While AOL was officially launching its Socialthing for Websites initiative this morning, it was also quietly making some changes to the design of its homepage. There are some new themes, Twitter integration, a prominent RSS tab up top, and all the information and news modules are now collapsible. There are also a few new AOL content featured along teh left-hand column, such as Paw Nation and PoliticsDaily (see our review).
But if you haven’t been to AOL.com lately (you are not alone), you may not completely recognize it. For one thing, there is a lifestreaming box on the right that lets you log into various social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, and MySpcace. You can see all of the status updates from your friends on other social networks and respond to them from within AOL. AIM and Bebo are also options in that box, but for Bebo you have to click an arrow to even see it (and AOL owns Bebo). You can also check your e-mail from Yahoo and Gmail, as well as AOL. These changes began last year and reflect a growing agnosticism at AOL, which wants to make it easy for you to bring your social network with you to the site.
If you don’t like the look of AOL’s homepage, you can pick a new background theme. Ah, there. That’s better already. And the RSS reader has been moved up prominently as a tab so you can switch away from AOL’s pre-programmed page and program it yourself with your own news and blog feeds. On the main tab, each information and news box can be collapsed, but unfortunately they cannot be moved around. But the rigidity that was once there is beginning to ease, and that is a good thing.
AOL realizes it is no longer the center of the universe, and is adapting. In a sense, all of these minor tweaks add up to an embrace of other gravitational forces on the Web. AOL is presenting them in a way that is palatable to everyday Americans. Forget Oprah. Seeing Twitter on AOL’s homepage is the biggest proof that it is going mainstream.
Yahoo, you are next…
Yahoo! has already done many of these. But they may follow suit soon. Anyone, nothing can match iGoogle themes and gadgets.
I wonder why I have over 500 contacts and NOT one is using Yahoo! Connections. …
thats true! yahoo has heavy old fashioned design for grandma’s. Including megatons API
Feels more like the MySpace homepage take overs they do. Superman 3 here AOL comes.
hah, I’m probably one of the few that hasn’t been to the AOL website – ever.
AOL rocks, truly!!! But can someone tell me why I get my latest-but-one update on AOL’s Facebook stream? Does anyone experience this? Is there a delay in updates from FB or twitter? I refreshed twice and still I get only the old update!
Portals are so 1995. Are people REALLY going to go to AOL.com to check their Twitter and Facebook?
No.
It looks very interesting, but then again so did “My Yahoo!”
Sure AOL has come a long way from where they were, but I was helping a friend migrate from AOL to gmail the other day and AOL still does offer any way to export your address book. The only way I found was to sync w/Plaxo then to gmail.
Check out the latest address book and calendar sync capability, works with most phones, Outlook, etc. aolsync.aol.com. You can also use any of the open source apps at funambol.com.
the ads and the rotating carousel thing are a show stopper for me. i came, i saw, i left, i ain’t going back. cya.
P.S. who cares about a stinking background?
At least they are making some efforts. keep going.
Go ahead
Fascinating how AOL is catering to trends rather than providing real value to the needs of its members. I’m still sore on how many times I had to uninstall AOL for friends/family in the past.
I wonder if AOL users know that they could eliminate all the consumerism and garbage on AOL while still retaining AIM communications just by switching to a faster connection (cable/DSL) and using a free email program like GMail.
You are not a prisoner to AOL. Free your mind and your computer by choosing to customize your online experience and not having it customized by a conglomerate who thinks it’s catering to the greater part of its user base.
Good to see AOL is evolving, and in a way that ensures they can remain relevant by bringing together all the great services and tools that AOL could never develop themselves
Nice job re-posting CenterNetworks…
Nice Job.
Nice work!
I have never thought AOL was the center of the universe. I used to consider AOL “the Internet for dumb people”. They handcuffed the Internet experience and made a lot of people think that AOL IS the Internet. Those tactics always made me very angry because some friends and family would say, “You’re not on AOL? You should try it, there’s sites for everything” and I would shake my head and tell them that you don’t need AOL to experience the Internet. They wouldn’t believe me and thought I was missing out on this new thing called the Internet. Like I was using something else.
I have never been, nor will I ever visit the site.
+1
AOL Positioned itself in my head as the pioneer spammer… I remember all the junk I used to get pre-installed on my computer that was nearly impossible to get rid of.
Also, all the CD’s they used to send in the mail. I used to take the cases from the CD’s and use them for all my burned music downloaded from Napster or Bearshare lol.
I’ll never go to AOL for anything besides a laugh
Pioneer Spammer? I think MySpace is the clear winner when it comes to spamming … just my two cents.
@Bz thanks for writing for me.
Erick,
Have you seen this new Yahoo homepage?
It has big focus on search, display advertising and portal to generate move page views.
http://www.meyd...ls-we-are-back/
-jay
I haven’t been to AOL.com in at least 5 years. lol
There’s a typo in ‘MySpcace’
No typo. Myspcace is the hot new social network for dysexlics.
you’re outa the pool brotha.
Eliminate Oprah From My Aol Experience