dotworldThe problem on the Internet, as well as in many organizations, is that valuable information is nowadays buried under a pile of noise, there is a lack of overview, and information is scattered over millions of websites.

In the past two decades, a gigantic ensemble of billions of webpages, articles and videos has been created that makes it difficult to quickly see what’s really relevant on a specific topic and what’s worth your time.

The Dutch startup DOT.world intends to bring a change, by facilitating structured, topical platforms for online communities and organizations to help people worldwide share, curate, discuss, structure and discover more relevant information.

The officially launch of DOT.world has been on September 21st and intends to facilitate now platforms on virtually any topic. In fact, already before the official launch, DOT.world has been providing platforms on topics such as Food security (for a UN-organization), Startups (for the Dutch Chamber of Commerce) and the Zika virus. The platforms connect experts and the crowd and enable them to share, organize, discuss and rank the most relevant information on these topics.

This “platform of platforms” wants to redesign how people and organizations interact with online content by providing clear overviews of what is worthwhile and what is noise, ultimately helping people save time by enabling quick access to the most relevant information on specific topics.

It can be looked at as the next phase of evolution in the content-sharing and interaction sphere, pushing beyond the hard-to-navigate lists of links on sites like Reddit, or the fusty encyclopedia structure of wikis. Powered by the wisdom of the crowd, DOT.world enables a visually engaging, dynamic, organized world of information, where quality and relevance rule.

Untangle the Internet…

“In this age of information overload, structured platforms allowing experts and the crowd to curate and filter information are key”, DOT.world founder Wim Korevaar highlights, who got the idea for the platform out of his frustration that too much time is spent on low-quality information and indeed not even good search algorithms seem to be the silver bullet and his approach might be a solution.

“We want to find an overview of the best on X, the best on Y, the best on Z, in a matter of seconds. While there is a great deal of valuable information everywhere on the Internet, there is also a lot of noise. We wanted to empower experts of all kinds to unite, create structured community platforms, to filter the information, and find the best content for each topic”, Korevaar explains.

Powered by the wisdom of the crowd, the DOT.world platforms ensure users find information worth their attention--even if they are relatively new to the subject. “If you know precisely what you’re looking for--a particular blog post or product, say--use a search engine. If you want to stay in touch with friends and family, a social network is perfect. But if you’re looking for a place to discover, organize, and discuss the best on a specific topic, then the DOT.world platforms will help you put it all together and separate the wheat from the chaff,” Korevaar states.

… connect the dots

The most characteristic feature is the platform’s navigation. Via the platform’s navigation structure, users can filter away uninteresting information and home in on the subtopic that most interests them. When browsing, users see the best-related content, all shared and ranked by other users. The more people contribute, the better the quality of the platform becomes. “If there’s no platform on the topic you care about, you can register your own, and connect a community which shares your passion for politics, sports, culture, or anything else” the DOT.world founder explicates.

Users and organizations can register platforms on the topics they feel most passionate about. All it takes is choosing a subdomain name (cooltopic.dot.world, for example) and a topic. Once people are invited on the platform, they can start sharing, organizing, and ranking web content related to the topic. As content is added, users can curate, deciding what’s worthwhile by upvoting or downvoting the content.

“In the end, we believe that not a single person, a single company, or a single algorithm can organize all content online and determine the best on a specific topic, but together we can,” Korevaar concludes. “It’s exciting to see this vision becoming a reality.”

There are two flavors for DOT.world’s structured, community platforms. Basic platforms are free, include DOT.world branding, and are open and fully democratic. The other, for organizations and corporations, provides more customization, branding, and advanced moderation features, for a fee. Nonetheless, all platforms have the same goal: Facilitate the discovery, organization, and ranking of relevant information on specific topics.

By Daniela La Marca