The new FastCompany.com: most social of media company sites

The first time I met Ed Sussman, the president of Mansueto Digital, which runs FastCompany and Inc. magazines, he was quick to whip open a laptop and show me a closed beta version of it's new site that went into public beta this morning. He was quick to point out bugs that needed to be fixed and he dwelled upon the social networking aspects of the site like any startup team member.

Ed's Demo revealed to me a good deal about who he is and what they are trying to build at FastCompany and it immediately convinced me that I would be crazy to pass up a chance to join the team that Scoble had joined a day or two before.

The new site seems to me to be a clean and easy to navigate even though there's a whole lot there. What I think is most significant is that it is the most interactive of sites from a major media company. I can't wait for the online video component to go live on March 3, so that I can be a part of this.

Mranwhile, go over and take a look. Tell me or tell them what you think. Tell them how they can make it better. The more advice we get from your kind of crowd, the better FastCompany will become.

Comments

[Jason Falls]

Shel -- I got an early invite and logged in a few weeks back. It looks like a potentially neat network considering the target demo. I'm very intrigued, love the content they churn out anyway, and am anxious to see how it blossoms now that there will be lots more people there. And I can't wait to see your new show, too!

[Juan Pablo Tapia]

Hi Shel!

I think it is a great move, and it has a nice design. But, why all the web2.0-socialmedia-community sites try to concentrate all our information and online life? Is that our path? regards from Chile!

[Ben Tremblay]

Very attractive ... light look, and light loading.

p.s. they need a feedback link; this aulde beta-tester found that "Find People" on /user/register points to /people/, which is 404 ... it should point to /members/, as the other pages do.

[shel israel]

Juan, Good to hear from you and I agree with your question. I have no doubt that FC will see and consider your point.

Ben, yes they absolutely need a feedback link.

[Ed]

Hi Ben,

Good point on the feedback link. We had a beta testers group up for a month until yesterday, and we've turned it into an advisory and testers group for member feedback here:

http://www.fastcompany.com/group/beta-testers

Have fun with the site.

Ed (I run Mansueto Digital, which operates FastCompany.com)

[Chris Brogan...]

Hi Shel- I've been a FC freak since wayyyyy back when. I used to stalk Heath Row before they even had stalking tools like Twitter. I finally met him years later after he'd moved on, and I got to gush in person about the old days.

I like the premise a great deal. Talk about putting their money where their mouth is. This is the grand daddy of it all. Taking FULL advantage of the online medium, is what I say.

This is really great. If it werent' already 12:21AM over here in Boston-ville, I'd blog it tonight. Tomorrow, maybe. : )

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Shel

Thanks for sharing this, I've compiled my initial reactions on the community here:

I'd love to hear your comments on my blog.

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/02/09/an-initial-analysis-of-the-fast-company-community/

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Second Try: The URL is a bit long, so try this

http://tinyurl.com/2r3pjv

[Valeria Maltoni]

I will have my post on the move tomorrow and am linking you -- good comments here.

[Joseph Thornley]

Hi Shel,
Sorry, I don't get it.

Where are the RSS feeds on the front page? If there are RSS feeds, they should be readily available so that I can subscribe to the content that interests me.

Do I have to visit everyday to follow the content? (I don't visit sites anymore. I do go to sites that have great content so that I can tag them.)

This looks very much like a closed social community. (Ack. We have too many of these.) What am I missing here?