VOX is the latest invention from Six Apart, known for their weblog tools and services. Right now, it’s in test-mode and by invitation only, but being the influential superman that I am, I am of course in and have my own profile. So, why not share a few inside tips about what’s to come from the next big thing in online blogging?
At first glance, I thought VOX looked like a nicer version of MySpace. There’s a profile, a blog and a network part of the site. Nothing new there. There’s also built in integration of flickr, Photo Bucket and a couple of other things, which is cool. There’s also built-in upload and posting of audio and video with multiple formats supported, as well as links to music and films on Amazon.com (I don’t know if any of the international sister-sites are supported though).
Another special feature that is unique to VOX, comes from the partnership with iStockphoto. A simple search form right on the VOX website, allows members to easily find images to illustrate their blogposts. Members have access to iStock’s vast library of stock photos, which they may use for free (in a watermarked thumbnail-version).
According to the to-do list, they plan on integrating the ability to post syndicated content, which would certainly set VOX apart from the competition. Many people, myself included, already have blogs elsewhere, and would be more inclined to embrace a service such as VOX, if they were able to make use of their content there.
All of this is very nice, but the question remains: Do we need another online community? Are people too settled into their MySpace and other weblog systems to be interested, even if VOX does offer a lot of next step functionality? Time will tell when they open the floodgates, but until then, I have a few invitations laying around…
