Alternatives to myspace: Dontstayin

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Dontstayin.com is an online community focused around clubbing and dance music - you could call it "myspace for clubbers" and it has got to be one of the most under-the-radar and under-rated social sites on the the internet.  Just like myspace, dontstayin has just got on with building its profile with its core userbase rather than promoting itself to geeks and as a result none of the usual web 2.0 people have ever heard of it. 

Traffic to the site is really starting to take off as it slowly builds out its membership base:

• The site has 160k users which is low compared to the Bebos and myspace's of this world but with 10k signing up last month dontstayin is clearly gaining a lot of traction
• Last month just under 5000 club events are listed on the site mainly in London and Ibiza
• There are nearly 3 million photos taken at club nights uploaded into the database
• The site does 20m page impressions a month

Dontstayin offers a number of features, all of which help to create a community around club nights, users on dontstayin can do the following stuff:

• build a profile on the site showing what music you like, where you go clubbing and who you're mates on the site are
• upload photos of recent nights out which are linked to your profile by you or others "spotting you" in them
  
• comment on photos, events and articles and chat in the chatroom
• write articles and reviews of club nights, DJ's and other burning issues
• join groups relating to specific nights or interests

For promotors dontstayin offers a digital platform for promoting events allowing them to:

• enter events and listings into the calender and manage a group around the night
• post messages, news and competitions to your group

One of the most interesting things about dontstayin is the way the site initially worked to build up its userbase in a very organic way.  If you went clubbing in certain places a couple of years ago you might have had your picture taken by someone from dontstayin who would give you a card saying "you've been spotted" with the dontstayin.com web address.  This was a brilliant way of drawing people into the site as it ensured that the all important "seed members" were dedicated clubbers who would draw in similar people.  It also meant that the spotters could focus on attracting valuable members to the site (e.g. attractive females).  Just as myspace is cool today because of the original members Tom and Co. recruited in LA dontstayin still attracts the right crowd two years later because of the way the site recruited these first members.   

The other clever thing that dontstayin did was to link avatars to photos on the site.  You can only use a photo of yourself on dontstayin as your avatar.  This means that users are a) encouraged to upload their photos b) prevented from fully participating in the community if they dont go out clubbing.

These days dontstayin also benefits from promotors marketing the site on flyers and posters as shown below:

A poster in Old St with the dontstayin logo

So what should dontstayin do to raise its game?  Here's a few quick suggestions:

• improve the User Interface - the main complaint about dontstayin from users is the navigation - it can be really hard to find your way round the site at times and a lot of the content just gets lost in the void
• reach users outside the current segments - dontstayin could push into non-clubbing music genres like Indie or the whole UKurban/ grime scene
• increased rollout to new countries - the site is very UK focused right now but is slowly expanding overseas - the english speaking markets such as Australia, the USA and Canada are the the obvious first places to focus on
• improved mobile features - the site could look to offer mobile access to the event listings and so on and maybe integrate mobile upload of photos onto the site
• encourage clubs to provide a URL with a direct link to their dontstayin page on their flyers and other promotional stuff
• develop widgets to allow people to post a link to their dontstayin photos or clubbing calendar on other social networks like myspace

Im really surprised this site hasn't been acquired or invested in yet given the feeding frenzy around online communities and social networks these days.  Dontstayin would make a great target for someone like Ministry of Sound who are now focusing their new media efforts on user-generated content and other social stuff.  Alternatively, an existing listings magazine like Mixmag or Time Out might be a buyer.   Someone might like to tell one of the more clued-up VC's like Benchmark or Sequoia about this site. 

In the meantime, dontstayin represents a really great channel for clubs, DJ's, producers and individuals looking for an alternative social site to myspace. 

Comments

[Bobo]

DSI really is the tits
using DSI has helped me make Nu frends and it also lets me no where my buddies r goin and help me plan my clubbin calener arand them
if ya go on2 DSI search 4 wittle-bo (thats me :) )

[joe bloggs]

hate the site.....the owners are obnoxious and its there way or the high way...stay clear its like a spagetti junction in there

[wo0]

I found DSI after being a myspace customer for many years. I can honestly say I've never been a mamber of a more lively happy absolutely brilliant site.

SIGN UP NOW! What have you got to lose?!

WE LOVE DSI MORE THAN THE QUEEN.

True Story

xxx

[Jules]

Cant honestly say I have never found any site better than DSI, heaps of like minded friendly people in one place, have made some of my best friends since joining up!

[Katita]

I've been on DSI since the early days and it's always been fun, interesting and a great thing to be a part of. It makes going clubbing an entirely different experience to my pre-DSI days as now I know half the people who are out!! The boys who run it are (or at least were) clubbers so they have our best interests at heart. There's a definite policy of live and let live, so the comment on here about it being their way or the high-way just isn't true...it's probably a promoter who spams other promoters groups!! :o)

[Thai-wrong-horse]

All im gonna say is forget your Myspaces and Bebos, DSI is the dog danglies innit....infact il rephrase that, DSI is my life !!!

SIGN UP NOW BIATCHS !!

[Johnny-See]

Don't be fooled by the 'dontstayin' name, once you sign up you will spend all your time staying in and staring at the yellow screen!

[Baby-Becks]

DSI has been a part of my life since February 2005 and I dont know what i'd do with out it! I have met my bestest friends through that site and my life has changed for the better! I have tried many other different clubbing sites and message boards and DSI is way ahead of any thing of its sort. I am not particularly great with computers and I find using DSI easy peasy! DSI FOR LIFE! ;) x

[Baby-Becks]

DSI has been a part of my life since February 2005 and I dont know what i'd do with out it! I have met my bestest friends through that site and my life has changed for the better! I have tried many other different clubbing sites and message boards and DSI is way ahead of any thing of its sort. I am not particularly great with computers and I find using DSI easy peasy! DSI FOR LIFE! ;) x

[Linny]

Been a member of DSI since 2004 and have meet the most fantastic people through this website, it has been my life but also affected my work but whos complaining (well my boss is)

Wicked site :)

[mrbosh]

its a little random being recognised at the other end of the country but that's the whole point.. one big happy clubbing family..

