The Next Web

» Hellotree: use those family tags to beat Geni

   

Hellotree: use those family tags to beat Geni

Ernst-Jan Written on May 7, 2008 – 12:47 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Genealogy service Geni has some competition: Hellotree. This is a place where you and your family can build a family tree and keep each other up to date by sending private messages. Moreover, there’s also room for nostalgics, as you can post archive photos of those good ol’ summer days in the family garden.

Hellotree: get your family beyond tags and in a tree

The flash tree is pure eye candy and grows as you and your family members invite more relatives. Though I think it’s not enough, as Geni is HUGE. They have over 15 million profiles and are the definite market leader in this social media area. If Hellotree wants to build an audience like that, they should work on the integration of existing social networks. I mean, they already have the typical Web 2.0 appearance with all the gradients and big fonts. So why not offering all those Flickr addicts to take it beyond the ‘family’ tag?

Family on Flickr
Family tag on Flickr

If the API’s of services that have a family distinction in contacts support this, Hellotree might have found an angle to become a serious competitor of Geni. With a few clicks, people can already have their Flickr photos and MyBlogLog blogs included in their profile. Work on that, team from Hellotree, and a forest of family trees may lie ahead of you.

[via eHub]

I hope you like that post!

The Next Web Blog covers start-up news from all over the world (not just the Valley), exciting new technologies and inspiring entrepreneurs. If you're new here, you may want to read our 'About' page and subscribe to our RSS feed.

Do you have a start-up that we should write about? Contact us! Thanks for visiting and hope you come back again!
Add to Google Add to netvibes Subscribe in Bloglines
About the author: Ernst-Jan is blogger and co-organizer of BLOG08, who previously worked in New York to cover news at the United Nations. Next to writing, he's also a singer in the band Christina Five. Follow him on Twitter or read his personal blog Dutchproblogger.com .

4 comments/trackbacks to “Hellotree: use those family tags to beat Geni”

  1. May 8, 2008: Pages tagged "the appeal"

    [...] tagged the appealOwn a Wordpress blog? Make monetization easier with the WP Affiliate Pro plugin. Hellotree: use those family tags to beat Geni saved by 5 others     noCore23 bookmarked on 05/07/08 | [...]

  1. By Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on May 7, 2008

    I use Geni and its viral appeal is incredible. I added maybe 6 people (parents, girlfriend, children, sister) and within a few days my network grew to 83 people in my family alone! A few uncles spend hours a day adding people and expanding our family tree.

    But here is the catch: once your family is in there you are basically done. I haven’t visited the service in months. My question is what will get people back to the service after a while…

    [Reply]

  2. By Meryn Stol on May 7, 2008

    There’s also Kindo: http://kindo.com/
    I never tried it though.

    [Reply]

  3. By Peter on Jan 1, 2009

    I went through a lull in Geni, much like Boris did. But it’s becoming more and more like a social networking site for family. Once I started adding photos, family members came out of the woodwork, adding their own photos and such.

    (Adding photos would be easier if they integrated with Flickr, but I assume they’re working on it.)

    [Reply]

Rate this post

Post a Comment

Subscribe to:

 RSS feed   Comments  Email update Email

Add to Google   Add to netvibes   Subscribe in Bloglines
Sign up for The Next Web Update (example) & get invited to ALL our events!





Accenture Innovation Awards MailChimp
ZayPay


This blog is currently sponsored by Accenture, ZayPay and MailChimp. Interested in becoming a sponsor too? Check our advertising opportunities for more information.



Mega Sponsors:

myMailMarket email marketing ZayPay
Organizers United Linkedin Group Fleck

Copyright 2006-2009 © TheNextWeb.com - Entries (RSS) / Comments (RSS)