AIM Pages Launches

Posted by Brian Balfour in UncategorizedMay 10th, 2006 | 4 responses

AOL has released a beta version of their new social networking site, AIM Pages, a little earlier then expected.

I had the opportunity to take some time and check it out. AIM has used an AJAX heavy user interface, with a drag and drop modular method. The site is very clean and in my opinion very easy to use. Your friends list pre-populates from your AIM buddy list, but only when they also create a profile.

I like the modular system. It lets people include what they want, where they want on their profile. However there have been bugs reported when using Firefox. It also has the potential for some fun interactive items to be included into profile pages such as games. However, the list of modules that people can include is a little thin right now. What I really
hope is that they create something so that users can easily create modules of their own.

Image VIA Techcrunch

But AIM Pages definitely comes with its problems. One, I wasn’t able to add any widgets such as Photobucket that are so popular on Myspace. It looks like AOL is going to force you to use the built in photo viewer. I think this could be a huge turn off to the teenage crowd.

Of course my biggest problem with it is that once again it doesn’t offer anything new and unique at its core over other SN sites. I don’t think that the leverage they have with AIM will save them. Some also think that AOL’s focus on safety and privacy among young people will lure in parents to push their kids to use AIM pages. But the fact remains, it’s the kids that are going to ultimately decide what site they use whether their parents like it or not.

[tags]Social Networking, AIM Pages, AIM, AOL, Brian Balfour[/tags]



4 Responses to “AIM Pages Launches”

  1. J says:
    May 10, 2006 at 6:42 pm

    Wow this is a horrible rip off. I hadnt heard of it, but totally agree - what are they offering new? Thanks for the info!

  2. Stephanie says:
    May 11, 2006 at 10:56 am

    Hi! I saw your post and couldn’t help but reply -

    You can currently add photos to your profile from Flickr (and videos from youtube) - that’s an existing module. However, aimpages is a completely open platform, ANYONE can create a module. So one could be created at any time allowing people to add photos from photobucket. :)

    You’re dead on with the fact that this is just a start, and that this is very much a beta. But I can promise that we’re working on getting rid of the problems we have right now as soon as we possibly can.

    Thanks!

    Stephanie

  3. brian says:
    May 11, 2006 at 11:04 am

    Stephanie,

    I appreciate your visit and comment. I went back to look and yes I stand corrected you can add in such widgets as Flickr and Youtube. It seems I overlooked it on my original visit.

    However I still could not find the section in which a user can create a custom module. Mind posting a link pointing us to the correct area?

    Thanks.

    Brian

  4. Dr Dzoe says:
    May 21, 2006 at 2:02 pm

    The site for module creation is iamalpha.com. There’s documentation on the module format, and the module uploader that will allow anyone to upload a module to AIMPages.

    Dr Dzoe

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