VideoSift is 2 years old today - since I'm the only one who has been here from the very, very beginning- I'd like to take a little trip down memory lane.
How did VideoSift Start?
Probably as a side-effect of TV withdrawal symptoms. I used to work for a satellite TV company and in the words of Pink Floyd- we had 96 channels of shit on the TV to choose from (for free). Then I chucked the corporate job, sold the house and took the family on an around the world trip for 5 months- blowing all of our money - but having a lot of fun. Call it a mid-life crisis, but at least I took the family with me.
We haven't had a TV since then, the kids are better for it- and though I whinge, I probably am too - and would not have poured my energies into VideoSift otherwise.
The first VideoSift ran on the venerable open source CMS Pligg. Although Pligg is a nicely packaged, well-supported collection of scripts- I made a dog's breakfast of it- adding features, rankings and bells and whistles until it was a mess of spaghetti code. That's where Lucky came in - but I'm getting ahead of myself.
I launched VideoSift on Metafilter Projects. I was an active member of Metafilter and thought that it was an online community done right- a weak administration, good communication and lot's of community involvement. Although we didn't copy any of the interface or look and feel of MeFi, I would say we pirated the culture blatantly.
James came on board about 4 or 5 days after the launch of VideoSift, I think he found VideoSift and posted about it in his blog- and that's how we met. Traffic, and support requests were starting to roll in, and I was asleep during the prime time- it worked well to have someone awake around the clock.
There were lots of changes (hacks) that happened in the first six months. Sift Talk was born a couple of week after launch. Star points and member rankings came shortly after.
The next few months saw the launch of VideoSift Poland by Ender. It's still going strong -though we've forked quite a bit- and VideoSift.pl is still on Pligg. Regardless, it was neat to see VideoSift go international - and we got a lot of help and resources from Ender and Lukasz.
Lucky came on board in 2006 and at this point- everything took a massive lurch forward. Suddenly Siftbot invocations worked instantly, instead of taking an hour to respond- and innumerable improvements and changes bubbled through the site like Lucky's special pixsy dust.
The original VideoSift layout was military green with orange highlights. I'm not sure what I was thinking- but there was a certain homely charm to it. Together with team Poland, we began plotting a big change to the way VideoSift looked. Lukasz created a layout that was completely different, and mostly similar to our current blue design.
At the end of 2006, we got a very nice accolade from PC World. We were named one of the world's most useful sites. Yes, useful- not time wasting! (ahem)
2007 brought lots more changes- the biggest one being our move from Pligg to Lucky's own custom built VaroCMS, custom designed for the way VideoSift works. This was a huuuge change- and a huge amount of work for Lucky. It was a little bit of a bumpy start, but I couldn't be more happy with the way it's turned out.
Probably the biggest change in 2007 was just the massive growth of the community. It was a creeping thing, but by the end of last year, VideoSift passed 1 million visitors a month- that small group of friends feeling turned into - "wow- there's a 24 hour party going on here". All of the extra people has been, I believe, a net good. That doesn't mean there haven't been problems. Sometimes we make mistakes on both the technical and people side. None of us majored in online community management in college- and we've had our share of foul-ups and regrets.
I don't know what the next year will hold for VideoSift. We're hoping to stay an alternative to the big video sites- but it's a bit harder to be the edgy underdog when we feel kind of like a Big Deal™.
Whatever happens, I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone in the community. Those of you who have been here from the very beginning- and everyone since. We recognize that VideoSift is very much a collaborative effort - and we wouldn't be here without you all. It's hard to keep that "small group of friends" feeling- but I'm going to try my best to hang on to it.
How did VideoSift Start?
Probably as a side-effect of TV withdrawal symptoms. I used to work for a satellite TV company and in the words of Pink Floyd- we had 96 channels of shit on the TV to choose from (for free). Then I chucked the corporate job, sold the house and took the family on an around the world trip for 5 months- blowing all of our money - but having a lot of fun. Call it a mid-life crisis, but at least I took the family with me.
We haven't had a TV since then, the kids are better for it- and though I whinge, I probably am too - and would not have poured my energies into VideoSift otherwise.
The first VideoSift ran on the venerable open source CMS Pligg. Although Pligg is a nicely packaged, well-supported collection of scripts- I made a dog's breakfast of it- adding features, rankings and bells and whistles until it was a mess of spaghetti code. That's where Lucky came in - but I'm getting ahead of myself.
I launched VideoSift on Metafilter Projects. I was an active member of Metafilter and thought that it was an online community done right- a weak administration, good communication and lot's of community involvement. Although we didn't copy any of the interface or look and feel of MeFi, I would say we pirated the culture blatantly.
James came on board about 4 or 5 days after the launch of VideoSift, I think he found VideoSift and posted about it in his blog- and that's how we met. Traffic, and support requests were starting to roll in, and I was asleep during the prime time- it worked well to have someone awake around the clock.
