Minti offers a collaborative parenting advice service that ignores the one-to-many we know best style service that is the norm in this space, and instead empowers individuals to share their stories and experience.
As Michael Arrington wrote his initial review of the site in March 2006, the overall concept of Minti isn’t entirely new. As a service it sits somewhere between an advice site such as BabyCentre (a site I visited regularly when I was on the road to parenthood) and a forum. The difference is in the implementation.
Weighing User Generated Interactions
Minti is powered by the Vibe Engine, a custom built CMS owned by Vibe Capital (the majority shareholders of Minti) that also powers sites such as Refurber.
Minti has over 20,000 active registered members (as opposed to inactive or casual visitors, they are doing 7 figures in traffic) who comment, vote, tag, and contribute advice. Consider something like Breastfeeding; Minti has many user generated advice articles on the subject but it’s how they are weighed that makes the service usable and perhaps something different.
The Vibe Engine weighs votes on an article based on a number of factors. Anyone can vote, but an unregistered visitor’s vote is not weighed as heavily as a registered user. Users themselves fall into ten member categories based on the amount of activity the undertake on Minti itself. Each level has a higher weighing meaning that users who are more active have a stronger vote than those who aren’t. It should be noted that none of this is evident to the user; these are all primarily backend levels, although at certain levels users get extra privileges including the ability to mark a contribution for review/ deletion is it is not of a reasonable standard. Users at higher levels also get to vote on reviews/ deletions as well in a truly distributed management model where regular users have ownership in decision making.
Overall the model delivers user rated results that serve to filter lots of information in a more accessible fashion for all readers.
Because They Care
I can at times be a little skeptical towards sites that tap into user generated content to build a destination, particularly when those sites then go on to profit greatly from those contributions; the build it, exploit it, flip it mentality is very much alive in Web 2.0. What impressed me about Rachel and Clay Cook (Minti’s founders) was that in building Minti they built something they would use themselves, and more importantly could help others as well. As parents of young children (about the same age as my son) they’d used the net to find info in much the same way I have previously, and shared the same frustrations; generally when you’re seeking information on a parenting topic you like more than one opinion, and yet many services often only provide a limited number of views. With Minti they are aiming to provide a wealth of first hand knowledge and advice, a one stop shop for all things parenting that isn’t as perhaps lecturing as some advice you find online elsewhere.
What perhaps they didn’t see happening (to the extent that it has) is the social networking aspect of Minti. I heard some amazing stories of complete strangers who knew each other only via Minti helping each other in times of crisis, not just online but taking their online relationship’s offline as well. For privacy considerations I can’t print the stories, but they were something that I’ve not heard from a startup before. Minti has become a community focused site very much in the traditional sense of the word community, complete with relationships and friendly advice. In an age where we spend more and more time online, whilst conversely spending less and less time offline building face to face relationships, Minti provides a place where parents can connect, in effect recreating the community spirit of old.
Would You Use It?
The biggest test for any site is in using it. Obviously this is a site focused on parents so it won’t appeal to everyone. I like the ability to get different opinions quickly and easily, filtered and rated for your consideration. The inclusion of comments at the base of articles brings in one of the best features of blogs so that immediately you get a sense of how others view the advice as well. Related articles and external links means that users can easily access more information on the topic, and tagging is surprisingly done well on the site. If I were going down the path of having another child (well, I’m important initially in that process..perhaps not so much after), I’d jump straight into Minti. Now if only they had a working cure for my wife’s seriously terrible disposition in the first trimester I’d be calling for the Nobel Prize to be awarded.
Minti’s competitors include Maya’s Mom (acquired by BabyCentre for $7m) and Mothers Click.
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just wondering, if they have “20,000 active registered members” how come they are #65k on alexa/,i have 7k hits a day and i am around 18k on alexa.
I just want to know if i am missing something, this alexa stuff drives me crazy.
thanks
No!
Wrong demographic for high Alexa ratings: mom’s don’t tend to have Alexa installed
This is an entire article about nothing. I’ve read it twice and it’s still about nothing?
Duncan, just because you’re Australian and Minti is Australian — and I don’t know — maybe you guys enjoy a few schooners of VB at the aussie tech events… please stop posting about this garbage. Does Arrington even check some of this stuff, it is doing a dis-service to Techcrunch?
