Hictu: A Service Wrapped In Confusion

Ever read or heard the term “micro blogging?” 24 hours ago, I didn’t either. Apparently, it’s what constitutes the goings on over at Twitter and so forth. Which I’m no fan of.

So when a higher-up here at Profy passed along a press release over to my inbox about a product whose creator(s) claim fits that precise mold, I kind of grimaced. I thought, “Why?” Over and over and over again. But after sitting on it for about an hour or two, I decided to see what it was about, if only to solidify further my disdain for “micro blogging.” A nice, upbeat note to start on, eh?

Some details, first. The product is called Hictu. According a post published late last year on one of its (or its sole) creator’s blogs, it started its life as a Web-based address book. (Plan A didn’t work out so well, I suppose.) Now, according to the copy in a PDF we received, the product’s been reintroduced as “the first micro-video blogging service…in the world.”

Confused as to what that is exactly? You’re not alone.

Upon further examination of (the new) Hictu’s press release, I’ve been able to deduce a number of things about the product, nearly all of them bad. In fact, the only possible thing to really, truly like about the product is that, at its core, it’s run on Italian steam. Love Italy. The language. The cars. The women. The cars. The women. They (the cars) may not be the most reliable in the world, but thrill you they will. I’ve never been to the boot of Europe, but I hope for many excursions there in the future.

Alright, enough stalling. On to the negatives.

My first impression was that it won’t take off simply because of its poor design. It’s…you know…not pretty. Sure, there’s a big logo and big letters in various places, and those things are technically synonymous with Web 2.0. But overall, the layout sucks. Twitter’s equally horrendous, mind you. Actually, if they’re both ugly, maybe Hictu’s got shot? Who knows.

After thumbing through it a bit more, I came to another conclusion. If Hictu hopes to be a haven for “micro-video blogging” - or whatever the hell the truly politically correct name for it is - they’ll have to emphasize video some more. A lot more, actually. I’m looking at the home page, and, well, I see little or no video, and the few videos that are posted are formatted to fit terribly small spaces. There’s no other way to put it. That sucks.

I don’t think all is lost for Hictu. Though I find it lacking in several big ways, I think it could be a more featureful variant of the Twitter concept, and some definitely will take to it if that ends up being the case. If it dies, as I personally hope it does, I wish it a painless expiration, if only because it’s “young”. Twitter, on the other hand, can experience a prolonged burning for all I care.