The CM blog has moved

The Clipmarks Blog has moved!

For all the latest Clipmarks news and updates, please visit http://clipmarks.wordpress.com

New clipping tool now available

We've just released an updated version of the Clipmarks clipping tool for Firefox and Flock.  With this version, as you create a clip, you're notified when you exceed the 2,000 character pop-limit.  Also, the status bar of your browser now displays a running total of the number of characters you've selected and how much under/over the pop-limit you are.  We'll have an updated version available for Internet Explorer soon.

Clipmarks Update...Left is the new right

A few changes to report...

1. Sometimes, things just need to be moved around.  Kind of like looking at your living room and deciding that all the furniture needs to be moved around, we looked at the site and felt the left should be on the right, the right would go in the middle, the middle should shift to the left...and a few things would be shifted to the top.  Ah, everything makes so much more sense now!!  Once we moved everything around, we then decided to redesign a bunch of things.  Hopefully, these changes help make the site more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing.
2. When you email a clip, in addition to sending a link, you can now include the clipped content in the email too.
3. We've added a Hot Clippers page.  This will show the 9 clippers who have recently been getting the most pops for their clips

FYI....we uploaded a bunch of pictures to flickr.  You can check them out here.

Lastly, we experienced some problems on the site this morning as we were getting set to upload.  Those have been fixed and everything is up and running.  I'm very sorry to anyone was affected!

Clipmarks dashboard update

A few quick updates to let everyone know about:

1. The menus on the left side of the web site and on the Dashboard can now be customized to any topic or clipper that you like.  FYI...changes made in either place will affect the other.
2. The dashboard now displays clipped images.  Clicking on an image will take you to the clip it came from.
3. Everyday we'll be featuring one user.  Each day's featured clipper will be displayed on the home page and will have fixed placement on the top-right menu of the dashboard page. 

Clipmarks interviewed by Folksonomy.org

Michael Zhang over at www.folksonomy.org interviewed me over the weekend.  If you're interested in what clipmarks is all about and why we started it (and what football team i root for), check it out here.

Clipmarks added to popurls!

Just wanted to say thank you to Thomas over at popurls.com for adding a feed to clipmarks.  It's great to see hot clips getting attention alongside other top stories from the web.

A site is (re)born!

On the 3d of August I sat at my desk to compose a blog post introducing a new Clipmarks web site that we were very excited about.  If someone would have told me then that 40 days later I'd be composing another post to introduce a brand new web site I would have responded by saying something like "no way, no how...you're crazy!"  Well, here I am, an hour or so before a brand new, entirely rewritten and redesigned Clipmarks web site goes live.

It was in September, 2005 that we first introduced Clipmarks.  When I look back on the year that's passed, a few key things come to mind.  One, is that we have really worked our asses off trying to create something special.  For that, I'm very proud.  Second, we have been supported by some of the greatest people in the world.  Our users have inspired us through their constant honesty, interest and passion for what Clipmarks is all about.  I have not had the chance to meet many of you, but I consider you my friends.  For that, I am forever grateful!  Third, I think it took us an entire year of ups and downs, starts and stops, excitement and disappointment, to clearly realize our vision and create a web site that accurately reflected it. For this, I'm a bit embarrassed, but mostly I'm excited and relieved.   

I also want to say that the creativity and hard work of others have helped keep the fire burning inside us.  We have great respect for the folks at del.icio.us, digg, reddit and others who have developed services aimed at putting the power of the web into the hands of the people who use it.  That is our vision and we hope to be a meaningful contributor to making it a reality. 

And so, a full year after we first introduced Clipmarks, and 40 days after introducing what I thought was a major upgrade, I am proud, excited and a little nervous to introduce a brand new, built-from-scratch, Clipmarks web site.  I hope you enjoy it!

Here's an overview of some of the changes involved with the new site:

1. The site is now substantially faster. 
2. The site now works in Opera, Safari and basically any other browser. 
3. Everything has been redesigned.
4. Better integration of AJAX and non-AJAX functionality.  The most apparent advantage is that every clipper page (ex: http://clipmarks.com/clipper/invictus/) and every tag page (ex: http://clipmarks.com/tag/politics/) now displays it's URL in the browser's address bar.
5. The clip-list in the middle column can now be scrolled up and down using your mouse’s scroll wheel.  So can the right side of the page where each clip and its respective comments are displayed. 
6. By default, all clip-lists are sorted by Latest Pops (except individual clipper pages, which default to being sorted by Newest clips).  You'll see the sorting options at the top of the list (including a link to create your own custom sorting option).
7. No more introductory style home page.  For now on, its straight to the good stuff. 
8. The left side of the site now displays 9 main tags, each providing a drop-down menu that displays 5  related tags.  You can change any of the 9 tags to whatever interests you. 
9. You can now see which clips for any tag or by any clipper have gotten the most pops by clicking the Most Pops sorting tab in a tag or clipper-specific page. 
10. reddit and diigo have been added to the list of services that clips can be posted to.

