Staticfree Blog

I've noticed a number of "beta" websites popping up recently. Friendster, Orkut, Flickr, Peopleaggregator, and Plink just to name a few.

Now, beta websites have been around for some time. Cute little animated construction equipment icons used to be all the rage. "this page under construction" (only about 5,250,000 hits for "under construction" on Google) generally accompanied the icons. But, this "beta" seems to be a bit different: all the sites are related to social networking and only are of much value if a critical mass of people can be reached.

Is "beta" used to entice people into thinking they can be amongst the specially-invited few who (like Orkut and Friendster) get to participate in the website? Or is it simply a disclaimer warning users of potential instability? I can only imagine a bit of both - especially with Orkut which used invitation-only exclusivity to lure users in. They remind me of the those, "you might have already won! [but in all probability you didn't]" snail-mail ads - it's the little phrase that gets your interest.

I hope this trend fades soon and these services come out of beta. Either that, or they accept the notion that the world is still in alpha and hasn't even gotten to beta yet.