Top 10 New Websites of 2008

Each year millions of new websites are created, but only a few actually succeed. The reason for their success usually is related to a variety of factors including: offering a unique(s) feature that can't be found elsewhere, providing interesting content, and having a good marketing strategy in place. These new websites, the best ones of 2008, have successfully broken through the clutter of other sites by offering unique and interesting content.

1. BreakingNews.com - The BreakingNews.com website does exactly as you would expect it to, provide the most up to date News stories from around the world. Because it provides feeds from various reliable Internet sources, it offers an unbiased approach to the News, which is something seldom seen on the web. BreakingNews.com offers "breaking news alerts" in a variety of categories, including "world", "US", "politics", "entertainment", "sports", "business & tech", "health & science", and "odds & animals". A unique feature about this website is that it allows you to sort your category preference simply by clicking on an up arrow or down arrow. If that's not enough, BreakingNews.com features a "water cooler" section that allows visitors to see which stories people are receiving the most attention.

2. findingDulcinea.com - Technically formed at the end of 2007, findingDulcinea.com was not released from Beta mode until early 2008 (therefore allowing it to qualify for the top 10 list). Boasting a creative tagline of "Librarian of the Internet", fidningDulcinea.com more than lives up to its claim. Whether you're looking for general information (on pretty much anything), a directory of websites, or top new stories, you will be able to find it on this website. My favorite part about findingDulcinea.com is how it encompasses all the best characteristics of the Internet. It is informative, human-generated, as well as additively entertaining. There is a "Web Guide" section which provides an extensive overview on a variety of topics (including links to reliable sources), "Beyond the Headlines" which offers a unique viewpoint of the top stories of the day (as well as links to the outside sources), and "Netcetera" which has offbeat, original content (i.e. notable figures birthdays, essential websites for New Years, etc.).

3. SpliceToday.com - Refreshing, entertaining, informative, and unique are all words that can be used to describe SpliceToday. SpliceToday.com produces unique stories about a variety of topics including sex, sports, politics, music, pop culture, and more. I've been a fan of this website since June and have been addicted ever since. Just read any of the articles on the website and you'll grasp what I'm referring to.

4. Yahoo! Buzz - If you're a social media nerd like myself, you were eagerly waiting for the launch of this website. Being that it is controlled by Yahoo, a high expectation level was set for this website. So far it has been meeting these expectations. While it offers a very similar approach as Digg and Propeller, I've seen a significantly less amount of spam than on Yahoo! Buzz which is a huge reason why it gets my vote. I can only see this website getting better over time.

5. AnswersTV - AnswersTV provides a concept that makes you wonder why no other website has thought of it. To put it simply, AnswersTV is a website that has a bunch of informational videos relating to a variety of topics (Magic, Travel, Health, Food, etc.). Think of these videos as a cross between "how to" videos and if Wikipedia converted it's pages into videos. The content that AnswersTV.com provides is unique, interesting, and most importantly, informative.


6. Who's Your Champion - Check out their "Wall of Champions" and you'll grasp what exactly Who's Your Champion is all about. From the typical (Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger) to the wtfs?? (2 men creating a "Let's Put the Fork in the Garbage Disposal" dance, nerdy fat kids awkwardly singing), Who's Your Champion allows you to upload videos of pretty much anyone that makes you go "wow that person is a champ" while voting for other people's videos as well. This is such a refreshingly unique type of social media website that I can see sky rocketing in popularity in the near future.

7. AlcoholAbuse.com - Why does this make the list you might ask? Well, from what I've seen this new website has the most relevant information pertaining to alcohol abuse from symptoms, treatments, and general information. This website even includes an alcoholism test that allows you to assess whether you have a problem or not. This is such a prevalent problem that exists (we all know at least one person who suffers from this) that it makes this website very important, thus ranking on the top 10 list.

8. Smilebooks - The only product that makes the Top 10 list. Smilebooks allows you to create a digital photobook (a pretty kickass looking one if I might add) of pretty much anything that you want. Ranging from weddings, graduations, vacations, baby showers, etc. Smilebooks has a variety of different themes/categories to choose from.


9. JuicyCampus - Go to college? Have something juicy to say about somebody? Or maybe you just want to bash somebody, anonymously. Well you can with JuicyCampus.com. What surprises me the most about this website is that it doesn't require a user name or registration, but yet the spamming is kept under control. If you go to college, it's cool to see what is being said about your campus and the people who go there.

10. MakeupProducts.com - My last girlfriend was a fan of this website, and I can see why. Although this definitely is targeting women more than men, guys can still find it useful when searching for a gift for that special lady. This website includes hundreds of different makeup product reviews, tips and tricks, as well as industry news and overviews of different brands.