With social networking (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) all the rage, it wasn’t long before someone combined some of the features that make them popular with something related to fandom — specifically, collecting stuff. Kristina Dahl and some of her friends have launched a site called Squirl, where collectors can catalog their collections and meet other collectors. Kristy answered a couple of questions I had about the site via email::
The main goal for the site is pretty simple: To give collectors of all interests a great tool for cataloging their collections. In doing some research before the site launched we found that lots of collectors had independent web pages, but the social aspect was largely missing from those sites. This seemed a shame, because collectors love to share their collections with other people. As Squirl has grown, the social networking component has developed naturally as people check out each others’ collections. So another goal of ours is to give collectors a place to meet and network with one another.
In terms of the future, we’re adding new features almost daily as our users give us feedback about what they want and need. In the near future, we’ll be adding capabilities for groups, which I think will be really neat.
Users can upload pictures and descriptions of their comic books or anything else they collect, creating an “online museum” of their collection. Squirl is free up to 200 items and only $10/year for up to 5,000 items.
