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Squidoo has added another lens option to its growing options of aggregation tools, all for the purpose of self-promotion and marketing that the end users can take advantage of. More and more, Squidoo is becoming a place where individual users can establish themselves as authorities for any purpose, with the ability to aggregate content and supporting data, whether it's for an eBay seller's items or a collection of interesting videos.
The latest lens from Squidoo is called Hey MonkeyBrain, and it's intended to be used as an interactive forum for discussions to manifest around particular ideas, statements, theories, etc., somewhat like outquibb and others. Squidoo users can set up their arguments, and others can chime in (without having to register) in order to support or dispel the argument's basis.
While this sounds fun and all, the true value of a MonkeyBrain argument is the supplemental information that can be added to the argument at any time, through various (aggregated) methods. Incorporate links, videos, duels, blurbs, eBay items and more. What this does is not only aggregate data around a given point, but it also enables Squidoo users (and Squidoo itself) to create a circular form of connected activity throughout the sites' various lenses. And there are many ways in which this aggregated content can be utilized.
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For one, it can encourage site visitors to take action. Take the "Vinyl is better than digital" argument that's popular on MonkeyBrain right now. My first thought when seeing this particular argument was "who cares? I don't even own a record player and all of my music consumption occurs in a digital manner, whether through my computer, iPod or stereo system." Scroll down on this page, however, and you'll see some eBay listings for purchasing a record player. Clearly someone had thought about this general lack of record players before me, and may have even set up the MonkeyBrain argument with the intention of selling record players.