Thursday 24 January 2008

9b, the new 8a?

It's not hard to see that the internet is changing pretty fast. These days a lots of folks are using facebook instead of email to keep in online contact with other folks. But is it just me that finds facebook a bit of a pain to use at times?

I got an email yesterday inviting me to join a new social network site thats just geared towards climbers called 9b

It's quite similar to facebook, but i seems like potentially a nice aggregator of of climbing info and youtube videos of climbing. Good aggregation of stuff you want to see is the way forward on the web these days. Any site that does it really well is going to be big.

Maybe this one will do well, or maybe someone psyched will think of and even better way?

3 comments:

  1. Hi Dave, great to hear someone else writing abeen about it - I've commenting on this issue for a while. Facebook is useful for keeping in touch, but a gimmick for everything else, especially those of whom email is the way forward.
    as for the 9b comment, well that's only warming up if you ask me and that's coming from an Irish guy (where nothing more than 8a+ has been climbed)!!! give that time, grades will change, expecially until olympics get involved and change the sponsorship game.

    BTW, congrats and best of luck to Claire with the slacklining comp!

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  2. Ciao Dave :-)

    first of all sorry for my English and thanks for all (I let a comment on Your page at 9b).

    I agree with You: internet is changing pretty fast. I have passion for climbing and for internet too, so I just asked myself which web tools could be useful for climbers.
    I think my answer was not enough in order to reach … the “9b” level about websites useful for climbers: a single climber can do nothing.
    In any case, I decided to start to offer to climbers the web tools I discovered on the net: ning, listphile, lulu, of course voip too.

    Now my question is: why not try to reach our “9b” all together ?
    Why not start to build our first climbing wikipedia ?
    I just want to say it is possible, if we contribute all together.
    Even add a single route is a big value for others (look here for an example http://www.listphile.com/9bROUTES/La_novena_enmienda): You Dave could be the best contributor about very very hard trad routes … :-)
    So 9b can be much more than just a kind of facebook or myspace exclusively FOR CLIMBERS.
    9b can be climbers (net)working on a climbing wikipedia.
    I don’t know if 9b will do well, because I don’t know how many climbers are available to do that, or share their profile, friends, informations, … with other climbers.
    For sure we climbers, all united, have the tools to do better.

    So, thanking You in advance, I remain at Your disposal for any kind of question.
    Ciao from Italy !

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  3. Maybe a less sport orientated name for a start :-)

    I run the amsterdamclimbers.com (a similar site to 9b, but geographically fairly fixed)

    UKClimbing seems like a good contender, if they opened up a social netowrking side they'd have it made !

    anyway, just a thought over 2 years after the fact... I'll get me coat...

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