Here’s a Web 2.0 application with stylish presentation. Issuu allows for viewing and publishing online within categories: academia / architecture / art / comics / culture / design / fashion / fun / gadgets / games / illustration / magazine / motor / nature / portfolio / photography / shopping / sport / sketchbook / street / technology / travel. It’s marketed as a living library where users can upload their own documents to share ‘in cool magazine’ format. It’s like Flickr in magazine format, giving the authors a place to store and share work; allowing viewers to bookmark favourites; share links or embed in an aggregating service, such as Facebook; share comments. You either explore, find people who share your tastes and interests, manage your library; you can print; and you have viewing options (eg. magazine flip-book, full-screen, zoom and drag).
I’m trying to get my head around the implications and possibilities here. On the one hand, you would have free and global advertising for your product, but on the other hand, how much control do you lose in putting your stuff out there? What are the implications for an artist or photographer, for instance?
The other issue – and more knowledgeable people could please answer this for me – when I embed the ‘magazine’ into Facebook, I give Issuu the right to pull my profile information, as well as my friends’ information and other content – whatever it needs to work. What does that mean? I’m a little uncomfortable about this.
