As Part Of Entertainment Push, MSN Will Launch User-Created Fansites
This story was written by Joseph Tartakoff.
Looking to boost user engagement (and fill space cheaply), MSN said Wednesday it would use Wetpaint's wiki-platform to let visitors edit and contribute photos, videos and text to new fansites hosted on its MSN Entertainment portal. MSN will launch more than two dozen such sites on its entertainment portal this year.
For MSN, the arrangement provides a cheap way to bulk up the portal's entertainment offerings. In January, MSN launched its Wonderwall celebrity site, to compete with AOL's TMZ and Yahoo's omg! Last week, the company also said it would give visitors the option of an entertainment-focused home page. Seattle-based Wetpaint, which also powers fansites on the websites of HBO, Showtime, and Fox, has raised more than $40 million in venture funding.
By Joseph Tartakoff