New Clipmarks Web Site!!!

This is a big one.  Here's a sample of what's new.

1. Brand new design.  Lots of changes...hope you like the new look and layout!
2. Only clips that are under 2,000 characters can be popped.  We believe in the power of clip-size portions of information as a new, enjoyable way to consume information about more topics in less time.  We're not exactly sure what it should be, but we feel there needs to be some kind of definition of "clip-size".  For now, we're going to try 2,000 characters (you can still clip whatever you want, but to get popped it needs to be clip-size). 
3. By default, comments no longer shoot a clip to the top.  However, if you want to keep up with the latest comments, change your sorting options at the bottom of the Clip Exchange.
4. Check out the new clip-scroll at the bottom of the Clip Exchange.  We think this should make it much easier and quicker to see what's available on the site.
5. There are now 4 main topics in the header.  Each contains a drop-down menu with 10 related tags.  You can set these to whatever topics interest you by clicking the "customize" link in the drop-down.
6. On the right side of the header are buttons that let you link to any of your favorite clippers or tags from anywhere on the site.

We hope you like the new site!!!

My reaction to Netscape paying $1,000 for digg users.

My interpretation of this move is, “we can’t innovate so we’ll just try to bribe people into leaving other services that kick our ass.” Calacanis says that quality is the number one factor that creates winners in this industry. Um, how about marketing?  Did AOL explode because their service was the highest quality or might it have been all those free cds they gave away? Is Windows the dominant operating system because it’s so much better than Mac or because their marketing strategy was better?  The point, quality does not necessarily equal success.

What really bothers me about this move (and Jason’s editorial about it) is that it spits on the spirit of the web. Many of us feel that traditional media/journalism is no longer sufficient because of the inherent conflicts that arise when your core objective is making money, not creating quality content. I believe that is the primary catalyst behind the growth in citizen journalism (a.k.a. user generated content). If Jason wants to create another web site where people are paid to create the content he is free to do that. But let’s call a spade a spade. I think that already exists on countless AOL properties. What the heck is new about this idea…other than the fact that he so shamelessly seeks to bribe people into leaving other services that are genuinely innovative? Oh, and lets not discount the exposure this move is providing him (heck, I’ve already wasted my morning thinking about it and now writing about it).

Look, this might help make AOL more money and give Jason Calacanis more of the spotlight, so kudos to him if those are his objectives. But I think it’s highly disturbing that America Online is supporting this move to bribe people from using competitive services. My advice to them would be, “for once, just try to create something truly innovative instead of letting people like Jason Calacanis try to pay people for using your services.” 

Lastly, I want to say very clearly that I respect what digg is trying to accomplish.  They are the pioneers of user powered content. The clipmarks approach is quite different from theirs, but the essence, spirit and soul of what we hope to accomplish is quite similar. Our dream is to create a platform that people can use to shape their own media experience in a highly collaborative environment instead of being pushed the content that “big media” wants them to see.

Game on! 

Remembering the essence of a clipmark part II

I recently posted a clipmark about this issue and wanted to follow up based on the responses it received.  It seems clear that there are 2 distinct reasons for clipping.  One is for personal archiving and the second is for sharing with the community.  Sometimes both of these come into play with a clip and sometimes only one does.

My vision for clipmarks has always been to create a global information exchange where people can come to get the best bits of information about any topic and discuss those that interest them.  Rather than relying on computers to determine the best bits of information, we try to empower people with tools to determine that individually and collectively.  If it works perfectly, the collective act of people clipping things they find worthy as well as the community popping the ones they too deem clipworthy will create a very meaningful social media destination for people to enjoyably consume information about all sorts of topics they may not otherwise have time for (and meet interesting people in the process).

In order to accomlish this I believe that clips need to be relatively short and too the point.  When a clipmark is too long, i find that it breaks the flow of toggling through the information available on the site.  I suppose that if you look at each clip as an individual piece of content it really isn't a problem if it's long.  But I look at the aggregate of all clips posted on the site as creating a new type of media experience that enables the consumption of content to be entertaining as well as informative

This may sound corny, but i think the global collection of clipmarks posted publicly creates a symphony of information as opposed to each clip on its own being a solo performer.

I certainly don't want to deprive anyone of the ability to use clipmarks for personal archiving purposes.  But i feel very passionate about trying to preserve the essence of clipmarks for all people (those who clip and those who just want to come to the site to enjoy the clips that others create) and feel that we need to somehow develop a culture of clipping that puts greater focus on clipping the "sweetspot" of a page.

As always, i'm very interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.

eric