Exaroom.com announced today that the company would be introducing a new web widget and customizable profile features. Exaroom is a social network that provides file-sharing services as a key feature as well. The file-sharing aspect is a service that most other social networks do not provide. File-sharing was definitely one of the reasons why exaroom witnessed and maintained attention since mid-August.
“Our goal is to create a social network where you can easily, securely, and responsibly share files,” stated Song Kim, founder of exaroom. “Our new user profile page brings us a step closer to creating this community.” The new widget feature that exaroom provides also allows cross-compatibility with MySpace and exaroom. MySpace users can embed the examroom widgets on their MySpace profiles.
To test out the social network and its features, I created an account. As soon as I registered for the website, I was sent an e-mail from Major Tom, who becomes your first exaroom virtual friend. The e-mail explains how to go about navigating around exaroom, including the use of Ground Control, the file-sharing software that needs to be installed within your browser if you want to be able to upload files.
Another unique feature that exaroom has includes the option to select themes. I selected the paradise theme in the screenshot below. Every user is assigned a direct URL and a blog URL. And every user also has an option for a photo gallery on their exaroom profile page and also has a guestbook. I was mostly interested in how the widget works.
I was mostly interested in how the widget works, but did not want to install extra software, so I checked out the Ground Control page to see how it works. It appears that in order for you to share your files, you have to keep the Ground Control software running on your computer so that you can download your shared files remotely through the widget.
Below is what the widget looks like when you embed them onto websites. The default scrolling message on the computer is “username’s computer is online,” but I changed it to Amit’s Widget. Exaroom provides you with the HTML code to embed the widget on the widget page.
By mashing together the functionalities of social networking and file-sharing, I believe that exaroom has created a great product. I could definitely see this technology carry exaroom to a much higher position against the current dominating social networks. File-sharing is becoming increasingly important for the on-the-go type of people.
