I’ve been a big fan of last.fm for over two years now – a brilliant way of keeping track of the music you listen to and an ability to find people who share your listening tastes.
Well, it’s nearly time for the next stage in their development. They’re currently allowing users to test out their open beta site.
It looks very different – much more white space and more than a couple of echoes of other well-known social media sites.
Genius new functionality is the library – a fantastic searchable online archive of all the music you’ve ever listened to.
There are lots of doubters among users, but you’ll never please all of the people all of the time.
Personally, I like it a lot. It feels fresher and more modern and there’s far more space. I’ll be sad to see the old site go, but am looking forward to the new beta site becoming more permanent.
I went out for drink the other night with someone I’d never met before. With the consent of my other half, I might add.
This person was someone I’ve got to know online, not through a dodgy chatroom, but through similar interests on a social networking website, in this case last.fm.
For me, it just highlights the power of the internet and how you no longer have to venture out on a cold dark night to a smelly village hall, or upstairs room in a pub to meet people who potentially have like-minded interests and you might get on with.
Clearly, there’s no replacement for the enjoyment of meeting friends in a bar and chatting about stuff, but if you don’t know people who share your interest in underwater basket-weaving, there are bound to be people online who do and they may not live in the same country, but you can swap tips and stories.
I must confess that my night out was a bit nerve-wracking. Neither of us were 100% sure what the other looked like and given that we’d never physically spoken, we weren’t actually sure that we’d get on once we sat opposite each other with a pint in our hands.
We needn’t have worried. A cracking night was had and there will hopefully be many more. More power to Web 2.0!
There’s not a lot else you can say about this new social networking site