There were lots of changes (hacks) that happened in the first six months. Sift Talk was born a couple of week after launch. Star points and member rankings came shortly after.
The next few months saw the launch of VideoSift Poland by Ender. It's still going strong -though we've forked quite a bit- and VideoSift.pl is still on Pligg. Regardless, it was neat to see VideoSift go international - and we got a lot of help and resources from Ender and Lukasz.
Lucky came on board in 2006 and at this point- everything took a massive lurch forward. Suddenly Siftbot invocations worked instantly, instead of taking an hour to respond- and innumerable improvements and changes bubbled through the site like Lucky's special pixsy dust.
The original VideoSift layout was military green with orange highlights. I'm not sure what I was thinking- but there was a certain homely charm to it. Together with team Poland, we began plotting a big change to the way VideoSift looked. Lukasz created a layout that was completely different, and mostly similar to our current blue design.
At the end of 2006, we got a very nice accolade from PC World. We were named one of the world's most useful sites. Yes, useful- not time wasting! (ahem)
2007 brought lots more changes- the biggest one being our move from Pligg to Lucky's own custom built VaroCMS, custom designed for the way VideoSift works. This was a huuuge change- and a huge amount of work for Lucky. It was a little bit of a bumpy start, but I couldn't be more happy with the way it's turned out.
Probably the biggest change in 2007 was just the massive growth of the community. It was a creeping thing, but by the end of last year, VideoSift passed 1 million visitors a month- that small group of friends feeling turned into - "wow- there's a 24 hour party going on here". All of the extra people has been, I believe, a net good. That doesn't mean there haven't been problems. Sometimes we make mistakes on both the technical and people side. None of us majored in online community management in college- and we've had our share of foul-ups and regrets.
I don't know what the next year will hold for VideoSift. We're hoping to stay an alternative to the big video sites- but it's a bit harder to be the edgy underdog when we feel kind of like a Big Deal™.
Whatever happens, I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone in the community. Those of you who have been here from the very beginning- and everyone since. We recognize that VideoSift is very much a collaborative effort - and we wouldn't be here without you all. It's hard to keep that "small group of friends" feeling- but I'm going to try my best to hang on to it.
I'd like to use this space to point out that the site has just reached 1000 contributing members. Also notable, VideoSift has zoomed past 25 000 active videos and will soon have 10 000 registered users.
Way to go gang!
A small shout out to all those who are missed! a few names - benjee, NickyP, gwaan, michie, LadyBug, SnakePlissken, Daphne, mauz15, plastiquemonkey, rickegee, thecosmicshame, gluonium, theo47, sfjocko, NTB, westy, firefly, maudlin and joemawlma.
These guys made the site thrive in terms of submissions and commentary! Sorry if I forgot anyone!
http://wwwe.meebo.com/room/ilikepie2/
dd> Is that chat still up?
Happy Birthday!
Congratulations to everybody involved in it.
Cold german beer on the house!
Cold turkish beer IN the house here. (although imported TO germany, so technically it worked)
*Launches fireworks*
God bless us one and all!
Yay Sift!
Member Since: 2006-05-04
Good god, I've been here that long and didn't even notice it? o_O
Damn, that means this place is that good
This would be a good history to add to Wikipedia. I discovered Videosift about 2 months after it's creation (It took me a couple more months to join). I never thought I'd end up having it as the one place I visit, and spend most of my time on. I love it! And Dag if there is no monetary reward from this. I hope the pride you take in creating such a unique and amazing online community is something you'll take to the grave.
No, there isn't a lot of monetary reward- but I am extremely proud of what we've done here.
And if there's anything I've learned as an adult it's that when you set out from the onset to have "making money" as your primary goal- you're doomed to failure- at least eventually. All the great things in life happen when you follow your bliss.
When the big bubble bursts for TechWreck 2.0 - VideoSift will be fine, because we don't have very far to fall. We won't have to auction off our Aeron chairs because we don't have any.
Like Dr. Frankenstein, you have created a monster which is quickly escaping your control. Heh. Reading the "ancient" history of VS certainly brings some perspective to it all.
WTG man - you have mined a fabulous jewel from the slag of the internet (with a little polishing help from Lucky and James
Thanks Ant! And Dag, and all you others: Group Hug!
I'm a newcomer, but that won't keep me from wishing a happy birthday, or contruction-day would probably be more apt. I salute the sift, and I salute all the people that make up our community. We may not always see eye to eye, but at least we can debate it. Huzzah.
newcomer? you've been here for almost a year.
Congratulations, everyone - Dag and crew, of course, but also all the contributors through whom VideoSift continues to be the best video site on the 'net. No matter how many visitors come through, it's all of you who give this place its flavor... No matter how weird and offensive that may occasionally be.
Bravo.
And *slowclap.