|
East Magazine, September 2001
Liberation Day
The subsequent reconstruction drew applause. "Users
feel (that Fridae) is fresh and clean, yet approachable;
not too design-oriented (such that) there is no content
nor functionality," says Koe. " I like the fact that
the site is not gender-biased. It is a convenient and
well put-together source of gay-related issues that
would interest many, not just gays and lesbians," enthuses
Jason Coates, editor of Cream, a lifestyle magazine
in Singapore. For the record, Fridae's coverage spans
the likes of cosmic connections between cats and lesbians
to the legal rights of minorities.
Says CEO Yeoh, "The key challenges (in setting up
Fridae) are those common in any start-up. What's important
is the ability to be sensitive to your users, and to
see how we can improve the site quickly to meet their
requirements while keeping to our objectives."
New additions include an automated events calendar,
a finance column, bulletin boards linked to user profiles,
while the Korean, Thai, Malay, simplified and traditional
Chinese versions are scheduled for uploading this month.
This development has tremendous implications in terms
of opening up new markets.
"It took three months to register our first 5,000
users, and the first three weeks of June to register
our next 5,000," reveals Koe. "We should be approaching
(Rainbownetwork's) level of traffic, which is 2.5 million
page views and 200,000 visitors a month, within three
or four months. And that is only for our English website."
Unfazed by the economic downturn and a general loss
of faith in the marketplace by investors and venture
capitalists, Fridae thankfully boasts a remarkably low
burn rate of S$40,000 per month. Not only do employees
multitask, they pool their personal contacts in the
region, which has seen an outpouring of voluntary contributions
and content updates.
Besides, current online statistics pertaining to gay
communities are apparently in Fridae's favor. According
to a recent study conducted by American research firms,
Witech-Combs Communications and Harris Interactive,
gay e-commerce activity surpasses that of on-gay web
users by a whopping 50 percent.
While US magazines The Advocate and Out
reach less than one per cent of American's gay population,
which is estimated to be between 13 and 29 million,
gay.com and PlanetOut are receiving millions of visits
each month. Hence, both sites command advertising rates
that are 10 per cent to 20 per cent above normal online
rates.
"Based on US- and UK-related research, it's clear
that (the gay community) is a highly economically desirable
group of people. (Fridae) enables traditional businesses
to contact and connect with it, " says Yeoh. "They are
very loyal when it comes to products and companies that
target them specifically as a group."
Still, every rose has its thorns and the social stigma
of homosexuality in Asia has yet to be fully clipped
off. "It is still a very hidden community. Asia is 10
years behind the west," admits Koe. " But with the Net,
the gap is narrowing fairly quickly. People are coming
out at an earlier age."
Fridę is not doubt one more reason why the closet
door is getting harder to keep shut.
|
