Skittish, a cute social network created especially for events
A playful space for online events. This is how Skittish presents itself as a social network dedicated exclusively to virtual events. The platform was created by Andy Baio, co-founder of Xoxo Festival, and announced on your personal portal Waxy.org.
According to its creator, Skittish is a place where people come together in an interactive 3D environment that's similar to a game and a social network. Its purpose is to host events, large or small, private or open to the general public.
A cute place
To participate in the events, the person selects an animal avatar and explores the created environments, clicking with the mouse or navigating with the WASD keys on the keyboard, as they would in a game.
Baio posted a video on his Twitter account showing part of what people can find in this truly captivating universe. By selecting a little animal, be it a bird, an elephant, a snake, among many others to be the avatar, the person moves around the created environment, going from one event to another, meeting other cute avatars and interacting.
Here's a little tour of our work in progress. Special thanks to @simonghales for all his incredibly hard work, @mikebodge for laying the groundwork, and @cyberdees for encouraging me to apply to @GrantForTheWeb. pic.twitter.com/AOdzNvCeha
- Andy Baio (@waxpancake) February 16, 2021
As the animal avatar moves around the platform, the person can personalize their space, inserting items such as rocks and trees in different places. The social network atmosphere can be seen in the interaction with the other animals on Skittish and in the participation in various events.
If the user's avatar is near a conversation between two other animals, for example, he or she can move closer to them and hear what they are saying better. This effect is provided by spatial audio, which reproduces sounds according to the distance between the avatars.
The same goes for events created on Skittish, such as video releases on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, new music, Soundcloud audios or even open meetings. According to Andy Baio, it is possible to imagine an infinite number of creative scenarios built by people on the platform.
In the current version, there is already support for multiple interconnected rooms. In addition, it is possible to add web monetization payment pointers for streaming created by event organizers.
Moderation tools and costs
Text chat, moderation tools, and other customization options are in Baio’s plans for Skittish in the future. Additionally, the platform will be paid, but will likely have a limited free tier at some point.
However, the creator of this unique social network for events is aware of the potential for misuse of Skittish. Baio is aware of the issues related to abuse and harm that can be caused when creating a social platform, and having an unlimited free tier without moderation features would be irresponsible.
Skittish is currently in beta, and therefore not available to all users. However, anyone can sign up to receive updates on the project's progress and announcements. You can also follow the latest news on the platform's official profiles at Twitter and Instagram.
Andy Baio hopes to start hosting events on Skittish in the next couple of months and open up the network for others to use in their own communities. In the meantime, he’s looking to partner with beta testers, content creators or artists for YouTube video releases, event organizers, and artists developing 3D environments.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. The Verge
