“What, you think you’re better than me?”
We’ve all uttered this phrase at one point or another in our lifetime. Well maybe we’ve just thought about saying it, but we’re inherently wired to feel it. We love to compete with one another no matter what the circumstances are, but let’s face it, seeing who can do the most one armed push-ups at the office is getting old, and frankly Erick is sick of losing. It’s time for some fresh meat. Am I right? What, you think you can come up with something better? Then prove it. I dare you.
That’s where Vancouver, BC-based Strutta comes in. They’re taking user-generated video content and melding it with casual gaming to create the online version of a spectator sport. The name alone should tip you off to what they’re all about. Strut your stuff. Show the world what you’re good at and get a chance to smoke the competition. Or if you’re more of a spectator, just spend time voting for the best players in different games to crank up your judge points (yes judges get points, too).
Think of Strutta as a federated body for online competitions, kind of like what the WWF is to wrestling, only on Strutta you can compete against the entire world in anything you see fit. Strutta even lets you compete on behalf of your city, your state, and your country kind of like a web Olympian. To play in a game, upload a video that you created or starred in, or login to your YouTube account from Strutta’s site and select videos from there. Compete in an existing game on Strutta, or create a new one to feature your best skills and drop in your video. You can keep track of your stats on Strutta’s dynamic leaderboards and as soon as you see your rank dropping, just swap out your video for a new one to show more of your skills or up the star-quality of your performance. Also, if you don’t want to play directly on Strutta’s site you’ll be able to simply embed the game you’re competing in onto other sites and social networks, like MySpace and Facebook, and have your friends vote for you, there.
So what exactly are you competing for? Well, not only are you vying for bragging rights, but you’re also trying to get into the Strutta finale. While the details of that were not disclosed to me yet, I think the Strutta team has something exciting planned…
So, I challenge everyone to a game: I want you all to do your best impression of Michael. Seriously. Let’s see what you’ve got.
finally, i’ve been waiting since the eighth grade, a way to be recognized as the greatest wadded-up notebook paper into the waste basket from the back row while the teacher is writing on the board shooter evah.
I don’t know… I see this turning into the prepubescent idiocy that … what was it… convinceme.net I think, was. At least they went back to the army-men, I see.
But video can only make it all the more terrifying.
Isn’t this a bit like that video-dares website that got slaughtered here and in the press? Forgot the name.
Strutta has some seriously smart people behind it. Watch this space.
Well, those “seriously smart people” are going after a seriously stupid target market.
Yeah, I’m Michael, your archangel VC tracker
But I don’t have the guts of a n00b hacker
Maybe I’m just waiting for the Google Jet like a slacker
Or putting companies into the deadpool, a digital knacker.
That’s the ticket, put another Crunch against Demo
Maybe with luck, we can call and book Leno.
Michael Arroganceington is my name, you see
And I’ll do quite anything if you can pony up my fee.
There should be some sort of incentive for those who get the most votes…. this market they are targeting may not be profitable? (We’re thinking young 13 year old boys?)
The mix of “daring” + video also makes think about (London-based)Bragster.com.
Bragster is less about competition, and more Jackass-style, though.
My notes from Bragster’s presentation at the Plugg event tell me that :
- 800,000 uniques US, UK, Canada
- 130, 000 brag participations on more than 10,000 events
These companies can become true viral video hubs.
@5
A “stupid” market maybe, but potentially massive. Note the popularity of “So you think you can dance”, “American Idol”, “Jackass”, “Guitar Hero”, etc etc.
Every teen wants their 15 minutes of fame, even if it is for doing something stupid.
Ha! In my office right now. Push-up contest. Bring your video camera. Or are you too scared?
Hey Michael, I guess you were an earlier fan of the then WWF - its now the WWE
The site seems kool - will keep on eye on it…
I’ll stick to Bragster. They’ve already got the community.
yo I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog
just spam/link your damn blog/site….it really is better than seeing you use that retarded username
Strutta is tapping into a fundamental competitive silliness. Everyone has a “talent”. Ultimately this is more Stupid Human Tricks than American Idol.
This feels like one of those ideas that has tremendous potential to blow up huge.
I’m gonna knock you out!
Awesome Peter - I love the Karate Kid. “Get him a body bag…”
pete Ha? name sounds familiar.
Awful post! Reads more like an advertisement than a review.
Peter, thank you for the kind words. Needless to say I was inspired by your challenge, and I’m up to the task:
Best Michael Arrington Impression:
http://strutta.com/play/best-m.....impression
Now, who among you have the stones to step up and beat me?
-Jordan Behan
Strutta Dude
DanceJam, eh?
We have officially entered dot com 2.0 bubble.
Let the demise begin.
I like the guys behind Strutta, but I felt that this post sounded more like an advertisement than anything else. Not compelling.
Maybe I’m stupid, but I can’t seem to register for the site. Keep getting a “You didn’t pick the kitty!” message. I have no idea what that means.
Anyone manage to create an account?
I’m happy to see that you enjoyed your experience with the site Peter- thank you for your kind words.
MarkD, we’re looking into the problems you’re having with the captcha right now. Send me an email: support[at]strutta.com and we’ll see if we can’t get this worked out. Cheers.
Editors, feel free to delete my previous comment. (I was a little excited)
Hey I just noticed you guys created a fake profile for my friend Ryan Higa. I am a fan of Ryan Higa and other youtubers, and I noticed these aren’t their profiles. Kind of unethical, dont you think?
Hey Mark,
We too are fans of Ryan. We’re saving the profile for him to claim, and I’ll handle it for him personally. In my signature above, I’ve left a link to a video that explains more.
The concept sounds interesting, we’re all competitive at heart. that said, the idea of setting up fake profiles for well known people does sound unethical, aren’t you making it appear to users like they are competing with people when they’re not really? And I wonder what those people will think about you leveraging their names, seems like a problem other sites like Myspace and Youtube had to solve and you are perpetuating…I’ve never used the site so maybe just don’t get it (I tried signing up and also got the “you didn’t pick the kitty” error message yet can’t figure out how to pick the kitty. Maybe that’s the first competition?) anyway, good luck
What the hell. I’m on the site and almost all the profiles for people in actual contests are fake and not by the actual owner and the videos are just taken from their REAL profiles on youtube. A waste of my time…so basically I am voting for fake people.
There’s a fundamental flaw in the premise of Strutta’s service. Users can either:
1. Just watch videos and vote (which gets pretty boring pretty quickly and I can’t bring myself to care about anything I’ve seen–has anyone?)
OR
2. Compete (which requires some talent, a video camera, a friend to hold the camera, some knowhow of editing the video taken, the patience and knowledge to create an account and profile, upload the video and track visits/votes)
I’m not sure there’s enough of an upside for either the person watching and voting or the participant. I wish the Strutta peeps the best and hope they can find elements in their model which will make this service a success. I don’t think it’s there yet.
Techcrunch editors: You are much more than a press release service and your readers deserve more than a mere regurgitation of a media release.
Hello again,
We appreciate all feedback, and we’ve acted on a few things as a result:
While we still feature embedded videos from YouTube users (with attribution) we have no profiles for the users attached them. In place of a profile, there is a page where video owners can log in and take control of their own content, or email me directly if they have questions: support[at]strutta.com.
Thanks very much for the lively discussion.