Over the past five years, social networking has become the juggernaut of the information superhighway. With interfaces like the ever popularized Myspace and Facebook, users can stay connected to friends and family all over the globe with a simple click of a mouse.
But when does checking and updating lose its lackluster; is it really that fun to type wall posts and read what your friends are doing rather than being able to participate with them? Distance makes it hard for friendships to stay intact; are social networking sites doing all they can for users to maintain the bonds they treasure?
Coming in from stage left, Cambridge, Massachusetts based company Conduit Labs dances across the stage in a top hat and cane, ready for their big debut as the next possible social networking breakthrough.
Nabeel Hyatt, co-founder and CEO of Conduit Labs, noticed there was something missing from all the popular forums. “There isn't a place on-line for avid social networkers to react, to play rather than leave wall posts,” he said. “Ultimately our task is for people to get to know each other better.”
Hyatt hopes to invoke upon the Internet community the value of quantity over quality of the friendships made on-line. With users having the ability to add 'friends' without actually knowing them, Hyatt wanted to create a product that helps users focus on the friendships they already have. “There is this culture on the Internet of getting more and more friends on every social network,” Hyatt said. “ For us, to get the thousandth friend is less important than finding new and interesting ways to have fun with the friends you already have, that, and listen to some cool music.”
Conduit Lab's first creation, Loudcrowd is in private beta, currently selectively released to Facebook users, as it is still being reworked and developed for its mainstream release later this year. “It's the Internet without all the boring,” Hyatt said. “Loudcrowd is evolving into an interesting way to experience music. It's a flirty dancing game where the user gets to play with friends and meet new friends; it's like Rock Band meets Facebook.”
Auto-generated tag lines are Hyatt's favorite part of the game. When talking to another user, a person can choose an automated message coded in by the creators of the game, which are generally silly pick up lines. “I love logging into the system to see the new tag lines the guys put in there,” he laughed.
Loudcrowd will take shape over time, even giving the possibility of users having the capability to create their and construct their own play lists to dance to. Once released to the public, it will be free to play, but certain parts of the service will need a little dough. “Not until we put enough value into it will we charge for Loudcrowd,” said Hyatt.
The project has already received positive feedback from the trial version. “So far we have fifty percent of our users coming back,” he said. “It makes it easier to get up in the morning.”
Conduit Labs is a collaborative effort between artists, engineers, and business people to make a non-commercialized product that will appeal to younger audiences. Encouraging college students who are considering a career path in Internet based groups such as Conduit Labs, Hyatt simply said, “Make something.”
“Don't get a job in a big company where your creativity is going to get buried, this is the Internet. You can make anything you want. Whether it be a game, music, a blog: this is the age of making things, not studying only. So go make something,” Hyatt insisted.
Hyatt hopes that most will enjoy Loudcrowd's innovative concept and major focus on music. “We wanted to express our passion for music,” admitted Hyatt. “My favorite song is the Ting Ting's 'Shut Up and Let me Go'; it's completely drilled into my brain.”
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