Squidoo is now live in beta and is definitely worth checking out. They may have my favorite homepage right now (see above). How’s that for minimalism! I was one of the alpha testers for the site and did what I think many people will do — I built an About Ken Schafer Lens (Squidoo’s term for a web page). Actually, I don’t mean that everyone will make a page about Ken Schafer, I mean lots of people will build lenses about themselves — just in case you thought my ego was completely unchecked. Earlier today Heath Row of Squidoo sent this e-mail to all the alpha testers:

You may notice something special about Squidoo today. We have quietly — and completely — moved out of the closed beta test… and into a public beta. That means that anyone can visit Squidoo, find lenses, claim lenses, and build their own. We’re thrilled to open our doors to the public, and to let everyone use the platform that you’ve been helping us test and improve these last few weeks. But we’re not going to tell anyone yet. Except you. So, now’s the time for you to share what you’ve been working on during the secret beta test. Email your lenses to friends. Post a lens to your blog. Tell your mom. And, for a limited time, your friends will be the only people to know that Squidoo is finally live. Thanks for working with us over the past two months. We can’t wait to see how the general public responds to what you’ve been building!

Ready. Set. Squidoo.

Heath Row

Senior Director of Community Development Squidoo

P.S.: Yes, it’s OK to blog about this.

It will be interesting to see how people respond to the public version of the site. There was a lot of initial buzz when Seth started talking about it followed by a lot of “whatever” kind of posts. I think this is a natural outcome of early hype on products — blogs can generate some much heat so quickly, but it often isn’t a very lasting effect. Take a look at Squidoo (maybe read my lens and create your own), then add a comment below with your initial thoughts.

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Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on December 7, 2005.