service. As long as Mark does not fall into the MUTI trap this site may be of benefit to the community at large.
Guaranteed South African This is one of my own projects, still needing a lot of work. But membership is rising slowly. A networking site with more than just a blog for the members. This site may still take a while to get to where we want it but watch it none the less.
Out door photoNothing original here but with membership climbing and good results for the owner of the site, I think that is a good startup.
There are a few others I will discuss at another time, but don’t write off content builder either. This project started a month ago, already has 38 sites and growing. A economical offering for the small business that does not need knowledge of HTML or other net technologies to get your site active and working in less than four days. You can be on GOOGLE in less than a week following the instructions we offer.
Many disagree with the simplicity of our template but none have condemned the system itself, or if they have they did so without ever testing it. Suggestion have been made that I should switch to Wordpress as it’s alledgedly better. I would then just be yet another Wordpress template creator. My system is more than just a blog with a pretty template. I am sure Wordpress may do what I want to do, It may offer what my clients need, but what word press does not offer is personal service, a voice on the other side of the phone.
Tags: content builder, Internet startups South Africa, web sites