Dutch startup Scoutle marries different networking ideas to deliver what they call an “Automated Social Networking for Bloggers.”
Scoutle operates via webcrawlers they call Scouts. Users create their own personal Scouts, for example one for their blog, another for their Facebook or similar profile, and the scouts “walk through the Internet,” by meeting other Scouts with similar interests or profiles, creating a contact between both.
Results from the Scouts are constantly being compared, delivering a realtime guide that allows users to see which blog on a certain topic, in a certain language or country is most relevant to the user at a specific moment. Users can also create networks based on specific topics or personal groups and see who is best ranked within these networks.
Automation
The interesting thing about Scoutle is not that its another social networking service, it’s the focus on automation. Little input is required from users to make connections, the Scouts do most (if not all) of the work usually needed to participate in any social networking site. Users can sit back and simply choose whether to visit the profiles delivered via new connections.
We’ve seen various link swapping/ promotional/ blog traffic systems before, however Scoutle’s move into social networking is an interesting mix, sort of StumbleUpon based on a shared interests, profiles and widgets. The site launched in beta May 8 and is available in English and Dutch.
Former TechCrunch writer Duncan Riley covers tech, pop culture and penguins at The Inquisitr.
Hey … you are back!? … Deja Vu??
Probably too much conviviality…
And how does this differ from, say, MyBlogLog?
Nice automated meshing exercise!!!
This is really very interesting. Im going to have to sign up i think. But Scoble does make a good point, how does this differ from MyBlogLog.
The linking/ networking service is much more closer to say an automated version of Facebook that MyBlogLog. I didn’t cover the algorithm side but there’s a complex model behind the automation as well.
Another interesting thing is that it does not support hotmail users, however supports Open ID, when will all the world move on to OpenID so that we dont have to keep 10’s of logins for each of these Social sites?
Groan….
Yet another nice idea without a prayer of making any money.
Yawn.
Why do we need this? Another bunch of clueless dolts trying to make a buck on some variation of social networking. Gawd…it’s been done. A zillion times. Move on!
Automation is good for bloggers who spend enough time trying to create good content…
Hi there everybody! After this post, new users are coming in by the minute. In a few days, the algorithms will start working the way they should once we reached a right amount of Scouts.
Hotmail is unsupported at the moment because of their SenderID program which is just hard to get into within a week. We did not realy dare to hope for these amounts of new users, but this is absolutely wonderful.
Scoutle is still in beta but seems to work just fine at the moment.
We hope to see good algorithm results in a few days from now and will stand by in the meantime.
Thanks for believing in Scoutle!
Godfried van Loo
Scoutle.com - Meet You Soon!
The service sounds similar with an existing service awasete.com in Japan.
Giving it a go now. Agree it’s hard to see if it’ll work effectively till there are enough users.
I’m not sure I fully understand it, even after watching the video clip… I normally do not go around “friending” random people on Facebook/MySpace/etc., so this concept is a little bizarre…. however, it’s also quite intriguing at the same time. Might be interesting to try…?
Augh… the song used in the video. Who sings that again? It’s on the tip of my tongue but I’m having a brain fart.
is there something simple for my mom.?
I’m trying it out on the blog of my site. I’m not quite sure how it works, but I am interested in creating more social features for my users.
Thanks,
-Mike
Scott K –> Edwyn Collins ‘A Girl Like You’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkKxGzm98AU
A software program browsing through user profiles on sites like Facebook and making contacts for me without my input? Is my understanding of this technology correct? If it is, this sounds an awful lot like Orwell’s 1984 and Lucas’ THX-1138 in which technology dictates our entire lives. Don’t get me wrong, I understand and appreciate automation of some things, but don’t tell me what I should do or where I should go on the Internet. I can surf for myself, thank you very much.
The main problem with MyBlogLog is you have to put some effort into using it. If Scoutle automates the network building, then they could improve on the experience, and get some real traction.
It’s not monetized right now, but it’s not hard to see them selling advertising. After all, they’re building a very detailed profile of what you’re interested in. That’s marketing gold.
I got a better idea for people wanting to meet people of similar interests - get your butt out of your chair and go down to the local pub, arena, game, festival, etc. and do it. Then, instead of playing virtual horseshoes, you can actually get together at the park. In the sun. And feel the breeze. That’s hard for people, I understand, but I think it’s only become harder in the last 20 years because of technology. And will continue to unless we bring the social back into social networking.