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Social networking can provide the most value when it comes to receiving advice and problem-solving, whether it be someone responding to a Twitter question or checking out a user’s restaurant review on Yelp.
Increasingly, sites are depending on the wisdom of their users to build their businesses, from CrossLoop’s IT support to Trusera and PatientsLikeMe’s health advice and statistics.
Livemocha leverages the “world wide” bit of the web to create a language learning community and the Seattle-based company has just passed the 1m member mark, a year after launching.
Livemocha, currently a free service, provides basic online language lessons, but relies on its users helping each other by correcting their writing and pronunciation. In addition, they can produce “flash cards” - lists of useful words and phrases on particular topics.
Shirish Nadkarni, chief executive, told me members had also translated and extended its own language-learning content.
“One very committed individual translated the entire coursework into Icelandic. He’s a great example of someone who’s very passionate about his language and there are many more members like that,” he said.
Livemocha also added Arabic and Korean lessons to its 100+ languages this week and launched peer reputation ratings. Members can review and rate the work of others, allowing them to build up points and eventually earn “teacher” status.
This will lead to such users earning an income from tutoring services and Livemocha earning fees as an intermediary booking the classes for the student. Taking a percentage of future flash-card sales and charging for added-value coursework is also in the business model, along with the usual advertising.
Livemocha’s immediate competitors include FriendsAbroad and iTalki, but long term, its model could be disruptive to the established players of bricks and mortar language schools, CD-Rom learning companies and existing online schools.
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