Media design and services
firm 3jane has announced the relaunching
of Makeoutclub (MOC), a pioneering social networking platform that since its
foundation eight years ago has been a meeting place for the underground music
community. The new version showcases
several original functionalities that aim to offer hardcore, emo and indie fans
richer and more varied opportunities for online socialising, flirting and
keeping up to date with friends and current events on the alternative scene.
The new features kick off
with the introduction of a revamped ?My MOC? control panel designed for
smoother navigation and interaction. An
integrated friend activity feed keeps the user abreast at all times of who is
online and their recent MOC activity, whilst a ?people you should know? section
automatically displays a selection of like-minded MOC members he or she might
wish befriend.
A fresh way to flirt is on
offer in the form of the ?Crush List? feature, which enables members to
secretly ?crush? another person, with crushes being revealed only when two
people have ?crushed? each other. Hot
news topics in the music industry are chronicled on the site?s news blog.
3jane director of product
development Gibby Miller casts the event as a way of following the direction in
which the site has spontaneously evolved since its inception, commenting that, ?When
I launched the site eight years ago I was aiming to bring people together to
form bands, play music and share photographs and art with those that appreciate
and relate to their passions. Makeoutclub
has grown leaps and bounds since then and now serves as a music news and
community site, allowing members to keep track of the industry, their friends
and romantic interests at a single destination.?
Its
new clothes notwithstanding, MOC remains true to its original concept: that of
a niche online venue where the young, avant-garde music crowd can source the
hottest and latest bands, meet and interact on the basis of their own tastes
and values.