very useful information…

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….

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.

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.

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!!!

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?

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

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.

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 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

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.

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.

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

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!

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 still don’t see a story here.