as promised, netscape’s social news site propelling forward
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a few days ago i expressed my frustration with the blogopshere for intentionally misinterpreting netscape’s re-branding as social suicide and today i want to tell all the detractors to chew on their hats. tom drapeau, director of netscape, clearly pointed out that the netscape social news site wasn’t being killed, rather that it was just being moved to a new location where it would be relaunched under a new brand and with additional features, but no one would believe it.
techcrunch for example, ever so audacious, remarked,
drapeau claims that the social news service will go on at a new site, but failed to name the site or when it would be launched; certainly not a good sign for the current netscape editorial team.
well he has delivered on the first of many promises by announcing where the new site would be (http://propeller.com) and the branding of the new site.
my first thoughts on the brand name and the logo are both great. here’s what ‘propeller’ means to me. by definition, to propel means to motivate, actuate, move, prompt, incite, impel, or to give incentive for action and cause to move forward with force. that said, what will we (at propeller, previously netscape social news) be propelling?
on a very basic level the name symbolizes socially driven news. interacting with content by submitting, voting, commenting, and sharing interesting, entertaining, and otherwise important news items. but more than that it symbolizes what netscape plans to do going forward, i.e. propel the social news model into the next generation through a mix of fixing the problems with the current generation and innovation.
so there you have it. the first step in the unveiling of the new home of netscape’s social news site.
disclaimer: i am a netscape scout
Technorati Tags: netscape, social news, propeller
September 11th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I love the new name — it suggest action for users.
As in:
“Propel the news.”
“I’m a propeller.”
“Propel this.”
“Can’t talk — I’m busy Propelling”
“This story just got Propelled”
etc, etc etc.
September 11th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
[...] Scout Muhammad Saleem notes on his blog that the name change may represent socially driven news better than the old Netscape brand: by [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
[...] Muhammad Saleem] Link to This [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I love that logo - especially the little propeller blade - this is too cool
September 11th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
‘Eat their hats’? That’s a new one for me
Having said that I think its great that its getting its own domain, and not, say a sub domain of netscape.
Above and beyond branding purposes, social tech watchers will also be able to get a better understanding of how the ‘social’ netscape does on its own.
Cheers
Tony
September 11th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
from phrases.org:
Charles Dickens used the expression in The Pickwick Papers, 1837, and that appears to be the earliest printed citation of it:
“If I knew as little of life as that, I’d eat my hat and swallow the buckle whole.”
September 11th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I like the new concept and brand image. I have to admit I was never much of a Netscape user in the past, but I am excited to try out the Propeller!
September 11th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
[...] others for what he saw as an overreaction to the news that Netscape was changing — says he likes the branding. I’m okay with it, for what it’s worth, but I’m not clear on what Propeller is [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
[...] others for what he saw as an overreaction to the news that Netscape was changing — says he likes the branding. I’m okay with it, for what it’s worth, but I’m not clear on what Propeller is [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
[...] name. Tip comes from Muhammad who notes, "my first thoughts on the brand name and the logo are both great. here’s what [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
It did seem like there was a lot of misinformation being promoted by some… glad to see that they are not killing the social news site.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Well that’s a good news….I like the new name:)
September 11th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
[...] at Propeller.com, and the Netscape team is working on a smooth transition. Netscape Scout Muhammad Saleem notes on his blog that the name change may represent socially driven news better than the old Netscape brand: [...]
September 12th, 2007 at 1:12 am
I’m all for this as long as the new scouts (or will they be seamen?) and navigators will have the editorial power to remove spam from the front page. As arbitrary as the digg bury system is in burying good content that users disagree with at least it keeps the spam off the front page.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:20 am
[...] [via Muhammad Saleem] [...]
September 12th, 2007 at 4:22 am
[...] Muhammad Saleem, a Netscape scout, writes on his own blog in reference to the new name and location: … on a very basic level the name symbolizes [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Netscape Has a Propelling New Brand Name…
A few days ago I wrote about the danger that the Netscape brand name seemed to be in, not least because its identity as a social news portal has been dropped and will be moved to a new site which has yet to be named. Well, the name is……
January 7th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
[...] Muhammad Saleem - Netscape scout [...]
February 4th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
This look great. I can’t wait to try it out!
April 1st, 2009 at 1:33 am
[...] my buddy Muhammed Saleem points out, the name change is for the [...]