Redux: Entertainment Meets Social Media [Invites]

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Redux is very much like a cross between FriendFeed and Twitter, with a real-time stream of shared content flowing in from users and channels, which are akin to FriendFeed rooms for topic-based content. Streams of content are filtered for everyone, my network (just the people you follow), popular, and channels so you can toggle through different views of the photos, videos, and URLs being shared by everyone on site, just your friends, or just the channels you enjoy.

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As a member, you share URLs and Redux includes the rich media content into the stream, so a YouTube URL would be watchable from the stream view. Other users can then add a comment, give props, or share an item with Twitter, Facebook, or via email and URLs (sounds a lot like FriendFreed, right?).

Redux does have a few tricks up their sleeve that make them unique. For each shared item, you can see the total number views, and there's also a toolbar with comment, prop, and share options that opens when you click to an external site, giving you a way to continue conversations once you leave Redux (this may be a plus or minus, depending on how you feel about toolbars). The site is also extremely user-friendly and filled with content even though it's only in private beta.

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The site has also just added TV Mode, a way to watch videos in full-screen one right after the other, with a playlist that is created on the fly — in real-time — according to the tastes of members with similar interests. In TV Mode, you can skip to and from videos, and still add comments and props as usual. It's a pretty unique way to discover video content from the web, and we find the entertainment value to be fantastic.

Eventually Redux plans to make the entertainment value their business model by bringing premium content to users for purchase. So, as an example, members will be able to buy access to view episodes of Entourage from a pay-per-month type channel. Depending on how the content is packaged, this could create an interesting subscription model where iTunes meets Hulu.