20,000 registered users and “7-figures” in page views is nothing. It’s hopeless, given the amount of capital raised. If anything Minti should be in the dead-pool.
I second the motion. This post has as much foam as a Fosters. Throw some shrimp on the barbey will ya…
Also note: Maya’s Mom (not mum) was recently acquired by Big Company, so they’re no longer a “startup”. And the other one, MothersClick, what’s their story?
Is this post supposed to be a critical review or a press release?
Alexa is useless, true. However, Quantcast and Compete don’t use toolbars and they both show less than 32,000 monthly U.S. visitors. How about some fact checking before blindly accepting inflated numbers next time, Duncan?
Andrew I think you have this all wrong, the Minti founders now live down the road from Arrington so a couple of Budweisers would be more believable.
Wow, minti is crappy….the fact that ratings are weighted based on participation is kinda neat, but it looks like a throwback to 2005era web 2.0. Seriously, the original youtube looks better than this.
“The inclusion of comments at the base of articles brings in one of the best features of blogs so that immediately you get a sense of how others view the advice as well. Related articles and external links means that users can easily access more information on the topic, and tagging is surprisingly done well on the site…”
And Duncan seems to be in awe of comments, links, and taggs. Is this an advertorial, cuz seriously, it seems like a pay-per-post spot.
Andrew
actually the company is now based in the Valley…the fact that they are Australian may have helped me getting a personal one-on-one review of the site, but as a parent I appreciated what they are doing. Here’s betting that at least some of the negative commenter’s don’t have kids.
Pretty much all the moms I know in Los Angeles use CityMommy (www.citymommy.com).
Duncan, as a fellow parent I’ve been to most every site out there including Minti. I wasn’t that impressed frankly, but still visit once in a while.
I am surprised however that I haven’t ever seen MomAdvice.com mentioned when you’re talking about this space. I found out about it from an article in the NY Times last weekend and I’m hooked. It’s refreshing to see someone still creating original content to go along with the ubiquitous parenting forum.
pleeeeeeease. Hands up who has been to a forum and posted? Looks like a green forum. Most forums have rankings for suers so you know what sort of advise youa re getting. When is this nonsense in Web 2.0 going to end?
Snore. ITs like Foster’s - weak as p@#s. And I am an aussie.
Ordinary site beyond belief. Where’s the news angle?? Pure advertorial to me. Better to post nothing than such drivel.
We have been providing web services to US customers for some time. I guess it’s difficult to feel the culture of Minti unless you are a parent and have joined.
Minti looks the way it does, because our users like to enter anywhere on the page and see many points of entry into any conversation and topic.
Usabiity, we’ve discovered that Minti members are using firefox to preload multiple pages of the feeds, articles, discussions across one topic and there is a lot of information exchange occuring, with over a million plus contributions, from just a small sample size of members (a little bit like Wikipedia’s ratios). Do you do that level of discussion on Facebook, I know I don’t?
We have been able to solve the issue of providing the best content written by parents rising to the top. Generally, within minutes of being published an article get voted, commented on and starts receiving Google search visits.
I found that in print magazines only one featured real life story from a mother is told. Minti has thousands and counting.
I would love to know of another site that focuses on capturing real experiences of parents as indexable and reachable by any parent from all over the web. I know that Minti can be in addition to the likes of Babycenter. In my year long research the parenting space is completely saturated, but no niche sites. I could not find a site full of real parenting experiences. I aim for Minti to be ready for Generation Y parents, using technology to make the experience better.
I am trying to answer this question? Does a social network with social software really help repair the social fabric of our societies problems (post natal depression, alienation, relationships)…??? With the success of the supernanny, I felt parents were super and needed their platform to voice their accomplishments.
Minti functions on a similar premise that Oprah does, we want to hear from real stories with the end goal of making parents happy, feel a sense of community well being and in turn have a positive impact on their children. Our lost babies group has help many mothers heal for the first time in years, our Ask Mony group has helped mothers vent.
