Archive of thenextweb.com
Written on 30th April 2009
0 COMMENTS
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Okay, we admit, it’s rather silly but funny nevertheless. Visit Slate for the full 100 days!

Visit Slate for the full 100 days!
Written on 20th January 2009
2 COMMENTS
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
With a wonderful photo, elegant design and a neat little timer across the top right, IsObamaPresident.com changes to YES.

Written on 20th January 2009
4 COMMENTS
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
It’s fair to say there have never been so many opportunities to watch the inauguration of an American President than there is today. It may also be fair to say, there has never been so much enthusiasm and interest in an inauguration as there has been for Barack Obama.
What we’d like to know is how you experienced the inauguration? I for one watched the event live on the BBC.co.uk website and in typical BBC fashion, the entire ceremony – from buildup to climax – went flawlessly.
Question: As possibly the largest new-media event of all time. Did you decide to watch it online and follow thoughts on Twitter of Friendfeed? Or did you stick to the trusted old media outlets of CNN, BBC, Sky and others…?
Update: Here are some peoples responses to the post on Friendfeed:

Written on 16th January 2009
1 COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Igor Asselbergs, CEO of Amsterdam-based software development company Colorjinn, just mailed me a little secret. He told me how to pain the White House Purple. Colorjinn produces software for color visualization, and with this inauguration thing coming up, a White House-related viral is quite a good idea.
So envision the change: paint the White House purple on Colorjinn.com/Whitehouse. Yes, we – uh – can!

Written on 15th January 2009
5 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Dania & Gregory Gerhardt from
Amazee.com at Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco
The launch of Switzerland-based social collaboration network Amazee in September 2008 was perfectly timed. Founders Mr. and Mrs. Gerhardt wanted to help people making their dreams, ideas, and goals come true. Yes, they wanted to change our lives. And that very word, change, was pretty popular back then – for obvious reasons.
People are still in the “yes we can” mood. Especially those who are active in the world of Web 2.0. Those Facebook users, YouTube adapts and Twitter influentials have had a large share in the election of Barack Obama. So Amazee can use this sentiment to promote their start-up. It’s time to reach the masses, it’s time to go viral. Yes, we can.
In comes the Facebook app. Users of the popular social network now have the possibility to express their commitment to the good cause through a tab called “Amazee”. On this app page, they can promote the causes they stand for. Here’s the page of co-founder and CEO Gregory Gerhardt:

In the press release, he says: “With the new Amazee application Facebook will become even more of a platform for effective social change. On the other hand, Amazee project initiators can easily reach out for the ever growing Facebook community to gain attention for their cause and find the necessary support in order to reach their set goals.”
Although the app is a bit plain now, there’s enough potential to turn it into something big. Add a “Donate” button and fund raising 2.0 can begin. As long as you promise change, you’re on the good track.
Written on 27th October 2008
2 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

The Twitter Election header is awkward enough if you’re European, but with the mentions of Hitler as a hot topic, the users of the microblogging service are really pushing it.
A simple search on Twitter Search proves that there’s some kind of rumor going on about Palin supporters comparing Obama with Hitler. In less than an hour, this nonsense is a hot topic. What about health care people?

[Hat tip to Woutr]
Written on 6th October 2008
2 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
At the San Francisco Altsearchengines.com meeting last April, the general opinion was that without those alternative engines, there would be little innovation in search. No new frontiers would be explored. Those search start-ups come with new algorithms, smart crowd source approaches, and different UI’s. But in the end, aren’t these engines just inspiration for the big guys who can copy the improved ways of searching withing a few months?
If you look at the new Ask.com, you’d say this is true. Although some say it looks like Mahalo, you can also state the engine has adopted several typical alt search engines features like:
- Clustering of results: if you search for Obama, you’ll get a short description, picture, and links to the Official Site, films, music, Wikipedia, and the senatorial site.
- Related Searches. In the case of Obama his running mate, wife, and main rival.
- A collection of thumbnails with Obama’s face

My guess is that this will mark the beginning of a copy trend. Every successful alt search engine will see its main USP being adopted by the major search engines.