http://bigculture.stumbleupon.com/review/16433485/

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:12:17 -0800

It all started more than a year ago, a couple of Jamaicans living overseas looking for great Jamaican content on the Internet. For us it was difficult to find great Jamaican related content and recommending sites to our non-Jamaican friends was always a challenge. Often times we were looking for a specific content and we had to wade through several pages or websites. Search engines are great but there are several limitations.

After a few bottle of beers we decided to develop a website hence BigCulture.com, that would showcase the best of the Jamaican culture. However coming up with what was the "best Jamaican website" was very subjective and we could never agree amongst the group if this particular dancehall website was better than the other or if this forum had more interesting topics. So we decided that instead of simply and arbitrarily determining a "top" list we would let visitors decide by voting on the content (videos, images, websites, stories etc). In addition we would allow registered members two votes and visitors, one vote.

The challenge was getting website owners and content providers to buy into this idea and we are still trying to overcome this challenge. We had to redesign the website from scratch and upgrade to a bigger web server. We have completed the first phase of site redesign and we are looking forward to the next phase. In this next phase we will be moving full steam ahead. We are committed to empowering our registered members and visitors with the power of the vote, voting for content that they support.

So far our efforts have been encouraging. We want to extend our gratitude to those who continue to visit us frequently and we encourage those who are not regular users to join us. We are working to make BigCulture.com, the best way to find Jamaican related content.

Instead of putting this in a special site update section, we have included this in our blog, giving you the chance to vote on this content.

Remember if you see or visit Jamaican related content

Tag it Jamaican Style!

http://bigculture.stumbleupon.com/review/16433455/

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:11:05 -0800

There is a saying "Good Content is hard to find". This is relevant to finding Jamaican related content on the internet especially "Good" content. The internet has grown significantly over the past 5 years. Today we have Facebook, Youtube, Google, Yahoo as the overall popular websites and Jamaicans.com, top5jamaica.com, dancehallregggae.com, Jamaica Gleaner and Jamaica Observer as the popular Jamaican websites. But are we finding good Jamaican content? We just might be settling for second rated content.

The answer is a resounding "Yes" but it is searching for a needle in a hay stack. Google for all its popularity and technology, often times provide less relevant results on the first few pages of search. Take for example the keyword "Jamaican culture" on the first page (first 10 pages), there are results that may have been relevant a few months (or years ago) but are no longer relevant today. One literally has to wade through a myriad of web pages some of which are not child-friendly, before getting to relevant information. Although some searches might be better than others, the outcome is not always positive

It may all be in the fingers or what's included in your favourite list but next time you search online for something that's Jamaican related, remember you might just be "Short Changed".

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http://bigculture.stumbleupon.com/review/16433455/