Thanks, MSN. Just what we needed. Another YouTube knock-off. But in case you missed the announcement, MSN’s Soapbox is open to the public.
While still technically in Beta, MSN has provided us with another destination for watching the same clips that have been circulating virally and on YouTube. But since you went through all the trouble to build it, I’m sure we can find some more time to waste in the name of, ahem, research.
Overall, Soapbox doesn’t offer much different than Sharkle or YouTube. User provided, low quality video. Tagging. Sharing. Blah blah blah. Maybe we should look at it as a testing ground for MSN’s real video platform, which offers professional and promotional content that advertisers can spend real money on.
However, MSN’s main platform isn’t without faults either. As we speak, I’m watching the same Ford ad for the third straight time before the player is able to play any of the content from its playlist. Twice I was given the error message “the video you requested is not available right now.” Go figure. I shouldn’t have been trying to watch clips of Rod Stewart anyway. Screenshot below.