We’ve had members help other members escape serious threats to their lives and the lives of their children. We’ve had TV talk shows some to us, but our members don’t want to spotlight their problems, they want support from our members…
I prefer to focus on “quality members and a quality” experience. When I lost our child in utero at 4 months, Minti saved me. I personally never thought I would experience the site at such a level as our members do. They keep telling me it is my calling.
I could focus on more cool unique tech on the site, but then who would I be forgetting. I speak for those parents who need a place like Minti to get their warnings out, their happy experiences, triumphs and challenges. I challenge any parent to do a search on Minti for a parenting topic and tell me if there isnt any article written on it.
I want to use technology to leverage and amplify what parents need and not the other way round.
I’ll do something cooler and tech accepted later after my kids are grown, so Duncan gets cooler comments…
WTF is a UGC?
Not impressive….no offense though
http://vidsonly.blogspot.com
i think all that have left bad comments here should take a step back and actually try logging into minti believe me you wont take your eyes off the computer screen i love it i love the advice and i love the friendships ive gained its totally turnt my life around i love minti and the advice i have read on minti has saved me in delemas
emmie
if you are a parent,you will find this site addictive its usefull,easy to read,and easy to find anything about parenting you want.
give it a try before putting it down.
I guess you have to be a user of minti to understand just how great it is. In the non-alexa, non-2.0 real world, Minti helps real people. Stick with it Minti guys!
Hugs and kisses all round!!!
I still don’t see a story here.
I don’t see what people are complaining about. As a user of Minti, I find it very useful. It has some really great people, you can ask people questions about your life, and even whine about your problems!
You can also find some really great advice that you might need when dealing with your kids - I’m sure those of you who are parents may have encountered at least one difficulty - whether it be worrying about your child’s health or even how to get your baby to get to sleep in the middle of the night!
It might not be the most incredible thing or latest thing on the internet - but it works great as a place to communicate with other people who are going or have gone through the same things as you (ie get support) and get information that you might need as a parent.
i think minti is an excellent site. noone understands parents like other parents.
i could easily look up advice for my problems on the net and get advice for most of the things i want, statistics,products, all that crap but the question has to be asked “has the person giving me advice actually been through the same thing with their children? or are they just answering with the recommended way of dealing with children?”
id much rather get advice from a group of parents who know how it feels, can tell me their way of dealing with a problem and what worked for them and what didnt.
for the people who wrote the nasty comments here i assume you have just clicked on the site and looked at the surface stuff you have no idea how wonderful it is to know people are there for you that actually care that you and your children are happy and well and offer support with all the bub stuff and beyond.
keep up the good work minti!
A PROUD MINTI MUM…
as a current Minti mum i have to say that i will always support the admins that were smart enough to come up with a site that helps many parents on a daily basis.. I have met some fantastic parents on there,. and feel that for the people who wrote this nasty stuff about this site, need to really look at the big picture, as we are all parents that need support, and no one is perfect,…..
So for u nasty Critics, as the saying Goes Minti Rocks….
thankyou
take care
love cazza
Minti may look ordinary to some, but sign up and look around and you’ll find nothing but extraordinary things. I’ve been on Minti for over a year and just love it.
Now, I’m not a parent who throws an expert advice out the window over another parents’ advice, but I like to hear from others who have gone through what I’m going through.
Minti is such a tight-knit global community that I have made friends from Canada, Australia and other countries (I’m in the U.S.). Some of them I have gotten to know a lot about that I actually find myself wondering (while off the computer) what they have been up to if I don’t see them Minti for a number of days. I don’t know about you, but I have never seen any online community like that.
I am a new parent, and have just become a member of minti… and love it.. As a new parent you never know what is going to happen with your child or how to handle certin situations.. Minti gives great advice from other parents who have been there done it… I never new about Minti until I had children.. To the people who wrote those negative comments are you a parent yourself??? If not then you wont understand what the Minti communtiy is like.
