What does it take to make a buck off of Usenet? Unable to turn a profit as a geek hangout, Deja.com has recast itself as a consumer-oriented community. - - - - - - - - - - - - BY JANELLE BROWN May 24, 1999 | It's a woe familiar to anyone who has ever redesigned a popular Web site: As soon as that sparkling new look goes live, a cacophony of complaints from disgruntled users begin. For every fan that loves the redesign, there will be two who feel it is their duty to inform you just how much the new site "sucks." This is certainly what the venerable institution of Usenet access, Deja News, discovered when it unveiled a new look and name last Monday. Besides dropping "News" from its name -- and thereby ditching a clever pun for obliquity -- Deja.com has redefined its purpose. No longer satisfied to serve as a nifty Usenet interface, the new Deja.com is angling for a more commercial identity, combining discussion areas with a participatory product ratings service a la Consumer Reports. As the site's introductory page posits the goal: "Discuss ... decide ... purchase. These are the most powerful uses of the Internet and no one else offers them to consumers in an integrated, democratic environment. Power to the people." The make-over was instantly skewered on geek-centric mailing lists, Web sites and -- of course -- Usenet newsgroups. On the Slashdot "news for nerds" site, the changes spurred more than 200 posts lambasting those in charge for turning Deja News into just another "portal," with the "look, feel, and functionality of AOL's newsreader." On alt.fan.dejanews, the "fans" went berserk, complaining that the redesign "makes it more difficult to actually do the one thing they're good at -- retrieving Usenet information." These posts were, of course, from some of the most tech-savvy (and reliably nit-picking) of Web citizens: the Usenet users, programmers, and geeks who have for years used Deja News as the best way to search a deep archive of Usenet postings. It was these hard-core Usenet junkies who made Deja News so popular -- but they are not necessarily the target audience of the new Deja.com. "Our goal is to be meaningful to any Web user," says Deja.com vice president of marketing Deborah Newman. She concedes that the company's best efforts to drive the site's core visitors to proprietary community areas has not enticed them beyond the Usenet archives. And community is what Deja.com is now pushing. Long based on an advertising model, Deja News hasn't been profitable. And after observing the rampant growth and investor enthusiasm for online communities like theglobe.com and GeoCities, the company decided to shift its strategy... (complete article at www.salon.com) Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
