WISIA is another service from IWIlab, a US- and Korea-based web startup founded by Brian Kim, the former CEO of NHN USA. Again NHN is the company operating Naver, Korea's top internet portal.
I introduced an English based service called Buru.com on this blog before - Apparently Buru is not the only service rolled out by IWIlab. Unlike Buru, Wisia is offered only in Korean for the time being.
Wisia is basically a social recommendation service. It's like a Q&A service (such as Naver's knowledge search or Yahoo Answers) focusing entirely on recommendations. A user can either put up a new question, or search through questions already posted by others seeking for good recommendations. Questions include "Where are the best spots I can take family during the holidays?" or "What do twenty-somethings have to have, in order to become happier?"
Click on one of these questions, and if there are enough answers (that is, the recommendations) posted already, the user goes directly to the voting page. For example, when I click on the question "Where are the best spots I can take family during the holidays?", I am directed to the poll, where I'm supposed to pick my favorite first. Here I'm choosing "Sullak Waterpia".
Then I can see the poll result, i.e. where my selection is ranked at. Here I can see Sullak Waterpia is ranked at the second place (second most voted option for the family vacation place), and see my selection was also supported by other folks.
If I don't think a given recommendation is not ranked high enough, I can click to vote it. Or if I believe there are other good items that are not yet listed, I can scroll down and click on the "Add item" option. I am adding "Jirisan" as a new item of a good spot to take my family.
Adding an item can be done in a brisk. Wisia provides built-in Google image search (via mashup, I suppose), so I can choose the right image to go with the item and write a short message as to why I recommend this item. Placing the Google image search upfront is Wikia's way of encouraging users to insert the accompanying images to go with their posts. Wisia knows very well that pictures say a thousand words. As a result, most recommendations that appear on Wisia seem to have images.
At least in Korea, knowledge search was what catapulted Naver into its current leading position (which I'll discuss in further detail in my next piece.) Wisia, when done right, can be a better alternative to Naver's knowledge search for those specifically seeking for recommendations. Other services also to note include 43 things, 43 places, and Should do this.
I introduced an English based service called Buru.com on this blog before - Apparently Buru is not the only service rolled out by IWIlab. Unlike Buru, Wisia is offered only in Korean for the time being.
Wisia is basically a social recommendation service. It's like a Q&A service (such as Naver's knowledge search or Yahoo Answers) focusing entirely on recommendations. A user can either put up a new question, or search through questions already posted by others seeking for good recommendations. Questions include "Where are the best spots I can take family during the holidays?" or "What do twenty-somethings have to have, in order to become happier?"
Click on one of these questions, and if there are enough answers (that is, the recommendations) posted already, the user goes directly to the voting page. For example, when I click on the question "Where are the best spots I can take family during the holidays?", I am directed to the poll, where I'm supposed to pick my favorite first. Here I'm choosing "Sullak Waterpia".
Then I can see the poll result, i.e. where my selection is ranked at. Here I can see Sullak Waterpia is ranked at the second place (second most voted option for the family vacation place), and see my selection was also supported by other folks.
If I don't think a given recommendation is not ranked high enough, I can click to vote it. Or if I believe there are other good items that are not yet listed, I can scroll down and click on the "Add item" option. I am adding "Jirisan" as a new item of a good spot to take my family.
Adding an item can be done in a brisk. Wisia provides built-in Google image search (via mashup, I suppose), so I can choose the right image to go with the item and write a short message as to why I recommend this item. Placing the Google image search upfront is Wikia's way of encouraging users to insert the accompanying images to go with their posts. Wisia knows very well that pictures say a thousand words. As a result, most recommendations that appear on Wisia seem to have images.
At least in Korea, knowledge search was what catapulted Naver into its current leading position (which I'll discuss in further detail in my next piece.) Wisia, when done right, can be a better alternative to Naver's knowledge search for those specifically seeking for recommendations. Other services also to note include 43 things, 43 places, and Should do this.
TAG Wisia
