WidgetLaboratory

What is Project X?
An all-in-one application for dynamic interaction, communication and media sharing across multiple channels of niche content. Project X is designed to compliment and enhance your SocialGO or other online presence.

What will it do?

For Channel Creators:
In one turnkey package, Project X provides a way to create reliable and high quality Audio/Video, Chat, Instant Messenger, Multimedia Sharing, Status Feed and other contagious features for your “niche” channel. You control the editorial content, style, and relationship tone for all subscribers to your channel. Control your own unique and secure server space and total cost of ownership. As Channel Creator, you profit in direct proportion to the size of your subscriber base, freeing you to focus your energy on building and improving your channel popularity.

For Subscribers:
A simple and unique way to obtain a LIVE and “always-on” connection with those whom you wish to share and interact. Select your own custom “lineup” of content and relationships with whom you can interact instantly. Unlike traditional social networking, this communication will be dynamic and real-time rather than post/respond/post/respond. You can customize your personal dashboard environment, select the content from various channels, and filter your relationships in a way that makes sense for your own tastes rather than those imposed by any particular Channel Creator.

Subscribers will have the ability to manage their own media (Photos and Video) offline in order to prepare and organize the same for sharing with other Subscribers. The online aspect of the application will require each Subscriber to submit a select quantity of multimedia for use in the communication tools or for sharing. This selection requirement is designed to ensure that Subscribers actively limit the content they share to their “finest” material only. This will keep the channel content fresh and eliminate the burden of having to filter through stale multimedia. Other Subscribers will be able to tag and download their favorite multimedia from other Subscribers during the time that it is shared online.

Online Marketplace:
Project X will provide a trusted environment, and an intermediary currency, for the exchange of virtual/real world goods and services. The use of an intermediary currency will allow for all participants to balance the relative “value” of any exchange, and will further eliminate any friction that might otherwise be created through typical merchant processing systems.

How will it work?

Project X is a stand-alone application that uses Adobe Air. This will run on Mac or Windows and does not require a browser to operate. By utilizing technology that is optimized for speed and scalability, we have allowed for exponential growth by popular channels without adverse effects on the Project as a whole.

Project X provides each Channel Creator the ability to create branded “channels” that can be associated with a Social Network or work independently. The Channel Creator has complete control over how they will operate their channel and subscribers and complete ownership of the content on their channel. The focus of Project X is on Interaction and Communication, and not on replicating other Social Networking features such as blogs or forum posts that are available elsewhere.

Each Subscriber has the ability to build his or her own unique personal space and persona. They may selectively subscribe to any niche “channel” that suits their tastes. Subscribers have complete control over what features they wish to acquire or add to their own personal space, including feature enhancements and virtual/real world goods and services. Subscribers are not limited to only that which is offered by any particular channel creator, but can actually build their own “personal channels” as well, and thereby become Channel Creators.

Registration and Interaction inside the common spaces of Project X will be free, but participation on each channel will be by subscription only. When a Subscriber has found a niche “channel” that is attractive, they will be able to instantly subscribe to that channel for a low-friction subscription price equal to one US dollar per month. This subscription will be processed via an intermediary monetary system that is independent of any particular merchant processing system. Acquisition of “currency” in this intermediary monetary system will be at the Subscriber’s discretion via multiple methods (credit card, PayPal, Amazon, Google Checkout, Phone Bill, Cell Phone, Gift Card, etc.). A percentage of each channel subscription will be distributed to the creator of that channel and the rest will go towards supporting the operation and maintenance of the Network as a whole. Channel Creators will profit in proportion to their efforts in creating popular subscription channels.

Subscribers will be able to interact amongst themselves and to further utilize the intermediary monetary system for the exchange of virtual/real world goods and services. It is anticipated that this exchange system will allow, for example, a Subscriber to provide “consulting” to another Subscriber in exchange for an agreed quantity of intermediary currency. This currency could then be utilized to pay for the recipient’s subscription costs, purchase of virtual goods or services, or ultimately “cashed out” of the system by purchasing discount (gift) cards for real world goods or services from partnering Merchants or Subscribers.

How much will it cost?

For Channel Creators:
Each channel will be established as a unique server instance and in the name of the Channel Creator or their designee. Project X will provide direct assistance for the creation of the same, and each Creator will be directly accountable for the monthly costs associated with their own Channel space and transactional services. These costs will be minimal up-front due to the nature of the hosting environment, yet infinitely scalable at a reasonable cost as a network grows. Project X will provide the software and support to connect a Channel Creator’s instance to the Project as a whole. At all times the Channel Creator will have FULL control over their own content, storage and space and this will not be intermixed with any other channels.

