Comments for Microsoft Relaunches Windowslive.com as a Community Site

Microsoft Relaunches Windowslive.com as a Community Site

2008-08-05T03:00:27Z

Until now, Microsoft had used WindowsLive.com as the main hub for getting information about its Live branded services like Messenger, Hotmail, Spaces, SkyDrive, and Photo Gallery. Today, Microsoft has re-launched the site as a community site, where users can exchange information and ideas about how to best use these tools. As Marty Collins, the Windows Live senior marketing manager explained to us in an interview last week, the idea behind this redesign is to better explain to users how they can use these services together, as well as fostering an active user community.

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The site now features tips and trick by members of the community, as well as Microsoft staff. Users can rate the contributions by other members on a five-point scale. In order to prevent abuse, content needs to be voted on by at least three community members before it is featured on the main community page, which Microsoft has dubbed the "Clubhouse," and which is only accessible by using a Windows Live ID. This content is also featured on the homepages for the individual applications that make up the Windows Live brand, though interestingly, some applications like Live Calendar and OneCare are not featured on the site.

Especially good content will also be pushed to the Windowslive.com front page by the editors. Microsoft assured us that it would allow negative posts to be featured on the site as well and that it would not censor any valid opinions - assuming that the users abide by all the terms of service for WindowsLive.com.

The Clubhouse

As of now, the central hub for creating and sharing most of the content for Windowslive.com is Live Spaces. In order for post from there to appear in the clubhouse, a user has to tag them with 'Clubhouse' and the name of at least one Live application. Indeed, it seems tags are the main glue that hold the Clubhouse together, as Microsoft also uses them to determine a list of possibly related posts. For now, the Clubhouse is only open to a select few member of the Windows community, but Microsoft will open it up for everybody in the coming weeks.

In the next iteration, Microsoft will also allow importing items from other platforms like WordPress and Blogger, Marty Collins told us.

In terms of the overall design, the Clubhouse is quite well done. One nice feature are the user profiles, which are pulled from Live Spaces. These profiles also lists a user's other posts and their ratings. In the Clubhouse, users can see all the latest posts tagged with 'clubhouse,' as well as the most highly rated posts.

It is interesting to see that Microsoft is willing to experiment in this area. On WindowsLive, it allows Microsoft generated content to stand next to user generated content, which could potentially open Microsoft up for some embarrassments. At the same time though, if Microsoft holds true to its promise of not censoring legitimate content, then this represents an important step forward in how Microsoft interacts with its customers.

Comment from Michael J Cohen on 2008-08-04

2008-08-05T03:44:50Z

hah

Comment from Sean Brady on 2008-08-04

2008-08-05T05:06:27Z

I am not 100% sold on any of the MS web services, but Windows Live Writer and Photo Gallery are top notch applications. I am very happy with Mesh now that you can P2P things. Still have my eye on what MS offers, but it will be hard to drag me away from Google at this point.

Comment from Frederic on 2008-08-04

2008-08-05T05:37:23Z

Live Writer is my standard blog editor and I have toyed with Photo Gallery and a few of the other apps. I like the way Microsoft is going with this updated site. Just hope they open up the community features to everybody soon.

Comment from gploy on 2008-08-04

2008-08-05T05:54:09Z

Microsoft will open it up for everybody in the coming weeks,good

Comment from Mads Kristensen on 2008-08-05

2008-08-05T11:44:33Z

I think the cool thing here is that it looks like Microsoft is actually trying to do something that a lot of people are talking about: Demonstrating the true VALUE of services in everyday lives. Of course it may be that users decide that Windows Live services have little or no value to them, but the direction is great.

The only thing I'm not so sure about here is the tagging part as a prerequisite for joining the Clubhouse with a post. It seems kind of cumbersome, and I bet that very little real life stories from ordinary people will get through, as they would probably forget to tag correctly.

Comment from pankaj on 2008-08-05

2008-08-05T15:19:22Z

Still confusing. I never understood the umbrella approach to these applications under LIVE brand. There are few apps that are more than useful. Its much better to have their distinct identity.

Comment from Marty on 2008-08-05

2008-08-05T17:32:43Z

Hi, I'm Marty and I'm running the community program for Windows Live. Thanks for all your good feedback. The community is open to anyone who would like to join. You can visit http://communityclubhouse.spaces.live.com/ and request access to the private Space. This is our way to ensure against trolls and keep the experience good for all members. In the next few weeks the registration will be live on WindowsLive.com as well.

As for tagging, yes I agree it can be confusing. But we really wanted to recognize that people are already blogging and using web services to post picture, content, videos, etc. We wanted to respect people's individual blogs and not ask them to duplicate efforts so the best way to get content out of people's blogs is tagging. We have a document in the Clubhouse that explains the tagging structure but I agree, it still isn't always clear. In the cases where people have questions or we notice they may be tagging incorrectly Marcus, our community manager reaches out and helps people one on one.

Keep the feedback coming. Always love to hear other suggestions.

Marty

Comment from MGA on 2008-08-12

2008-08-12T16:40:28Z

Well, i respect them. They are doing their best to get a share from the online market. But MS has a bad reputation and whatever they do to pull attentions of users, people will keep ignoring them. Their chances to get recognized is even smaller than a newly launched website.