I’ve been following OurChart.com, The L Word social net spin-off since its January launch, intrigued by the possibilities of a community evolving from any show let alone the lesbian drama on Showtime. CEO Ilene Chaiken updated us on the site during the Social Media Meets Hollywood panel at our recent EconSM but wasn’t ready to release numbers. Now the company, a JV with premium channel Showtime and funded by CBS, is providing a little data that illustrates the dual nature of a site for a broader audience and a social net that has some non-lesbian participants but primarily is a lesbian community. OurChart.com is now averaging 550,000 monthly unique visitors and 72,000-plus registered users. That number of registered users may sound small compared to the millions signed up at MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and more but those are meant to be large, umbrella networks with ways to subdivide into various niches. OurChart.com starts as a niche network based on a niche show.
Original content: OurChart.com aims Ok, so GirlTrash! from director Angela Robinson is beyond edgy if the number of f words dropped in the first 3:40 episode is the gauge. Labeled “Lesbian noir,” the story set in the LA underworld isn’t your usual webisode fare. (The cast includes comedian Margaret Cho, Rose Rollins from thre The L Word, and Mandy Musgrave and Gabrielle Christian from South of Nowhere. Robinson’s explanation is here.) The series, open to any viewer, was expected months ago and the high frustration level among some posters raised expectations. Will be interesting to see how it’s received.
— Episodes from a five-part series, documentary My Address: A Look at Gay Youth Homelessness, have been served more than 300,000 times.
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