It is estimated that the average Channel Creator will fully offset any monthly costs after they have achieved a certain level of active subscribers per month. This will vary depending on the online bandwidth use by their subscribers. Each Channel Creator will receive a fixed percentage of the gross monthly subscriptions, therefore more subscriptions equal greater income for the Channel Creator.

For Subscribers:
Each Subscriber will have complete control over whether they wish to browse, or actually participate. After having public interaction in the common space of any particular channel, a monthly subscription can be obtained for a low-friction subscription price equal to one US dollar per month. It is likely that Subscribers may join more than one network per month so as to access a broader range of interesting content and personal contacts.

It is estimated that the average Subscriber will spend the equivalent of between $1.50 and $2.50 per month, per channel, for basic participation and feature enhancements.

Any other benefits?

Project X is a turn-key solution for Channel Creators that can be profitable with little or no previous experience. Project X it is not designed as a content provider and will not have any contact whatsoever with the nature or content of any particular Channel. Each Channel Creator will be provided with a complete white-label SAAS solution that has a built-in monetization component, ownership and service guarantee, and an intermediary currency. There will be further enhancements such as Age-verification and Section 2257 compliance built-in for those with 18+ Channels.

We are looking for a few good Networks!

Below is a list of the most popular networks from Ning according to Alexa. If you are the owner of any of these sites, or know the owner, WE WANT YOU to receive or convey our invitation to join PROJECT X (Click for More Details about Project X). Of course, even if you are not on this list WE WANT YOU if you feel that Project X might be right for you.

We are looking to fill the initial Project X test group with 250,000 Subscribers. Channel Creators will be provided with the information they need to share with their members. The test period will be free of charge with no obligation to continue or to pay. Any Channel Creator or Subscriber that participates will be given preferential standing for entry into the final product environment.

All requests to enter the PROJECT X test group should be submitted through our convenient registration form. If you have any questions, you can always direct them to us at help@widgetlaboratory.com

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A LAB member asked us the following question today:

I learned that PayPal does not allow transactions for sexually oriented digital goods. What plans does WL and SG have to make it possible that adult social networks on SG will be able to monetize?

This provided us with a little excuse to rant-on about our favorite topic... MONETIZATION. Our answer to him is below:

While PayPal does not allow use of their product to directly sell digital goods, it does not currently prohibit the creation or use of a subscription widget that is universal in nature and allows one to control access to a website. Therefore, for social network subscriptions... PayPal still appears to be a viable option.

Whether PayPal would choose to go after individual sites that contain adult content and who chose to utilize such a subscription widget/tool to control access to their site... well.... this is still a grey area, and their actions to date seem to indicate that they have a "don't ask/don't tell" attitude. Who really knows?

We're at a crossroads in the Internet World between the Puritanical fairy-tale of the old-school overlords such as Google/Ebay and the reality-check of recessionary forces that will bring the necessity of monetizing adult content into the mainstream. As I recall, Prohibition in the US was a failure because everyone figured out how to sell booze illegally and the government finally realized that it was more profitable to tax the hell out of liquor sales than it was to try and prevent or stop it. We're pretty confident that PayPal and Google, et al, will also "wake up" to this reality as well... just give them one or two breakout competitors in this field...

Speaking of which: Don't believe for one minute that PayPal is the only fish in the sea. There are dozens of other payments methods that can (and might) be made available to work on SocialGO as well as in WidgetLaboratory's secret "Project X"...

Besides the well-known adult gateway services such as CCBill, there are also numerous Cell Phone, Home Phone, Pre-paid card, Virtual currency, and other methods for accomplishing the monthly subscription as well as the up-selling of goods and services on a social network (or on "Project X").

All it takes is to be brave, bold, logical and creative.... all the things that are presently GONE from Silicon Valley during what we are calling the "MUSICAL CHAIR GAME OF 2008". This is the moment that all the sheep have looked at each other and realized that they never HAD any business-model, because the Freemium model was always a giant Ponzi scheme. All of them have been hoping to get bought out before they ran out of cash or were discovered to be without a clue on how to run an authentic business based upon economic reality.

Consumers today want what they've always wanted, and will pay a reasonable amount if you give it to them with low or zero friction. You can have a barrier to entry for trolls and scammers, without causing hardship on your true customers. This is the magic formula that has been available for thousands of years to anyone with eyes to "discover" for themselves.

