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| Tuesday, September 4, 2007 |
The AJL Mini Hot List: Koolanoo.com (Hot Jewish MySpace)
This is part of our Mini Hot List in the Sep/Oct 2007 issue.
Ah, the Internet. Y'know, that thing that provides so many opportunities to connect with friends, jobs, singles, apartments, parties, and just about anything else you can think of. You could join online dating services, events and meetup sites, job and apartment classified sites, and other sites tailored to your unique interests. But that's not very Web 2.0 of you. Perhaps it's better to consolidate (or aggregate) the search into a central portal. Many sites have begun to offer such services, but one of the best entries in this approach to weblife is Koolanoo.com, which has advertised itself as "The World's Jewish Social Network" with a flashy, slick set of viral videos that take aim at engaging Jewish members of today's YouTube nation.
The site cleverly notes that Jews "have been networking long before the Internet ever existed and will be doing so for centuries to come," and offers Jewish people everywhere "an opportunity to come together and share trusted, select and relevant information about anything and everything." That "everything" currently includes live forums, chats, blogs, photos, messaging, video conferencing, with more functions being added all the time.
As for their slickly produced promo ads, some use anime-style violence -- equal parts Matrix and Lord of the Rings -- to hammer home a message, while others owe a debt of inspiration to the James Bond spy genre, including a healthy helping of general sexual innuendo. In one video, a beautiful woman dives into a pool. As she emerges from the pool, a man is behind her, shielding her breasts from view with his hands. The tagline: "Support Your People." Finally, Jews are using sex to promote themselves. Maxim magazine would be so proud.
-- Text by Esther Kustanowitz / Photo courtesy Koolanoo.com
This is part of our Mini Hot List in the Sep/Oct 2007 issue.
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