MSN Entertainment Fansites Coming

Come the second quarter of 2009, Microsoft plans to start rolling out a variety of fansites for which it will leverage the Wetpaint fansite platform. No details are yet available on the specific content the Redmond company will focus on; however, more than two dozen fansites are scheduled to be launched by MSN Entertainment by the end of 2009. For this, MSN has turned to Wetpaint and will take advantage of the Seattle-based company's website publishing platform, in order to bridge what wetpaint referred to as popular entertainment topics with fans online. Through the upcoming MSN Entertainment fansites users will be able to build communities, produce and share content.

"We are looking forward to launching this new fan-driven initiative on MSN Entertainment where the fans do the writing, meet each other and share their interests," revealed Lisa Gurry, director, MSN. "We're pleased to partner with Wetpaint to bring this experience to our users."

MSN Entertainment SuperFan websites will in this regard function by the same recipe of other Wetpaint fansites. Wetpaint underlined that while communities of fans were built around a driving force such as a TV show, an artist, or a brand, fansites allowed members to start creating themselves. The Redmond company will utilize Wetpaint Injected. Essentially, MSN Entertainment will put its own brand on top of the Wetpaint platform, while also personalizing the experience for end users.

"Over the last three years, Wetpaint has figured out how to bring brands and fans together to create compelling content while generating significant business value," added Ben Elowitz, CEO, Wetpaint. "With their SuperFan initiative, MSN recognizes the power of the voices of fans and the ability of this motivated audience to drive buzz and traffic above and beyond static fan pages and message forums."