Does the World Need Another Social Media Site?

I like to consider myself a fairly early adapter in the social media arena. I'm quick to try to media sites which emerge on the scene. However, recently most new market entries have failed to intrigue me because, in my opinion, they are redundant and don't offer a unique value proposition. It's more of the same with a different name.

Then I discovered Hashable, and I got jazzed. My friend Mike Yavonditte, who I had met when he was CEO of Quigo--a company he sold to AOL in December 2007, invited me for coffee and an introduction of his latest Internet endeavor--the social media site Hashable.

Initially skeptical, it only took a few minutes for me to "get it". Hashable takes social media to the next level. No wonder the New York Observer wrote, "Over the past few months Hashable has become an addition among many of the power players in New York's tech scene."

Yavonditte and his team got the idea for Hashable while planning and designing Tracked.com, a real-time business site he also owns. "We knew the world was changing, heading in a very social direction, and we wanted to be on the right side of this trend. Hashable puts us in the sweet spot of the marketplace," he explained.

So what makes Hashable unique? It is much like a virtual, real-time journal. It works in conjunction with Twitter, your email service and an new iPhone app and it allows you to easily and simply record and track your connections and interactions in great detail by using hashtags. Incorporating hashtags to describe your interactions with people, such as #coffee, #lunch, #thanks, #justmet, or anything else you can dream up, you identify your strongest relationships overtime. Relationships can be leveraged for professional connections as well.

"Our vision is to become the real-time social network for people that like using multiple services and devices. The list is growing in size every day," Yavonditte explains.

Another unique thing the site does is rank people by their social influence. You reach the leaderboard by earning Hashcred--a virtual currency. Hashcred is generated in a variety of ways including by either using the service or being mentioned by others who are using the service. "It's becoming a real proxy for social influence," Yavonditte notes. The opportunity to spotlight your influence on the leaderboard creates a bit of fun and competition.

"We will eventually begin ranking people by their occupation and/or geography such as top start-up lawyers in NYC or best Venture Capitalist in Silicon Valley," explains Yavonditte.

Will Hashable be another home-run for Yavonditte? "I believe this can be larger than anything I've done personally in my career. I have a very experienced team around me, which makes me feel very confident in our future. They know how to win!," Yavonditte says.

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Hashable was launched in June 2010 and has been available by invitation only. However, it is sure to explode once it hits the business community. Stay tuned.