A baker makes a loaf of bread that costs him 10 cents, and he sells it hot from the oven to you for a dollar. You gladly pay for it on the walk back from the train. Why? Because even though you could bake it yourself, it is easier and faster and tastes better to pay the 90 cent markup than it does to go to all the trouble of figuring out how to make bread and your time is worth the savings as well. IF the Baker offered you FREE BREAD with the hope that you would read the AD that he burned into the side of the loaf, you would either think he was insane and poisoning the food, or your would simply ignore the marking on the crust and keep on eating free bread until he went out of business. Either way, FREEMIUM is a FAIL.... but the low barrier and ease of purchasing a quick dollar loaf of bread is completely easy and attractive to both the customer and the baker. The other benefit is that it ALSO keeps the riff-raff out of the bakery... because they can't simply come in and beg for free bread all the time or grab a dozen loafs and go out and try to re-sell it for profit to unsuspecting victims down the street who don't realize that it came from the FREE Bakery.

We realize that many of you are flustered by the current situation that you face with your 18+ Networks. With Ning giving you the rush out the door, and SocialGO not quite yet out of BETA (albeit ...very...very... close), you are trapped in the middle.

What can you do? Here are some easy steps that will let you maintain continuity in your network at the same time that you set yourself up to be READY when SocialGO comes out of BETA:

1) Set up your new site at SocialGO if you have not done so already. During BETA you can create a safe harbor for your members to join and continue to participate and interact. Even without a drop of your old content, you can stylize the new site and give members the power to contribute in all of the same ways that they have previously on your Ning site. When the time comes, any of these sites that qualify for 18+ status will be automatically converted without fuss. In the meantime, your members will feel comforted by the familiar look and feel of your site and their ability to continue participating;

2) Download and archive all your Ning content (or as much as you can obtain). The instructions on how to do this are located HERE. While most people are not finding that Ning is providing the content in any useable format... at least you will have a good majority of your old photos and videos. Be patient, but act quickly... there is likely a lot of content and it will take a long time to download (and may not work the first time from what we hear from those who have tried). This old content could potentially be used, or uploaded manually, to your new site at a later time;

3) Download and cleanup your member CSV file from your Ning site. You can use Excel or any other spreadsheet management tool that handles Comma Separated Value files. By cleaning-up your membership list and keeping a local copy, you can remove unwanted members then migrate the rest to SocialGO using our automated member migration tool;

4) Prepare your members for the transition and keep them informed of what is happening. Remember, your members enjoy your site because of the unique content and editorial style that you offer, not because of the technological platform you utilize. If you provide the details and "blow by blow" updates to your members that explain that you have had no choice but to switch platforms at the last minute, they will understand... and likely support you. Just share with them the fact that you are moving to an exciting new "home" that will allow your site and their membership to THRIVE with new features, tools, and friendly policies. When they realize that the "fear" of being deleted is being removed, they will provide you the patience and understanding that you require during this challenging time;

5) Give them something to get excited about.  Use this transition time to brainstorm with your members and survey them (use Polldaddy for a free poll) about the features and ideas they love from the old site, and what they would like to see on the new site. Make Lemonade from lemons and use this transition as a way to REVAMP your features, remove things that were not popular, and add new features that are desired. WidgetLaboratory will be your one-stop resource for getting these ideas and features up and running on SocialGO;

6) Stay in tune with the LAB for our exciting developments designed specifically for 18+ Networks. We have a really unique product that we will outline for you shortly. This may very well revolutionize the way that you can operate your mature content social network, and monetize it as well. We have been discussing this with many of the larger site creators to get their opinions, and thusfar it has been very positive. We will keep you informed about the developments, but in a nutshell... this "Project X" may be something that will provide you the magic formula and tool to capitalize (and profit!) from your social network.

WidgetLaboratory is very proud of these graphs

Since mid-October, when our contract was announced, WidgetLaboratory and SocialGO have been transforming the notion of a social networking platform.

Even with the explosive growth shown above, the SocialGO team has kept the network online throughout the entire BETA period, and even increased speed and capacity.

With the pending release of the Drag and Drop Layout Manager, 3rd Party Widget Store, 18+ Networking Package, and more....WidgetLaboratory is VERY excited about all that we have planned for you going into 2009.

We're receiving reports now that many adult site owners have been given FTP download instructions that allow them to offload their content from the Ning data store to their own hard drives. Each network creator has been given a unique log-in and password in order to obtain their own site content. We are now testing this process to see how it works, and to see whether there will be a way that we can assist all of you in bringing your content over to SocialGO in an automated way.

