Chat Big Cats Social Networking Site

  Wikinomics is a new book on the market with a new twist; you write the ending. It used to be that a person would say, I saw the ad and saw the movie and then I bought the T-shirt and fridge magnet. But in today’s pro-sumer society people are co-creating their world and may well have contributed the graphic arts talents to the ad, co-shot the movie, built the T-shirt online and made their own custom fridge magnet. Wiki is the Hawaiian word for fast and in today’s fast changing society the customer is more and more in control of their world. The last chapter of the book invites the readers to submit their own content for inclusion in subsequent chapters. Big Cat Rescue is fortunate to span a wide range of ages in our volunteer pool. Our youngest AdvoCats are in grade school, and our oldest AdvoCats work from their homes because they can no longer see to drive. That gives us an enormous challenge and advantage. Our content must be accessible and interesting to people of all ages and all economic ranges. The upside is that we have plenty of input from many differing viewpoints and styles, so we are able to stay on the leading edge and yet remain relevant to those who aren’t there. Our latest foray into the future is our own social networking site called ChatBigCats.com. We have needed this from day one, but the technology has just recently been made available to a small non-profit like us. Back in the early days we used an answering machine on our main line because all of us were cleaning cages and feeding cats and nine times out of ten the person calling just wanted to chat about big cats. People who love animals want to share their photos and their stories with others who understand the special bond between a person and their pet. As much as we wanted to do the same, we couldn’t afford ourselves the luxury because there were always too many chores that couldn’t wait. Now thanks to YouTube, MySpace and other social networking sites, we can share with others of like mind but spammers and ill mannered children seem to dominate those sites and it is time consuming and frustrating to have to wade through all of that clutter to make connections with real animal people. So we did what more and more of today’s pro-sumers are doing; we did it ourselves. Thanks to the ad-based Kick Apps platform that serves up google ads in a leader board on the site we are able to provide, at no cost to you or to ourselves, a social networking site that is populated by real people who really love animals. We call it Chat Big Cats but there are groups inside the site for dog lovers, bird lovers, wildlife watchers, political animals and more. At ChatBigCats.com you can set up your own web presence and upload unlimited photos, videos and blog posts and it’s all free. Your page then has its own web address (URL) that you can share with others to visit your page, comment on your blogs, photos and videos and rate them for higher positioning. We welcome animal lovers of every spot and stripe and only have a few hard and fast rules to make sure the experience is positive for our members. You can read those in the terms of service and thanks to AdvoCat, LaWanna’s watchful eye, you can be sure the site will not be cluttered with spam, dirty pictures or ugly language, mean-spiritedness or any activity that we consider disrespectful to animals. She is more than just the chat room monitor though and will periodically be announcing contests on the Forums pages where you can win some great prizes. Ask Crackle Caracal who won in under 2 minutes of the initial contest posting last week! Now you can find people who share your interests and can stay on top of news in the animal community. We welcome individuals, rescue groups and even vendors if their products are animal related. Help us build a strong online animal loving community by contributing your photos, videos, events, products, mP3s and your thoughts. People may join because this is fun, fast and easy, but the potential for real collaboration of great minds who all share a common passion is the stuff of legends. Hop on board; it’s going to be a wild ride!