UPDATE: LindaIkejiSocial is offically defunct and is inaccessible online as of 2017

Well, it was on the 1st of November that one of Nigerian top name in the blogging industry Linda Ikeji launched her much awaited for social networking website which is named after herself Linda Ikeji Social. Well, it looked and sounded like a joke when i first red that but well, she proved most of our surprises to be wrong. And well, Linda Ikeji Social is live on the internet to the entire world and so far, there have being lots going on the new website already.

I’ve being there and i loved what i saw. The interface and her love for Maroon color can be traced as this can also be traced back from her original blog.

Okay that’s not the point. I didn’t go there for the purpose of reporting it here on Netgills. I did because it’s a local social media website which isn’t very common in our society because those from the overseas are very deep in our culture here.

Well, as written on Techcabal, I met something a little bit different. The social network integration for ease of account creation. The website utilises Facebook as it’s sole medium of social sign up account creation and the processes of sign up was very smooth and fast without any shortcomings. Another aspect i loved was the beautiful profile setup which is quite good for those seeking one.

Okay this is not an endorsement blog for the Linda Ikeji Social media website. It’s a post where am just trying to show my gratitude for something of such kid and well, it’s very unique and we love it here at Brumpost.

So far so good, there are nearly a thousand sign ups already and the website is trying to prove many doubters wrong just within few days of it’s launch.

Okay if you’re curious and ask what is the Linda Ikeji Social anyway, then i’ll simply answer you by saying “It’s a social media platform whereby people come together for the purpose of sharing news and articles, submit and see deals which they can utilise for better purchases, collaborate, share with one another, comment to news or feed updates, follow and get followed back.” Yeah that’s the little i’ve seen so far.

Well, this isn’t a social networking website so don’t expect features such as photo sharing, chatting system, video calls etc. It’s like a social platform which combines some key aspects of daily user’ needs all together into one place with a good graphical layout which makes everything to get blended in without any stress.

What i noticed and which i probably don’t entirely like about the website is the Homepage section which lacks user’s recent activities. Well, that’s another boring part of social media platforms.

The home is usually dedicated to news and articles and so the distracting parts which includes user’s updates and activities are usually excluded. While that can be god, it might be a turn off to others but i can’t possibly speak for everyone. Choices varies too. But i guess an upgrade on the later age of the Linda Ikeji Social will see some nice updates and better features which will make the platform less boring. Boring because there are still few of us using it and most beg to be followed and then follow back.

Let’s face the fact!

Linda Ikeji Social is a social media website (Not a social network) and it’s presence can be felt all around the world. I said world because during my sign up, the countries option within the website were unlimited and that means Linda Ikeji is probably trying to target the entire globe rather than narrowing down her niche to either Africa or a portion of Africa or just Nigeria. Well, there are billions of people in the whole world and that can be a successful approach if such ambition can be realised. And at least, for the first time in Nigeria, a social media website will gulp on billions of traffic everyday.

But that’s not the case. With an increasing competition in the global market, this might not be a very good idea especially for a new creativity. Let’s first consider Reddit, Stumble Upon, Digg and Tumblr and there are still many more which are already in the game.

Considering the long age of these foreign social media platforms, we can simply conclude that there needs to be some extreme strategic plan to bring on those huge existing users right on to the new  Social media website. In the terms of Multilingualism, then there is much work to be planned out.

There might be some doubts about the success or the failure of the Linda Ikeji Social but in reality, the most difficult aspect of marketing a new idea is getting the right people to buy right into the idea. A good example would be her blog. Good timing helped the ex-model scale through and becoming one of the dominant in the entertainment blogging aspect can’t be easier.

With some nice hard works and serious efforts, this became a reality. But how about the new stuff here at hand. No pressuring! This is surely a platform that i am in support of and i think it will make it through and become of the biggest in  Africa and in the world just give it time yeah i believe.

