Pownce was a social networking site that allowed users to share content and connect with others. It was launched in 2007 by Leah Culver, Kevin Rose, and Daniel Burka.
One of the key features of Pownce was its ability to share files, images, and videos with others. Users could also share links to websites and articles.
Pownce used a unique approach to sharing content, allowing users to "pounce" on shared items by clicking a button. This made it easy to share and discover new content.
The site also allowed users to create and manage their own groups, which could be used to share content with specific sets of people.
What is Pownce
Pownce is a micro-blogging social network that allows users to share quick updates, files, and events with their friends.
One of the main features of Pownce is its ability to share files, with a 10MB limit for non-pro users and 100MB for pro users.
Pownce's desktop client, version 3, was built on the Adobe Air platform and allows users to respond directly to incoming messages.
The public availability of Pownce also brought a new importing tool that searches for existing friends on other social networking sites and attempts to find them on Pownce.
Pownce's importer tool can import friends from other sites like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and Digg, as well as from address books like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and AOL.
Pownce highlights "Featured Powncers", a list of active and interesting people that users can follow on the site.
A comparison of Pownce and Twitter shows that while both emphasize micro-messages, Pownce adds the ability to share files, invite users to events, and track messages.
Here's a brief comparison of Pownce and Twitter:
Keep in mind that Pownce isn't perfect, with some users complaining about the lack of mobile integration and limited API.
Comparison with Other Sites
Pownce was compared favorably to other websites with similar functionality such as Twitter, and was called a "Twitter on steroids".
CNET's Rafe Needleman recommended Pownce over Twitter in a work setting because of its discussion-tracking capabilities.
Pownce was praised for its ability to track discussions, making it a more suitable choice for work settings.
Its discussion-tracking capabilities made it a standout feature compared to other similar websites.
Technology and Features
Pownce was built on a variation of the LAMP stack, using Debian Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Python. The web application was made with Django, an open source web application framework, written in Python.
File storage was supported by Amazon S3. The desktop application was written in Flex for Adobe's AIR platform.
Adobe AIR is a platform software that allows developers to create desktop applications that run on multiple operating systems. Pownce's desktop client was built on this platform.
Pownce allows users to share files, with a 10MB limit for non-pro accounts and 100MB for pro accounts. Users can also invite others to events, which are synced with Google Calendar or iCal.
The Pownce desktop client has undergone changes, with version 3 adding the ability to respond directly to incoming messages. This feature was previously unavailable, limiting the client's usefulness.
Other features include an importing tool that looks for friends on other social networking sites and attempts to find them on Pownce. This tool can also import contacts from address books and other sites, including Twitter and Digg.
Pownce also highlights "Featured Powncers", a list of active and interesting people to follow. This feature is similar to Ma.gnolia's "Featured linkers" idea.
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