Social Software to tie your market together

From the NY Times, SAUL HANSELL, November 21, 2005 - Tapping a New-Age Life on the Web, Cellphone and TV

C. J. Kettler, "She is the founder and chief executive of Lime, a media company devoted to new-age lifestyle programs on subjects like organic food, hybrid cars and alternative medicine. And as with Oxygen, she has big-name backers, notably Stephen M. Case, the co-founder of AOL, who owns a majority of Lime. The company will not say how much money it has raised or how much Mr. Case invested."

What's intersting here is that they are using social software to manage their net presence. What's more, social software that was once available to only deep pocketed businesses or individuals is now available to any business or individual that wants or needs a community on the net to tie their market together.

Most of Lime's Web site consists of a series of blogs, run by freelance writers who identify articles of interest around the Web, adding some commentary, but little original reporting.

Ms. Kettler said this was not only economical, but it tapped into the skepticism audiences had about so-called authoritative voices.

"We have lined up people who we use as filters for what is out on the Web so people can learn a bit and interact with other like-minded people," she said.

The blogs will also incorporate video and audio programming produced by Lime, and eventually content produced by its users. (For now, as on most blogs, users can comment on any item.)

The company also hopes to turn the site into a social community, giving members the ability to create profile pages that contain content they contributed, in a stripped-down version of MySpace.com, the networking site.

The site is organized around six channels - exercise, health, environmental issues and design, personal growth, food and what it calls "beyond."

The beyond channel includes discussion of supernatural phenomena and radio psychics, which Ms. Kettler prefers to call "intuitives."