And by adapting some of the microblogging principles of Twitter, multimedia updating, and a strong pedigree (the company is co-founded by Matt Meeker and Peter Kamali who previously started Meetup), the site has a chance to succeed in this crowded space.
Like Twitter, Wee Web offers a timeline view of your updates, though it prompts you with a variety of random questions, such as “What makes your baby giggle?” or “How much does your kid weigh now?” These updates are limited to 140 characters, but alternatively you can enter in a long-form story, more like a traditional baby blog. The site also has its own simple photo uploader, as well as an option to embed videos of your kid.
As for sharing the content on Wee Web, it’s all invite-only. You specify who you want to have access to your kid’s pages, and when those users sign up and login, they can see the updates either on their homepage or on their “Friend’s Kids” page (akin to the “my timeline” or “friend’s timeline” views on Twitter). Friends are then able to leave comments on any of the individual updates. Those friends can also specify how often they want to receive updates via email – as they happen, sometimes, or never (ouch).
There are a lot of sites that do similar – like Totspot, Kidmondo, and LilGram’s – just to name a few (see also: 35+ Sites for Web Savvy Families). However, where Wee Web stands out is simplicity, and as a passive user who is currently just reading email after email about other people’s kids as opposed to producing my own babies content, the non-intrusive update style that Wee Web offers is a big plus. It’s sort of like Cliffs Notes for keeping up with your friend’s kids – assuming they start using it.