DISQUS

Mashable - The Social Media Guide: 2006/12/11/capazoo-rivals-wallop-social-networking-in-flash/

  • Matt A. * · 2 years ago
    Pete,

    I agree, these Flash sites are slow and "heavy" as you say.

    It terms of making effective social networking sites that are fast on load time, and also "Flashy" (colorful and interactive) I would go with AJAX at the front end instead, definitely.

    Would you agree?
  • john · 2 years ago
    I have to disagree with Peter's take on Capazoo not offering anything. Aside from the Zoops feature which is not offered by any competitor, the site is basically a hybrid of everything else out there, a one-stop destination so-to-speak.

    In addition, this is a company that has some brilliant ideas for giving back to members and the community, something other networking sites are not presently doing. Whenever they do launch, you can be sure they will make a major ripple in the social community ocean.
  • dean · 2 years ago
    yeah i love the site it is great a little new but very fun .if you wanna join up use referance dean. you ll have blast in no time.
  • Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago
    Matt,

    I think it's just a case of using the right tool for the job. These 100% Flash networks really slow down the browser and stop you from using tabbed browsing properly - as you suggest, I haven't noticed so many performance issues with AJAX startpages.
  • Todd · 2 years ago
    Pete,
    what you say is dead wrong. you CAN earn zoops as a basic member. You cant cash in unless you are the next level. HOWEVER, you can buy that membership with the zoops you just made! fantastic site
  • Eric · 2 years ago
    As far as silly names go... Can anyone say GOOGLE!!! OR YAHOO!!! Which are both pretty silly I would say and look at them now...Google is even in the dictionnary now
  • bunnyhero · 2 years ago
    alas, i cannot really see anything on capazoo without creating an account first. at least mooble lets you do that. that's definitely something myspace got right: just viewing a basic profile does not require registration. seeing any extra goodies (like extra pictures) *does* require sign-up. i think that's just about the right amount of carrot, so to speak... with capazoo (and wallop, so far, for that matter), there's no incentive for me to sign up, without a free sample first.
  • Todd · 2 years ago
    but there is much carrot. your free sample is actually a free membership. just because my pic was viewed i won 25 american dollars. (damn strong Canadian loonie) if your a basic member zoops buy you the member where you get an ATM card to take out duckets.
  • Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago
    bunnyhero,

    Absolutely. It's like paying for something before you know what you're buying - users just won't waste their time signing up.
  • jim · 2 years ago
    from what i understand- capazoo will have 120 features including an improved version of myspace [what you see now is not nearly complete], improved version of youtube, 1500 college radio stations in a jukebox format..et cetera..all in one next generation portal....i joined for free [very easy] and started to peruse...i thought it was refreshing.....i am excited to see it progress....
  • Roninjapan · 2 years ago
    I am member of Capazoo....and i just signup but no interest at all....its well done..but the design i dont like it.
    hope Wallop is better.
  • Ginger · 2 years ago
    A friend of mine works for Capazoo, and from what I hear from her, I'm still in.
    For you techies out there take a look at this post:
    http://capazooinsiders.com/2007/03/22/why-capaz...
  • Todd Shaver · 2 years ago
    With Capazoo, you sign up for free and it takes less than a minute. At that point you can immediately collect zoops. But regardless of your zoops, you are already going to share in the companies profits!!! If you collect enough zoops you can exchange them in for a paid membership even though no money has left your pocket. Also, If you are someone who has a video on YouTube and it gets many views YouTube is exploiting YOUR popularity for the companies financial gain. With Capazoo YOU recieve zoops for YOUR video's popularity and those zoops can be taken out as cash at ANY bank machine just like a bank card!!!!! It ALSO is very soon going to be what all other 'similar' sites are COMBINED. Not sure how a comparison is even fair. !!!
  • Rocky · 2 years ago
    Youtube is simple!!
    Facebook is simple!!
    Myspace is simple too

    but Capazoo is too much complicated and slow to run.........

    another floppy startup
  • Thierry · 2 years ago
    I have a good friend who worked for Capazoo, before being downsized. When they let him go, they owed him over $20,000. It was in his contract. A written, legal document. Guess what: they haven't paid him, and they don't intend to, as lawyers letters have gone ignored.

    Think you'll be able to cash out your Zoops, or whatever this fake currency is called? Good luck!
  • Todd · 2 years ago
    well Thierry, your friend MUST be right. i mean, cause he's your friend and all.
  • Thierry · 2 years ago
    Todd, you've gone a long way to convince people that I must have made this story up.

    Let me guess: you work at Capazoo, right? Why don't you post the link to your Capazoo page so we can see how you "won 25 american dollars"? I'm sure we'd all like to learn more.
  • AntiRetard · 2 years ago
    Hey Thierry,
    I think you were one of the integrators there that got fired right? That would explain why you hate Capazoo so much!
    Too bad you haven't wrote this by Stéphan Parrot, Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - on Capazoo directly, I would have tipped you!
  • matthewcapazoo · 1 year ago
    Wow, this story is greatly out of date. It's amazing how far we have come in the last year or so, and where we are going in the coming months.

    There seems to be a lot of petty back and forth on here and what people are losing sight of is the fact that the product is vastly improved, very stable, extremely appealing and has several major upgrades on the way shortly.

    Add in the recent partnership deal with National Lampoon and we are really primed for big things in the near future.

    If anyone needs more information on the site, simply message me at www.capazoo.com/matthew ... Happy Holidays ...
  • Mctittles · 1 year ago
    I'm confused. I checked out the capazoo site and didn't see any flash on it anywhere, let alone a 'full flash' site? I even created a profile to see if that is where the flash was. It's heavy in DHTML, but I don't see the flash?
  • Mctittles · 1 year ago
    One other thing. If you are going to generalize the flash sites as overall being slower than other sites, do a side by side comparison of load times per page on Mooble vs Myspace. Mooble seems to be lightspeed compared to Myspace... Bad flash sites come from bad programers just as bad HTML sites do. Don't blame the tool, blame the people who don't know how to use it correctly.
  • Dennis · 1 year ago
    I HAVE cashed out $300 in Zoops. Cash. I didnt pay a dime. i used zoops to purchase a premium membership. All round the site is amazing!!!! Thierry, im sorry to say, cant be more wrong!
  • Jill · 1 year ago
    Peter you are ignorant to the facts. Capazoo is great and has so much more to offer than any other site. its literally many sites in one! Their ability to raise money is real and impressive. Venture capitalists, especially in the market environment in which the capital was raised, study the business plan and it, apparently, IMPRESSED!
  • Thierry · 1 year ago
    @Dennis: Capazoo canned their whole staff two weeks ago after not being able to pay them for their last 2 weeks of work.

    Here are some interesting articles on the subject:
    http://valleywag.com/370440/coke+addict-startup...

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/19/capazoo-bl...

    Thanks for the clarification though; glad to hear you got paid, even though 60 employees didn't.

    @Jill: Uhhh... see above.