Hold Onto Your Uggs: Hollywood Ventures Into 2.0
Variety, the premier source for Hollywood news and editorial, today launched the first social networking website for the entertainment business.
“The Biz” serves three primary functions: to connect colleagues already in the entertainment industry, to facilitate job searching and recruiting, and to foster a community with an open exchange of entertainment-related ideas (ie, “Yo! What do you think of this TV pilot idea: Desperate Housewives meets Golden Girls.”)
Users will be able to upload profiles, photos, resumes, portfolios and videos starting today.
Hollywood is a notoriously insular community, which is the primary reason, I imagine, its first social network is springing up so late in the game. In 2007, according to eMarketer, 70% of teens and 37% of adults in the United States used online social networking at least once a month. That equals about 13.6 million teens (ages 12-17) and 56.9 million adults (ages 18 and up).
Jeff Seely, the CEO of Jobster (which is partnering with The Biz), said today, “Variety is on the cutting edge of vertical online networking.” I don’t know, Jeff. Seems like more of a dull edge to me. Currently, only a handful of bloodsuckers and bloodsuckers of tomorrow have signed up on the site.
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