Pownce
www.pownce.com
September unique visitors: 161,767
Change from August: -2.3%
Funding: Undisclosed amount, from Ron Conway, Mike Maples, Daniel Burka, Shawn Allen, and Digg founder Kevin Rose
Why it's unique: If you want to show off a photo to your friends on Twitter, you first have to upload it on another site and punch in the URL. And since there's no thumbnail or preview, you then need to come up with a line of copy enticing enough to make others click on it. Ditto for videos. Pownce lets you embed a video or image right on the page. setup seems to facilitate discussion; one-third of all posts are replies, says Leah Culver, pictured with co-founders Daniel Burka (left) and Kevin Rose (middle).
How it plans to create revenue: Pownce is experimenting with advertising. The site places "inline" display ads in user feeds once every 15 messages. Culver says the more users share about their interests, the more targeted these ads can become: "That's a general interest for social networking—using targeted data," Culver says. If "Powncers" want to opt out of ads altogether, and get perks like more bandwidth for sending files, they can cough up $20 a year for a "pro" account. Fewer than 1% of users pay this fee.
