Last night social search engine Wink has got a really nice update. It looks fresher and more aesthetic now and it is also more structured since I first mentioned it back in December. But the focus has also been shifted a little bit.
People Search
While people search has been a part of Wink for quite some time it has become the attention now. The direction is probably best exemplified by the new slogan The people search engine, while it was The social search engine before. There is also one central place for friends now, the Your People tab. You can quickly see your friends and who calls you a friend.
Friendster and Live Spaces have been added to the list of searchable social networks over the last two months. MySpace, Bebo, and LinkedIn were the first three networks. There are also more search options now, e.g. you can search for schools and jobs in people’s profiles.
Profile Aggregation
Another focus seems to be aggregation of user profiles and building of an online identity. While this field is covered in one way or another by other companies like Mugshot and Ziki or even ClaimID and Lijit it makes sense to integrate it as Wink’s attention is on people search. Both complement one another, I think.
Users can add links to all their Flickr, Last.FM, MySpace, del.icio.us,… profiles to their profile page on Wink. This has been possible before but it has been “just” a part of the Wink profile. Now the profile has been upgraded (sorry, I don’t know a better word for it) to Your page and is directly accessible from the homepage.
Wink Widget
The widget is a new tool and it is statement that profile aggregation has become important for Wink. You can see the widget in the sidebar of this blog. Some of you have probably noticed it since two weeks already. The Wink people asked me to test it and well, I did. 
The widget is available as a HTML, static HTML, and a Flash version. I tested the HTML version but have decided to use the Flash one now. I like it better. Anyway, the widget is easy to customise and you can even decide if it should show previews on hovering the links of your widget. Previews are not as nasty as the Snap Preview Anywhere ones but I don’t like them. So I am glad that they can be turned off.
Update: I just realised that the Flash version doesn’t work properly in IE 7. I will use the HTML version until problems with the Flash one are resolved.
Bookmarking
The bookmarking features have taken a back seat, especially collections. While they were accessible right from the homepage before they are hidden on the profile page now. Well, at least they are still there because I like them a lot. Though they are not Wink’s focus anymore and I wonder if they will survive the next update.
Conclusion
It is an update which makes sense, I think, because Wink is more focused now. People search and identity building will be two very important topics over the next few years because more people will use social networks and they will probably also use more than one network. While general networks like MySpace will stay I think niche networks will grow as they allow users to connect more easily to like minded people. So there will be even more profiles to aggregate and more people to find.
Tags: HTML, Mugshot, niche networks, night social search engine, online identity, people search, search engine, search options, searchable social networks, Social Networks, social search engin, Ziki
