New Media Med Blog

Hi,

My kids ask me all the time why they can’t sword fight with big sharp sticks and I have to explain to them that even though it will be fine 99% of the time, there just has to be one small error and it can cause a lot of trouble. OK – well I try to put it simpler than that.

Google, Facebook and Ning are providing a fantastic service in rolling out social networking for everyone and it’s transformed the way we communicate, but there are times when you just need to have control over your own data

Global search giant Google apologized to Internet users the world over yesterday for perceptions that it invaded their privacy with its new networking site Buzz. Google  was hit with a NIS 5.5 billion class-action motion in an Israeli court yesterday on the grounds of invasion of privacy.

New Media Med supplies Online Communities which have all the features of Facebook, Ning or Myspace but you have full control and ownership of your data so you can guarantee that your online community is safe and that the data there is secure. Hosting your own data is crucial for organisations whose policies state that patient, employee or member data is not allowed to leave your site. Organisations who have to adhere scientific research protocols, company processes, health service policies or industry regulations can to extend or customise the online community.

We’ve just launched a demo of our online community at www.socialoffice.biz

Mark Little asked the panel in the web summit last night for advice on setting up his new venture. The last word of the evening came from Wired Editor-at-Large, Ben Hammersley. He just said “Whatever you do Mark  – Make it beautiful”. We all laughed and Mark was really bemused at having  to tell his colleagues in his startup in the morning to “Make it beautiful”. But when you look back at the evening, there was one common theme running through and it was the passion which every entrepreneur had for their idea such as Chris Horn’s joy of getting the first sale with IONA. That simple theme of “Making it Beautiful” was there throughout the evening. There was Craig Newmark’s passion to keep Craigslist as it has always been and not to sell it. And Matt Mullenweg’s clear core values of democratizing writing and making the writing as good as possible.

People ask me how New Media Med is going to make money and I often get very caught up with all the myriad of tantalising economic models which have emerged in the Internet.

Now I’ve settled on

“We make and sell online communities.”

No more complicated economic models.

And keeping it simple is beautiful.  Thanks Ben Hammersley for that suggestion.