Coaloo is a brand new internet platform which promises to aggregate your entire digital life in one place. Coaloo, pronounced kuu-ah-loo, is not only offering content management and distribution services but unsurprisingly also offers an element of social networking. The website confronts users with an uber-trendy video presented by German actor Jan Hartmann that runs through some of the basics.
By centralising contacts, videos, news feeds and music Coaloo will help users to do “meaningful and sustainable things” and “help others to live a better life”.
Exactly how Coaloo can achieve that remains unclear but according to double-click data, the site has had over 43,000 unique visitors with about 20,000 signing up for an account since the site went live in May. Digging deeper, we learn that its intentions are not entirely altruistic as the makers aim to monetize the experience via the affiliate and referral route. The long term aim is to allow users to create internet businesses hosted on Coaloo with audiences harvested from its (hopefully) large user base. Coaloo will try to combine the content aggregation, referrals and paid-for affiliate services with .com hosting.
And the whole thing is held together with elements of social networking in one big Amazon / Facebook / Youtube / Flikr mash-up. The makers of Coaloo promise not to sell your data or use an ad-supported business model, relying entirely on subscription fees. But by trying to be all things to all everyone, Coaloo runs the risk of losing its purpose and confusing potential customers. Or, it could turn out to be just what netizens have been crying out for.
