Micro-Blogging Gets a Make Over
Yonkly goes beyond micro-blogging - think of it as a cross between Tumblr, HelloTxt, and Swurl - creating a full fledged personal website that allows users to cross-post to Twitter (and eventually other social sites), get the added value of rich data that Twitter just doesn't support, and the features of a more full-scale blog or website.
Yonkly members can currently integrate their Flickr, Plaxo, and Twitter accounts. The integration allows other users to view content from each third party site without leaving Yonkly. It's smart and it's pretty.
Of course, Yonkly supports micro-blogging standby features including private messages, replies, and following. In addition, users can post multiple photos per update, view videos and image thumbnails inline with messages, and have one-click access to view each type of content on site.
In your Yonkly admin section, you'll find a few hidden nuggets and discover something akin to a scaled-down CPanel, giving members the option to add a custom domain, view traffic stats via Google Analytics (coming soon), and add in various types of banner ads and inline content advertisements.
You can use a limited version of Yonkly at no cost, but they do have a paid subscription model that ranges from $10 - $100 a month depending on the features you want. The Basic, and most affordable plan, costs $10 per month and includes 1GB of space, 100 users, and some additional customization features. You'll need to pay the steeper fees if you want full control of the ads, a custom domain, or to remove the Yonkly logo. Just a friendly warning: should you choose to take advantage of the free two month trial, you will be automatically billed each month once that grace period expires.
It's Beautiful, But ...
Yonkly is easy on the eyes, full of fantastic features, and offers micro-bloggers a way to truly make their micro-blog their own. It's hard to find a single thing wrong with the site, but that doesn't mean I'll use it. Even though I can post to Twitter, view Tweets on Yonkly, and invite my Twitter friends to join me, the reality is that I have already pledged my hand to Twitter in a micro-blogging commitment, and I'm just not up for another long term relationship.