Ning has made it clear to 18+ Network Creators that they have until January 1st to remove their content before their networks are shut-down on Ning. They have simulaneously made it clear that January 15th is the deadline to download 18+ network content from the FTP server.

Translation: Your 18+ networks will be inaccessible to the public as of the 1st, but you can still get your content (in the blind) until the 15th.

The details of Ning's announcement are troubling. Here are two questions for Ning:

1) If an 18+ site owner is going to have their site shut down on January 1st, then does it really matter that you can download content through the 15th? Unless the network creator has had ample time to re-establish their network on SocialGO (or elsewhere), then there will be as much as 15 days of "downtime" where no 18+ site will exist or be accessible. Why not just give them until the 15th before you shut down their networks since you only "just" gave a method to extract the data... merely two weeks before shut-down day;

2) Since Ning is offering full access to the content of 18+ networks, doesn't this imply that they are also providing full access to ALL NETWORK CREATORS?  If I were the owner of a non-adult network on Ning, I would certainly feel that I'm entitled to access my content as well. After all, my network is NOT going to be deleted from Ning, and I continue (potentially) to pay a premium fee each month. Don't I "also" deserve the right to backup and have a local copy of my content?

3) We are finding thusfar that Ning is not providing full content to all those who request the same, and even when they provide an index file, they are not providing full meta-data (xml files) that would allow you to link any images or videos to the respective members who uploaded the same. Some people, on the other hand, are being handed full content, full metadata, and all files. Why are some people getting different treatment from Ning than others?

It is our position that EVERY site owner on Ning is entitled to their FULL content, not just 18+ site owners or those who complain the loudest. Access to your content has been Ning's promoted promise since day one. Now that they've demonstrated a viable method for providing access to the data, we encourage all Network Creators on Ning to request (demand?) that they be provided with the same level of privilege and service as that which is being granted to those folks who are being kicked-off the Ning platform.

WidgetLaboratory will be deciding whether to build custom import tools to help you bring over your full Ning content to SocialGO. We are asking all of you to help us determine demand for the same by posting your thoughts and comments here, or emailing us directly to help@widgetlaboratory.com.Please also let us know whether you have had any luck with getting Ning to provide YOU with access to your network content, whatever the subject matter of your site.

We've been doing our best at the LAB to help those of you who are still "stuck" over at Ning. Whether by providing our free migration tools, techincal help, or just moral support... we're there for you.

Unfortunately, many of you have learned that it is usually impossible to get out your content until, or unless, Ning cooperates by temporarily removing your 18+ warning page just long enough for you to run the photo migration tool. Thusfar, all of your requests have been met with a canned response from someone named "Jenny". She promises many things... but Ning has not yet delivered much.

Blue Boulder Male has written a blog post today that outlines his experiences thusfar with Ning and the migration experience. Makes for an interesting read.

Check it out HERE:

Today we received an interesting email from Neetz, indicating that (like Ning) they are capitulating to their Sugar Daddy (Google). Bye-bye adult content networks!

We believe that this now leaves SocialGO in the unique position of being the only company smart enough (or brave enough) to pursue a business model that is not based on nursing from the bosom of Adsense.

Running a business based upon selling a valuable product/service at a reasonable price to those who use it (rather than abuse it) seems like a pretty good place to be for an upstart.

It's too late for Ning or Neetz to change their business model and wean-off Google.

Timing is everything.

Who says that you can't cause "change" in this world? Here at the LAB, we believe that the TRUTH will always prevail.... so long as you call it like you see it and don't let someone push you around.

The LAB released several tools to help you migrate your members and photos off of Ning at a time when they were claiming it was "impossible". After our public outcry and challenge to Ning to honor their promises (along with a ton of publicity in various tech journals and most of you taking our advice to demand your data), they have finally RELENTED!

Here is part of the Form Letter that Ning is now sending out to anyone who requests in writing that they be provided with their data.

If you’re looking to export your content from your network, I want to assure you that you WILL have access to your content and you’ll be able to export all of your content before we make this transition. Please confirm with us that you want us to export your content for you. Once it is ready for you to download, we’ll drop you a note with further instructions. This should be within the next 2 weeks.

If you’re looking to export your members' profile information, just go to the Manage tab of your network and click on the "Members" link. Once there, click the link to "Export all member data" at the bottom of the page.

Our advice from this point forward is to keep the pressure on Ning to deliver your complete data in a USEABLE form... one that will allow you to take your actual photos, videos, blogs, etc. and put them somewhere else. Maybe.... somewhere like SocialGO!