Sorry tech geeks, you just dont get it. Parents who parent want a site where, common sense, easy to use technology, and community are the standard. Too many parenting sights are adverts, they are full of people with oppinions and little advice. The pages are so full of clutter that trying to read is to much like hard work. Minti maybe basic to look at, and that for parents is the bonus. When you are streched for time you need to read quickly without irrelevent distraction. If you have a dilema or urgent problem, you will be answered on minti within minutes, you are never alone. If you are in serious trouble and need real help minti provides. It is a real living community, with all the benefits of community, a rarity in this self centred, tech loaded age where self promotion is the norm. As for the ratings and voting. It sorts the wheat from the chaff.I really hate going to sites and have to trawl through guff to get what is relevent. Never had that prob on minti. Lastly minti is truely Global. Aus,USA,Canada,New Zealand,Europe. A true world view of parenting today,in a simple straight forward way, without the techno babble. There is always more than one way to solve a prob, and minti has all the answers, on one site, in a simple easy to access form.
I’m not doubting that people on minti like minti… chuckle.
What I’m doubting, and indeed everyone other than minti members are doubting, is that this non-story is newsworthy. It’s not. It’s pure fluff, published purely because Duncan knows the founders. That’s how publications lose credibility and I’m suprised Arrington allows it.
Hi all,
I am the CEO of Vibe Capital, and Minti. Seeing as though this has generated so much discussion I thought it’s worth adding to the discussion and clearing up a couple points.
There’s nothing like “a parenting site” to fire up the techies v moms debate. I can’t help but get the impression that a couple commenters are a little bit jaded on not being reviewed themselves perhaps?
Re: The Duncan thing - give Duncan a break, we are certainly not drinking buddies from way back. As a matter of fact this is the 3rd time we have met, the first was in Perth about 12mths ago, then recently at the TechCrunch party and then the other day when I gave him a demo.
The main point of giving Duncan a demo was to showcase the technology behind Minti as I got the feeling that he was unaware that their was anything unique “under the hood”. Amongst other things this included demoing the algorithm behind the ranking of members and the weighting of votes on articles. This algorithm makes the system extremely hard to game, and rewards members that contribute a lot of good quality content. From my experience, the vast majority or Web 2.0 sites that have ranking do not weight their votes based on member trust and thus are easily gamed.
There are many other intelligent technologies in the vibEngine (which powers Minti) such as the auto suggested tagging based on content in the article, automated watchlists, tabbed search results, auto suggested related article etc etc however we have designed the site with a simple look and feel as not to scare off moms that are not techies themselves. You will have to sign up and spend some time on the site to fully appreciate the technology.
Hats off to the Minti members that found their way to TC and commented in defence of Minti. They are certainly a passionate bunch, which I think indicates the success of a company/website.
Kindest
Clay
I have been a member of Minti for almost a year now
Minti is exactly what it should be a Parenting site written by other parents
Lots of times I have read up on what the experts say about a situation to find they are not always parents themselves.
Every bit of advice I have taken from Minti is written by a parent who has walked in my shoes, what better recommendation for advice is there than that
Minti is not just a web site it is a community of parents, who want to help each other and support each other
Some of my best and most trusted friends are the ones I met through Minti
Minti is THE parenting website for advice and friendship, with parents, and pending parents.
The profile or Minti is growing daily, when you search online for parenting advice, it is often Minti Advice that is featured highly in the results. It is our responsibility to help maintain a high level of helpful, informative, advice appropriate to the integrity of Minti; it’s creators, and it’s main contributors - ourselves. Minti is a collaborative of information, advice, comments and experiences from parents, and parent’s to be.
Unlike it’s contemporaries, Minti has many different levels, it is a true online community, and with real time updates, it is virtually alive (pun intended). Minti has so many different dimensions and is practically self-regulated, in comparison, other sites provide sanitised information that is overseen by moderators who censor opinions to suit themselves.
You can create your own blog, make friends with other members, and utilise the experience of the collective group by adding your questions to the Q&A section. You can participate by asking questions, join groups for people with common interests, read advice, and write advice.
The beauty of Minti is that you don’t even have to be a registered member of the site to be able to benefit from the advice provided, or post a question and seek help from real parents with life experience and empathy for you.
I know the Minti guys pretty well and I think they have their work cut out for them, but they know that. My feeling is that they do a great job of nurturing the people in a community directly, which works for large but not mega-large networks. As Rachel said, they are also working hard to build the technology that automatically nurtures the people but not in a too clinical way. It’s a tough balance and Minti is making progress.
