It’s been awhile since a social media/blogging platform really kicked off. Actually since WordPress evolved and Tumblr stayed as it was there’s not been a single change to anything. Blogging is done in a sickeningly slow and frankly dry environment. WordPress’ default dashboard theme is beyond boring and well something’s here to change it.
Ghost is a new blogging platform which is being designed by none other than John O’Nolan, deputy head of UI team at WordPress. Behind him is Rob Hawkes from Mozilla’s tech team, and Hannah Wolfe, the senior technical developer at Moo.com. So with such a line up and an already existent prototype that works both on PC and iOS/Androids alike, why do they need Kickstarter. Well they need the extra push. With a piece of software that looks as beautiful as this, there is obviously some compromise between quality and money. With this being said here’s why you should care. Especially if you’re a blogger.
Ghost is a split screen view blogging platform, that will be like the old days of WordPress and Tumblr, except it’s going to be a huge step forward and with a large amount of younger users aged ranged 18-28 are actively accessing blogs on a day to day basis. They aim to accommodate not just the writers but also the onlooking crowd. Within Internet culture there exists a rule called the 1% rule. This rule implies that 1% of the internet creates content, the excess participate within this and then majority excess just look at it. This whole software will look after all areas. The style will be aesthetically pleasing to creators, and the theming and already proven style will accommodate the onlookers.
Company WooThemes is already behind the project to provide it’s theming platform and with Envato, tutorial and family of e-commercial websites, appearing on the partner list we could be seeing some e-commercial side to this project yet. With the next stretch goal being that all users get 1 year free of the premium service and an ‘app store’ for all their themes and plugins this project is really shaping up to be something massive. The service will be free but will consist of monthly fees for people seeking things like hosting and premium themes just like any other blogging platform.
If Mr O’Nolan follows through with this already funded project then we could be looking at the most disruptive, reforming thing to happen to blogging for years. iOS tablets and computers will have a new field of view to their blogs and they can tweak to their hearts content without saving and previewing. This kickstarter project is indeed very exciting and looks to be another massive hit for the website.