[sophie]

DSI is not just a website, it's a way of life

[DSI User]

"the owners are obnoxious and its there way or the high way"

LMAO. Yes, if you're a racist or a spammer you'll get banned.

If you're not then you'll get on fine there...

DSI is a great site and I now get recognised nearly everywhere I go - even while on holiday outside of the UK recently!

[ne14a6t9]

since a friend told me about this site i have been on it everyday since! yeah u do get some nasty ppl on their but thats the same with every site! u meet some wonderful ppl and u could even find lurrrrve! they also have outings and meet ups!

c u on DSI sometime!!!

[Susie Nutbar]

I LOVE DSI!!!

Bin on there since Feb 2004 and been an addict ever since even though I don't go clubbing that much anymore lol...

I wouldn't have met 90% of my now best friends if it weren't for that site so yeah, love it :-)

[Gekko]

Wicked site that since I joined in Jan or Feb 2004 has not stopped growing and evolving.

Go out, have a good time and report back to base, upload photos if you wish, wicked stuff!

[Sir Rich]

I'd like to invite people to join my new grassroots social networking site, www.clubyeah.com It's free to join & use.

What is clubyeah.com?
www.clubyeah.com is a social networking website where members get MULTIPLE, free, personal, customizable spaces (web pages) which they use to network, share, make friends, and express interests & passions.

Five reasons why clubyeah.com is ‘different’ from other social networking sites

Reason #1 Members get MORE SPACE! With other social networking websites, you get only one space per account & login. At clubyeah.com members get up to 16 personal spaces with one convenient account & login AND they can add or delete spaces anytime.

Reason #2 Members get 16 fully interactive interest-based communities
clubyeah.com is like 16 websites in one with 16 communities, each dedicated to a single interest. Members can have personal spaces in any combination of the following communities: Sports, Models, Tattoos, Musicians, Cars, Geeks, Travel, Artists, Music Fans, Party, Motorcycles, Pets, Dating, Health & Fitness, and Collecting.

Reason #3 Members get MORE networking options
Members are able to add spaces that suit their interests. They can have one space, two spaces, three spaces, or a whole portfolio of spaces.

Space Scenarios 1) A musician who wants to promote original music (musicians are able to upload 4 mp3's to their media player) can join with a musicians-space, AND can add different spaces later, such as a tattoos-space or a party-space. 2) A member who has multiple interests can have MULTIPLE SPACES to match those interests. For example, their portfolio of spaces might include a pet-space, a car-space, a dating-space, and a geek-space. 3) A member can have ALL 16 spaces with a space in each community. That would give them a total of 720 photo uploads and 16 separate interest-based blogs.

Reason #4 Members don’t need to cram all their interests into one space
For people with multiple interests, a portfolio of spaces allows them to show different facets of their life & personality by dedicating spaces to specific interests. With other social networking sites, you’d have to cram all of those interests into one space.

Reason #5 Members get a more mature social
networking environment clubyeah.com encourages a social networking experience for adults. While most social networking sites allow children to become members (by setting their minimum age for membership as low as 13 or 14), clubyeah.com discourages this by setting the minimum age for membership at 18.

[kimmy]

DSI promotes a way of life. the whole ethos is friendly and sociable. It helps you find likeminded people and plan your weekends. the site lets you know what is going on in Britain and all over the world. You just decide where you wnt to go and what you want to do! If you enjoy it you can share your thoughts with your friends and perhaps encourage them to try it too!

[UK buff]

UK buff is a new social networking site dedicated towards the uk much like myspace it operates much the same, also has the ability to import all your important profile and layout bits from myspace. Use existing layouts and codes to create cool lookin profiles.The differance? its not to big yet to become impersonal for newbies we try and help as much as we can on uk buff if requested. Also uk buff will automatically make younger members as private profiles. Allthough uk buff has been targeted towards the uk it seems in the first week of lauch it seems to be attracting other countries also. As mentionioned it operates very similar to myspace so uk buff also has video uploads and downloads,Bands and artists can sign up and promote them selves, also groups and forum features plus a free email address.
Give a go at www.ukbuff.com

[dohnuts]

DSI... it is currently the best clubbing website in the UK if not the world. Full of like minded people and I love it. I have beena member since 2005 and i use it EVERY day! it's more than a forum for people to chat.. it's an addiction. I have met so many fantastic people thru DSI, and conversely, met a load of people when out and then met them on DSI.. it works both ways - improves your social circle no ends! Massive shout to the Hard South family! xx

Pretentious wankers

[Techno Fairy Evolve]

DSI is the best clubbing site around for both clubbers and promoters. I have made some wicked friends since joining about 18 months ago and its good when your out and you get recognised from being on there. Must say though its very addictive

[babybelle]

ive met some of my best mates on DSI since signing up almost two years. its the most friendly and fun place to be online, and is ace for all like minded clubbers. also wouldnt of met my amazing boyfriend if it hadent been for DSI!!

[babybelle]

ive met some of my best mates on DSI since signing up almost two years. its the most friendly and fun place to be online, and is ace for all like minded clubbers. also wouldnt of met my amazing boyfriend if it hadent been for DSI!!

[adam]

I'm one of the pro spotters of DSI and i love it. ;) lol