They may find that a common set of tools doesn’t necessarily apply to two different communities. Like Dogster couldn’t just be copied and pasted to make Catster.
Interesting that you mention dogster/catster. Has anyone taken a look at alexa lately…what is happening in my opinion is that these niche social networking sites are being killed, likely by booming facebook apps (see Dogbook for example). While there is an awful amount of noise in the app space on facebook, the cream will rise to the top and make it really hard for niche sites to work standalone. Minti may have a chance because I don’t see anyone currently who has a good parenting site on facebook but they better get their groove on!
In regards to Andrew’s comment - I believe this article is more of a review, which is completely fine. After all, if newspapers and magazines can write reviews of restaurants, movies, clothes, make up, phones, etc why can’t other sources of information such as blogs review other websites, technologies, products and services?
ANOTHER PROUD MINTI MUMMY HERE
OMG i have read all the bad comments and wonder have you really really had a look at minti and tried using it? i dare you all to have a go, cause i know once you log in you wont want to leave,
i have been a member of minti since may of this year and have loved every minute of it and i tell everyone about it too as i feel it is the best parenting site there is, i have made some wonderful friends, i have been able to even meet some of them person to person,
minti is all about been able to help on another, and share stories to that they might be able to help others that might be going through the same thing, you can ask questions and have them answered by other mums that are either going through it or have been through it,
i have tried some of the other sites and they don’t hold a candle to minti, they don’t have that family feel to it, and there isn’t that support that you get from the other minti members,
and as cazza said MINTI ROCKS
hugs and kisses
You computer geeks if you had a life and didnt just sit with your heads in computers all the time some of you might find a partner to play with and maybe have a kid or 2 and then when you need some advice on kids you may just find yourself on minti asking for help so until you know what your talking about and have spent more then 30secs on minti (you will see the great things it has to offer) then you can slag it off but for now swallow another micro chip. GEEKS get a life
Amateur… The name says it all really doesn’t it. Andrew - you read it twice to determine that it was about nothing? Is that because you don’t trust your own judgement in the first place?
I always find it is better to provide something that is a vast improvement, or cite an example of what you find to be better than ‘tell on yourself’ by whining, and the only thing weak about the aussie beers you guys have mentioned thus far is the context that you have used for them.
But hey, that’s just me, being positive and proactive doesn’t suit everyone. Or am I wrong - have one of you designed some online site that I am unaware of?
I’m not sure what people expect of a review. If it’s good they complain its not objective. If its bad they probably complain for some reason too! I really couldn’t comment on Minti from a tech persepective as I am not that tech savvy. And I really couldn’t care less what’s behind the facade. But I am also a very devoted Minti member who loves the site, loves the people it attracts and has found more than advice but friendship, support and a public voice as a result of the Minti site.
I suspect that the people who are bagging this review are the kind of people that aren’t attracted to Minti at all. And that’s just fine by me cause they can take their negative attitudes elsewhere. I love my Minti the way it is!!!
Hi
I have been on Minti for nearly a year now and have found a diverse range of parents and topics.
I use babycentre but still cannot often find what i need. Minti provides it all especially for new mums, sahm, sahd, and single parents
Sometimes due to circumstances we cannot go out a lot. Be it from depression lack of finances or social disorders or any of the other circumstances that affect our lives
Minti is there for us.
How many of you can claim you are perfect parents or will be perfect parents when and if you finally get out from your techie attitude and meet a perfect woman who can stand your nerdish ways.
I have a child with Cystic Fibrosis and a teenager with aspergers This means that we cannot often go out socialising especially for the safety of our daughter.
Minti provides what society can no longer provide.
Our support network.
Spend a week on the site then see if you still say the same thing.
Spend some time becoming another minti addict cause it’s moments like these that you need Minti
Luv Deb
Who knew Techcrunch was popular with the Minti moms?! lol
No one here is hating at Minti. No one is hating the Minti moms. We’re just questioning a puff piece. The only way blogs like Techcrunch will stay relevant is by listening to their readers and by being cutting edge. Articles like this are a nonsense.
A review of an old forum for parents ain’t cutting edge. Looking at its compete.com stats it is also really struggling to attain traffic… I’m guessing they’re making around $750-$2000 / month on adsense so it’s not really a viable business. Doesn’t mean that their users aren’t enjoying it. I don’t think anyone questioned that aspect.