Competition, attentions might be the toughest ordeal which any new product can lack. Since 2007 when Sentizens was created, it’s chance of competing with the likes of Weibo, or Facebook wasn’t underrated but the fact that Sentizens niched down to Elderly Indian citizens might be a very good idea at least for the company that owns the social network but well, whatever the outcome is, no one is to blame because up till now, Sentizens isn’t totally a big thing yet. This why i’m saying that the success or failure of any platform depends on the users’ willingness to contribute to the success of that product or service.

Oh and this one too

Google’s AdWord is a very great ads network for publishers and companies to get their business right in front of the right people so Google said. Well, i guess the most right people would be US! The Nigerians!  Initially i criticized the usage of the long name “Linda Ikeji Social” to create a social media platform. It just doesn’t sound very cool to me but i found out that’s a very good marketing point in the first place considering how big the Name already is in the entire world, at least using it to create something again might make difference.

There is an offer aspect whereby 5 people are said to win #1M based on completing some stuffs likely publishing of articles and or stories on a regular basis and the top poster likely gets the money. That is a sort of endorsement plan which might pay off on the long run. But can that really flock in millions of Africans or let me say people from all over since it seems the target isn’t Nigeria limited.

The founder; Linda Ikeji’s fan base is already a huge one and that enough is good enough to motivate a surge of traffic and large user base? Well, that might not be the case with the LIS. Considering the fact that people aren’t always interested in utilising platforms that they already have their account set up on might be a very big bump for the LIS. Okay! Not a social networking website and well, that still doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter how often users find this relevant to them, what matters is how much impact they can make on it and therefore turning it to a big deal. Stumbeupon users for example have the stereotype of not really converting well as real blog readers because they have thousands of other articles at their disposal and so they simply skim off your page after reading the articles on it. Quora users are found of reading huge and uniquely addressing the situations with knowledgeable view about what is being asked and then finding solution or a reliable answer to whatever question asked. Okay what about the typical Linda Ikeji’s Blog fans? I mean the stereotype of the people coming on-board will determine the big success of the platform no matter what. Spammers are not allowed!

Is the Linda Ikeji Social (LIS) worth giving a chance?

I swear, it’s a very great place where people can collaborate and have fun altogether in a little bit more conducive environment….so far though! If you’re the type that seeks to find knowledge or information about trending things or latest news about events, well, the website might just be the right channel for you to start searching as it’s sole purpose is to be a content management/marketing platform between readers and sharers. As of now, there are nearly a thousand profiles already in existence and the website’s daily average visit is like 800 since launch. Domain is new and was created earlier this year.

With the little amount of users yet though being 3 days since launching, the community is still very clean and less tricky unlike already voluminously crowded networks such as Facebook or Twitter. The implication of this on you is that you’ve got some like minded people who are just seeking out to read something new and probably find new people to meet. Although that’s not to say Linda Ikeji Social is a dating or flirting website but you know human stereotype..affections starts from nowhere.

Comparing this to site such as Slashdort.org, there can be a very lose similarities between the both. Slashdort’s niched down to being a media aggregating platform but for science and tech categories. Users can submit or simply link in post urls directly from where they’re being shared and anonymity can be obvious it all depends on what your intentions are. On the LIS, the difference is there isn’t anonymity and you’ve gotta write down everything which must be entirely new because there are some rules for publishers. If you don’t meet those standards, your submissions might get removed from the platform.

Beautiful interface is something which i love seeing as a web developer. The usage of maroon color on the website is very cool and that makes it beautiful. It;s mobility is also welcome. Unlike Slashdot that doesn’t make sense on mobile devices, I can say all Linda Ikeji Social needs is just a surge of users and then the platform can simply survive.

The general overview is that the LIS might be a very good attempt to make the African social media market a unified one with the usage of a single platform just as we’ve seen abroad and that can be a very good thing in as much as there are well planned out goodies ready to be utilised in order to flock in more users, then there isn’t a big deal. 5 – 10 years, i see this as another big thing in the world from Africa if well nurtured with good investments without considering too much on the odd parts.  The success chance can be fattened exponentially.