It’s difficult these days to track down the best social news sharing communities. There are the classics such as Digg and Reddit, and also smaller niche communities containing topics like design and programming.
Humsurfer is a new community, still running in Beta but holding strong with a PR3 and Alexa Ranking of 1,600. The Humsurfer community is a social news and media sharing community for Indians, very similar to what IndianPad promotes. But with a growing userbase and such an inviting site design, Humsurfer may be claiming this throne.
Humsurfer appears to be build using the Pligg CMS, very handy for building social news sites similar to Digg. There are, however, many customizations done to fit with the site’s theme and style. I have to say the design is exquisite, and the user base seems to be very interested in sharing the best articles.
Where Humsurfer takes the Lead over IndianPad
Humsurfer reigns supreme over other social news and media sites in the fact that content is truly community driven. When submitting my articles to IndianPad I frequently find them being marked as spam, before they are even fully submitted to the site! Actions like this revokes power from the users, something Humsurfer takes charge at.
It’s not difficult to trend a story as hot, either. Most stories which hit the front page do so with anywhere from 3-5 stamps.
Yeah, instead of digging an article on Humsurfer you “stamp” it. The more stamps an article gets, the more popular it becomes and will eventually become “hot” enough to hit the top of it’s category. Categories range pretty variably, too, including classic News and Images, Tech, Business, and a whole slew of others.
Registration is extremely easy on the site, and works like most other social news websites. Username, password, and e-mail will get you an account. You are not required to verify your account, but it’s the only way to access all of the features Humsurfer has to offer.
Humsurfer’s Web 2.0 Credibility for Social News and Media
Accounts are pretty straightforward as well. There are no user avatars or icons, no details to fill in or anything like that. This makes using Humsurfer a lot like Reddit, where accounts aren’t totally anonymous but there really aren’t any details to share. You are able to stamp your favorite articles from your favorite sections, and these will be cataloged and saved in your profile for later.
You can also add other users on Humsurfer to your buddy list. I haven’t tested out this aspect of the site too much, but having any connection between other users is always a great sign of community. This also allows for new features to be added down the road for sharing articles with your friends, sending private messages, etc.
Humsurfer seems to be on the road to high-status social media. They’ve an extremely supportive and hard-working staff, and they are always available for questions at their feedback page.
Still recently created, Humsurfer also runs a Twitter profile @humsurfer_buzz where they post updates and current news on the site.