Actually, I’m a tech nerd, and my family and friends will tell you that’s the case. And yes, I do read blogs such as TechCrunch and Mashable on a regular basis.
Once again, there is nothing wrong with mixing latest news with reviews in a blog. If an author or journalist so happens to like a particular issue or topic, they should be able to express their opinion in an article, radio, or whatever medium they use in their written endeavors.
After all, if they feel the buzz of something, why shouldn’t they share it with people? Many existing products and services are reviewed on a regular basis, even if they are old or older. And indeed, if they feel that something is completely dead or useless, they should be able to share that as well with others.
I’m not defending this piece solely on the basis that it is about Minti. I would also defend the piece even if it was a competitor or something I was not interested in (like an existing F1 Car Racing Online Social Networks (if any) for example).
If the technology and community of the F1 Car Racing social network was great and perhaps different to other car racing enthusiast social networks, I’d like to read about that too.
I think those negative comments came from people who probably only spent a few minutes giving it the quick brush over..
To truly appreciate Minti, you really need to spend some time there, get to know people… There is so much advice that you can’t make a judgment on a few look overs.
Minti is a site where parents can sympathize with each other, because with so many members on this site there is bound to be someone who has been through exactly or similar to what you may be going through. And I had been to other sites before where they give you one solution to the problem with a this is what you should do…. But with minti it is more of a “This is what I did, hope it works for you…. I am given many different choices on how to solve my problems with my child, and I can keep on trying until I find the right one that works for us. I don’t need to go anywhere else because there are so many different options on how to problem solve.
But not only that, friendships have been made, people have met off line you really do get the sense of a community, of mothers and fathers who have been there done that, and most of all I like the fact that if my child has bitten another child, or if my child has gone to hospital for some reason there is someone who knows exactly what I am going through!
And it gives me the feeling that my husband and I are not alone, there are other kids out there that are just as much a pain in the butt, yet as loving as mine…. I am not the only parent that has had to clean poop, food or crayons off walls, who has pulled their hair out because you just don’t know what else you can do, just post a quick question in the Q&A section and with in seconds you have yet another way of trying to solve your hair pulling issue.. I am not the only parent who has had to rush their kid to the hospital in the middle of the night because of breathing difficulties.. I am not the only mother who has had sore nipples…
So I sayto these people who give Minti the thumbs down.. Come back and look again, look deeper, try to get to know some people, enjoy the community, because not only are we there to lend each other a helping hand, we are there to share in the laughs and the tears of other people who have either experienced the same as us, or will….
As a Minti member, since august 2007, I have found many different perspectives, considerable advice, and a definite net work of women who despite their locations share a common bond. Children. This universal topic transports one into areas of self, spouse, marital relationships, and health and incredible humor.
Minti goes off topic in their many different groups, where one can vent privately about any number of issues in their lives, or join global mothers within an A-Z forum of any topic you could imagine. For those who individuals who are single parents, like myself, Minti provides me a resource where I can vent, laugh, and have cyber friendships during the night when due to my financial situation, I’m most often at home.
However the main benefit, for me is concerned with one specific item, to share hope, feelings of empathy, and perhaps save a mom from making a decision that might be painful…to try and help in my own way to help women of the world. Empathy is the ability to help another human being through one’s own experience. Hope in knowing tomorrow will be another day, there will be an ear listening, and hands typing, we all need to be connected. The spiritual growth, from being humbled by many women around the world, their lives, what they do and give, brings one back to a place of sincere gratitude for what one has within their life.
The honesty is humbling, the self-expression of pain is humbling, not to mention inner guilt one might feel due to some life experience, and within minutes you find you are not alone, not judged, nor without a helping hand reaching out with support. Sure there may be other online mother sites, however, I haven’t found one that comes close to the sincerity of Minti. So spend a bit of time, if you don’t like the web site, don’t go there…pretty simple decision, and I wish you well in your life journey.Take care, S1
I think compete.com’s info is US-only. only 10% or so of Minti members seem to be U.S.-based, so multiply compete.com’s #s by 10.