Social networking platform Bumpr launches into public beta

Bumpr, a social networking platform with a goal to “simplify digital life,” launched into public beta last night. As of now, users can integrate their Twitter and Facebook feeds into the website, and in the coming months the team plans to integrate the top 20 social networks. When fully developed, its creators see it as…

Screenshot of my Bumpr.net wall, taken Wednesday, September 1.

Bumpr, a social networking platform with a goal to “simplify digital life,” launched into public beta last night. As of now, users can integrate their Twitter and Facebook feeds into the website, and in the coming months the team plans to integrate the top 20 social networks. When fully developed, its creators see it as “a social network hub.”

“The idea here is that right now you get on your computer and you log into, you know, Facebook, Twitter, your email…our concept is instead of opening 4-5-6-8 windows, do it all from one window,” product developer Dan Griffiths said. “It’s complete integration.”

Features of the site include:

  • Twitter and Facebook integration
  • Photo galleries
  • Groups
  • Blogs
  • Social bookmarking
  • Music player
  • Private messaging

Two features not yet released but have place holder icons are a location-based service as well as a gaming interface. The latter being one of the site’s potential revenue streams in addition to a planned service similar to Twitter’s sponsored tweets and another similar to Facebook’s targeted advertisements.

Of the features they’re launching with, the team boasts three on its homepage:

  1. Social Search: Pulls in and categorizes results from Twitter and Facebook as well as the web
  2. Pictures and Videos: Videos, pictures, and audio are embedded in a user’s stream
  3. Social Integration: Connects all of a user’s social networks in one place (example below: my profile)

Bumpr’s competition, Griffiths said, is quite broad, from other early stage startups similar to Bumpr to the social networks themselves since Bumpr has essentially built their own social network. When compared to other aggregators such as FriendFeed and TweetDeck, Chris Lausten of Bumpr’s management team said, “[Bumpr] has those same capabilities and then just adds more on top of it.”

With regards to funding, the team has completed an angel round with local investors, including themselves. Lausten said that depending on how well the site is received, they’re in talks with other institutional investors. “[We] have been interviewing a few of those,” he said. “We haven’t really made a decision on what we’re doing as far as size of a round going forward, it’s just something we’re evaluating right now.”

To hear Lausten and Griffiths speak about Bumpr’s three strongest features, its competitors, and the funding they’ve recieved, view the following video highlights from our interview yesterday. And to give Bumpr a try for yourself, visit Bumpr.net.



This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN's origin »

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