Pueblo Unido

I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know of a new site I've been working on for the past couple of months.  The site will revolve around telenovelas, the actors and their fans. 

While looking around the web, I noticed there are few places where telenovela fans can discuss what is going on with the novelas they watch, as well as their favorite actors.  For the most part, they were limited to the specific groups within a general interest sites (ala MySpace), or network sites where they had forums for the telenovelas they aired (Univision, Esmas).

I'm looking to create one central location where these fans can all gather and discuss any novela they like.

Some of the goals I've set out for the site include (in no particular order):

• One location where devoted and casual telenovela fans can find everything about their novelas. This includes new and classic novelas.
• Members will be able to discover other members they share interests with.  They'll be able to get suggestions based on their interests. In other words, try to make the site smart: Use member inputs to make recommendations
• Allow members to customize their profiles... without requiring technical knowledge
• Make it appealing to both women and men. While the novela audience skews female, there is a strong interest from men as well
• Have it in both English and Spanish. Since novelas address global social issues, fans in most countries can easily relate to the story line

I'm about 3/4 of the way through and hope to have it released by mid July.  For the time-being I'll leave the name a mystery and I'll refer to it as Project X until I have something to show. 

Will keep you updated,

- Andrés

Spanish rock website, Rockero.com, launched in 2005 has become one of several sites where fans of Rock en Español can gather with like minded members. 

The website offers an array of fairly standard social networking features.  Be it, member profiles, photos, friends, forums and customizing of profiles.  They do however have a music player that can be embedded in a member's profile and have it play when visiting a profile.  The music in the player is customized by specifying the URL of an mp3 file from another site.  This creates a problem of unavailable tracks when the source files are removed.

Initially specific to "rock", it has overtime shifted, along with its member-base, more mainstream. However, it's a bit ironic that they tout themselves as the "On-Line Source for Rock en Español", yet the site is exclusively in English.  This does leads to a more U.S.-centric member base, but on the registration page they have the option for Latin American countries and "Other".  It is clear by browsing the site that both English and Spanish speakers enjoy socializing with other rockeros regardless of language.

For a music site, it is missing some key features one would expect.  Amongst these is the ability for members to share a song from the player and have it copied to another member's profile.  Also, the URL location of the mp3 files must be provided instead of allowing members the option of uploading their own songs to their profile.  Implementing these two features would allow artists the opportunity to promote themselves and have the opportunity for their songs to go viral.  This can be particularly useful for Spanish rock artists in such a niche site.

Currently, members can only navigate the site in English, I would like to see the option to select the language and make the site more inclusive to a large block of their visitors.

Finally, adding integration to third-party sites, such as iLike and Last.fm would add functionality that would greatly compliment their current offering.

- Andrés

Launched in 2007, TierraNatal positions itself as the place for US Hispanics to keep in touch with friends, family and others from their towns in Mexico.

At the core of the site are the towns themselves.  Each town is provided with its own profile that allows members to add photos, view other members and update the town's wiki.  The list of towns you can select is very comprehensive, even including some obscure town names you probably never heard of.  The towns themselves are organized by Municipio (Somewhere between a county and a city), making it a bit difficult to find your town if you don't already know which municipio it belongs to.

Members too, have their own profiles that allow them to add towns they belong to (multiple affiliations are allowed), add their photo, request to be friends and send each other messages.  In addition to finding others from your towns, it has a subtle dating component that allows you to search for other based on your interests and town affiliation.

Searching through the site, the majority of the members appear to be in the U.S.  However, the site is available in both English and Spanish which allows it to target both U.S. Hispanics with ties to towns in Mexico, as well as members in Mexico with friends and family in the U.S.

Currently, the site is focused exclusively on towns in Mexico, but I'd like to see this extended to the rest of Latin American countries. Also, adding a search box when selecting a town would help if you don't already know which municipio your town belongs to.

It would be interesting to see this site's functionality integrated into other websites that cater to U.S. Hispanics, or as a FaceBook application.

Overall, TierraNatal provides a beautifully designed website with the right tools needed to reconnect with your part of Mexico when you feel nostalgic.

Take a look at my town's profile Comala, Colima:
http://town6766.tierranatal.com/

- Andrés