The new Netscape.com

by Jordan Running Jun 15th 2006

Just now AOL made its public launch of www.beta.netscape.com, the long-rumored successor to Netscape.com. Being an AOL employee, I've been checking out the private beta for a couple weeks, and I'm pretty impressed. The new Netscape.com (or "New N" as it's been referred to internally) takes the formula proven by sites like Digg and Newsvine and marries it to the editorial process of mainstream blogs and more conventional news sites, and the result is surprisingly cohesive. Content on the New N, e.g. links to news stories, cool web sites, videos, etc., is submitted by regular users like you and I and promoted via Digg-like "Vote!" button, and popular posts wind up on the front page. Where the New N diverges from Digg is the editorial layer. Expert "anchors" pick out the most popular stories of the day and promote them to a box at the top of the front page, where they tune in with their own commentary, related links, and so on. It sounds cheesy when put like that, but the result is fresh and intelligible news. The site has a variety of "channels," i.e. categories (30 in all), ranging from politics and celebrities to video games and (gasp!) sex, and channels have their own anchors (you'll probably recognize a few names from others Weblogs, Inc. blogs) highlighting stories in each. Also present are all of the social features you've come to expect, including comments (duh), friends lists, RSS feeds, tagging, and more.

It's worth noting that the paint is by no means dry on the New N, and that "beta" appellation is well-earned. The site launched literally moments ago and hiccups have proven not common. Bugs aside, it'll be awhile before I'm sold on this thing, but as a companion to more tech-oriented "memetrackers," I think the New N is off to a great start. Go check it out before all the good usernames are taken, submit some stories, post some comments, and feel free to add me as a friend.

Tags: aol, digg, memedigger, memetracker, netscape, netscape.com, newn, newsvine, weblogsinc

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dylan Greene said 1:01AM on 6-15-2006

Lots... of... ads...

They took the beauty and simplicity of digg and made it look like, well, everything else from aol in the last 10 years.

duke said 4:38AM on 6-15-2006

evil corporation with flashy advertisings, what more can you want from internet ?

Vess said 4:40AM on 6-15-2006

evil corporation with flashy advertisings, what more can you want from internet ?

Fabulo said 12:26PM on 6-15-2006

- AOL needs alot more to shed their reputation of cheap yet overpriced dialup, shady "customer retention" practices and price hike for no readon. AOL = stay away
- It's difficult to capitalize on the Netscape brand after they gutted the company, got killed by internet explorer and all the geek cred flew off to firefox. Want a better internet? You belong to Firefox. Netscape = dead.
- In a world where everything has been done already - twice - you can't succeed by copying the 'cool' guy. You have to copy *and* improve. Google local/maps is way better than mapquest. The new N is a lukewarm digg. A pale cope. The new N = You should stick to digg.
- Just like there (has always been VCRs) is Tivo for TV, you don't have to stare at distracting flashy ads. Get yourself a decent browser (like Firefox) with a good extension (like AdblockPlus and Filterset.G updater) and never see an ad again.

Brennan said 3:52PM on 6-15-2006

Signup is b0rked -- I get errors saying that I have an "Invalid Birth Date" when that's not even an field on the form. I have to assume something was changed since beta was opened up, since people are posting, but isn't this the kind of error that should be caught in development?

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