The Buzz Bin

Would it benefit you or your company to have a social network? KickApps, one of the most powerful social networking platforms available, makes it easy to create and manage a robust, fully customizable social network on your website.

KickApps is a white label self service platform that runs on its own servers. Going beyond the social networking basics of allowing customizable profiles, friending, video and photo sharing, chat, and message boards, KickApps also allows users to upload their own content, interact on blogs, and use a programmable video player. Additionally, its powerful widget builder simplifies syndicating content. It also has applications that can interact with a content management system.

Buzz Meter Ranking: 4 out of 4 Buzz Bees

Positive: The service is open and free for anyone to set up with no advanced system requirements. Additionally, the KickApps Site Styler makes creating and monitoring social content extremely easy for anyone, even those new to development. For those accustomed to working on the back end, the KickApps Affiliate Center (AC), a web based management and reporting tool, provides advanced features. Designers are able to use DNS masking, HTML, CSS, Java, and the KickApps APIs to develop social networks that integrate seamlessly with existing sites. Additionally, the KickApps App Studio allows anyone to easily develop widgets, directing outside users to the personalized community.

From a user’s standpoint, creating a personalized account and navigating the many features is fast and simple.

Negative: KickApps does run non-offensive advertisements on its hosted social networks. There is an option that allows users to pay to remove these advertisements. The cost of this service is based on the popularity of your social network. Another drawback is that DNS masking is not as seamless as if the social network was hosted directly on your website’s server.

Conclusion: The importance of user generated content is escalating, and stakeholders are expecting to have a social web experience. KickApps provides an excellent, easy to use and cost effective way of creating an integrated social network on your website.