Originality of Concept:

The evolution of social networks has seen explosive growth and the advancement of the concept of social computing. Scrapplet adds unbounded creativity to this user base while embracing the social aspects of the social networking platform. Thus far, users have lived in the four corners of the browser. Facebook, MySpace, and others have successfully demonstrated that such boundaries can be compelling, interesting, fun, and useful, yet the physics of the platform dictate a defined world.

Scrapplet shatters all boundaries, unleashing the creative potential of its users. First-time users are empowered, regular users are engaged, and power users are intrigued with the possibilities, power, flexibility, and opportunities. The social networks provide the contact…the touch…the platform that is safe, comfortable, and yet still exciting and compelling. Scrapplet builds on this and extends it to a world without walls. Build it. Share it. Debate it. Do it again...and again. No walls, no limits.

So what exactly is a “Scrapplet?” Hmmm, how about this: the digital manifestation of an individual user’s ideas, the embodiment of a single thought, the intrigue of an experience – all brought to life by the users – created, shared, and enjoyed. Take the patchwork of life, or the infinite examination of a single moment, and let the Scrapplet-enhanced Facebook provide the environment and mechanism for its articulation. Then tap into the highly-integrated social aspects of Scrapplet and social networking sites to communicate, educate, entertain and share.

Market:

The desire for self expression is deep in the bones, yet the rise of the internet has created a digital divide. Social networks have succeeded in empowering the masses, yet the art of unbridled expression has remained the domain of programmers and developers.

Scrapplet makes it easy for non-programmers to create things they never thought they could do themselves, and then help them unleash their creations into the social arena of networked communities. The feeling of self satisfaction that accompanies such self expression is one of those rare emotions that feeds upon itself and is simultaneously wildly infectious.

But Scrapplet equally applies to advanced users, entertainers, and programmers too. It is an empowering environment that provides a host of features and functionality, and includes a rich distribution environment for their widgets, gadgets, music, videos, and other digital enhancements.

The diversity of Scrapplet’s appeal provides compelling justification for use across each of social networking’s demographic elements. Furthermore, the flexibility of the application provides a bridge between user bases that evolves with the individual user as they in turn evolve within the digital community.

Social/Useful:

Scrapplet, like expression, is inherently social in nature. Expression without an audience is simply talking to yourself. Scrapplet is all about expression.

Why simply share photos of your recent vacation when you can easily create an interactive montage of the experience that seamlessly integrates with the social components of Facebook and other social networks? Scrapplet does not replace functionality within social networks, it extends and enhances the creative environment.

Scrapplet lets you take all the pieces of a digital canvas: text, pictures, music, video, widgets, gadgets, and even other web sites and mash them up to create personalized expressions of creativity. Then all the integration, communications, commenting, sharing, messaging, and viral distribution found within Facebook and the other social network sites can be brought together in ways that exceed their original scope. The net result benefits users and the social networks alike.

Ultimately, what is the value of a smile or pride of accomplishment when social networks are used as the distribution point of individual user’s creativity? There are significant portions of the population that have yet to find the killer app for computer justification. Maybe their creativity is the killer app – and Scrapplet is the facilitator for that effort.

Expressive:

The sum total of a user’s presence within Facebook can be referred to as their “social graph” or “network footprint.” In either case, this presence consists of a variety of elements including pictures, friends, profile information, comments, messages, applications, preferences, contacts, and more.

Social networks provide a variety of methods for interacting with, personalizing, and sharing the individual elements of the user’s presence. Scrapplet extends this with a new paradigm for interacting with user’s elements while extending their reach into a larger world of elements, components, and information sharing – all of which is fully complementary to the existing social networks.

For the user, each new Scrapplet they create is an opportunity to combine their friends, pictures from their online albums, favorite music and videos, and text and other elements in ways never before possible. Each Scrapplet is a unique expression of creativity just waiting to be shared and passed around through the powerful networking and communications resources of MySpace, Facebook and the other social networks.

Intuitive:

Scrapplet utilizes a powerful yet easy to use interface that includes advanced use of drag and drop. Simplified wizards ease the creation of Scrapplet components such as music, video, and more. Direct integration with your friends, photos, and other elements are likewise integrated.

Many design elements of social networking interfaces were replicated and incorporated into Scrapplet to maintain synergy and the user’s comfort while providing enhanced functionality and flexibility.

Scrapplet is a powerful application that is nevertheless exposed in layers in order to best accommodate the diversity of users drawn to the application. Users can create Scrapplet pages in a matter of seconds with very little effort, yet can tap in to the array of functionality and advanced features as their experience level and comfort increases.

Potential:

Scrapplet is a highly empowering application that is further enhanced through its tight integration with the user presence and social networking components found within Facebook and the other social networks. Any one page within Scrapplet has the potential to “go viral” through the distribution mechanisms of the social networks – and Scrapplet empowers every user potentially with an unlimited number of pages.

The current model provides users with points for signing up, creating scrapplets, getting other users to sign up, sharing their scrapplets, and receiving high ratings for their scrapplets from the user base. These points can be exchanged for more pages, premium content, and additional value-add elements. Users can also purchase points.

Team:

Scrapplet was conceived, designed, and developed by Steve Repetti.

Mr. Repetti is a designer, developer, programmer, entrepreneur, author, open source advocate, husband, father, and currently sits on the board of directors of the Data Portability organization.

Mr. Repetti designed and created the highly acclaimed social networking application, Zude, is the author of the xWinLib browser-based windowing library, and the co-author of the FGL open source programming environment.

Visit him at http://www.radwebtech.com for additional information.

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