Time.com has recently released their top 50 websites for the masses to gawk, peruse, and abuse. I remember this list coming out last year and couldn’t really understand what the criteria was. On some levels, I halfway expected them to showcase ‘decent design’ or ‘ease of use’. Similar to last year, however, their theme is really ‘what does the job in the 5 or 6 categories we have lined up’. I guess that works.
Some notables on this year’s list include a Black blog called Concrete Loop. Yet ANOTHER gossip celebrity blog (which I secretly wish would all die slow and painful deaths), this site has a MTV-esque style that highlights what a lot of Black celebrities are doing, wearing, sleeping with, pouring champagne on, fathering children with, and all-around crap that doesn’t really matter but is oh-so-juicy. 
A hidden gem I found, and probably because it is apropos to my current situation, is Nymbler, a site that takes a hodge-podge of baby names you like and mashes them together to suggest some fun alternatives. Anyone else like ‘Hamilton’ for a boy’s name?
Other hits include Mint (I have been using it for about 6 months), Hulu (our coverage of Hulu), Imeem, and Some E-cards (funniest crap you’ll read).
Go and check out the full list for yourself and you might find something cool.
Bonus: For those that enjoy feeds, check out our list of feeds you should be reading every day.
Sheria
Thanks for covering this. I just signed up for mint – I’ve been looking for something like this for a while!
June 18, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Fredric
Sheria! How is it going? Haven’t seen your name around here in awhile.
Yeah, Mint is that fire.
June 18, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Rashad
I must agree. I have started using Mint.com and it is great. No more Quicken for me.
June 18, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Sheria
Fredric! I know . . . but no worries. I have YBP on my google reader!
June 19, 2008 at 10:27 pm
GIB
Hamilton works!!!
June 20, 2008 at 12:01 pm
J. Dakar
I’ve frequented YBP for a while now and have always thought highly of it until I read this post.
Yes, Concrete Loop is considered a gossip site, but it’s so much more: “In addition to the usual paparazzi shots and rumors, you’ll find posts on fashion and politics.”
Each Thursday, we feature a Black History Spotlight that honors black people who have played pivotal roles in history that many have never heard of because the “black history” we’re taught in school is generally regarded to two key time periods: slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.
We have regular news and political roundups that inform our readers on things other than “what a lot of Black celebrities are doing, wearing, sleeping with, pouring champagne on, fathering children with, and all-around crap that doesn’t really matter but is oh-so-juicy”.
Earlier this year, following the news of Haiti’s poorest being forced to eat dirt cookies, we published the story and our readers contacted an organization that supports economic justice, democracy and sustainable development in Haiti. According to the head of the organization, it received almost 15 times the number of emails and donations than they typically receive.
So, yes, we may be considered a gossip site. But we’re so much more.
June 23, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Fredric
Hey J.
Thanks for the response and I’m glad to see that one of writers over there frequents our blog. While I do hope that you don’t take my facetiousness too personally, I still standby my original disdain for the overwhelming message I get from CL.
I went back to the site and was greeted by lots of banner ads and a ton of pictures of celebrities doing…..nothing.
I scrolled down and saw an entire post on Rihanna’s $6k shoes.
I went through the bio’s (again) and, I admit, give you guys mad props for doing the damn thing as YBP’s. 90k+ visitors a day is big time.
But, my concern is, and will always be, the inherent message sent these sites, reality t.v., gossip blogs or t.v. shows, magazines project: That somehow I should care about what this person does!
I mean, I’m old-fashioned. I just don’t get the tons of magazines about hair and clothes and clubs and drinks and cologne and perfume. I see it exploited into shame-based reality VH1 and think….wow, if we spend half this time in something that can make a difference, just think where we’d be.
But, at the same time, I can’t blow myself up too hard and just dance on my soap box. Just like people can’t understand why cars matter to me so much and why I read blogs about new gadgets, sites like yours have their place too. And if you’re throwing a message in there every (n)th post, good for you.
Not mad.
June 23, 2008 at 4:34 pm
J. Dakar » Take a Breath
[...] in a while and should explain why I haven’t been commenting on your sites) and I see that the Young Black Professional Guide mentioned Concrete Loop as being named one of Time’s Top 50 Websites of [...]
June 23, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Fredric
Oh….props to the Times.com shoutout. Still waiting for our MSM jump-off.
June 23, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Latonya
Mint.com does look refreshing. I used TinyURL.com after a Windows/AD seminar last year…good for the tech savvy. Going nowto Concrete Loop…
June 24, 2008 at 8:55 am
Search Baby Names
I hope to see mine in it someday!
January 17, 2009 at 5:40 am