I’m a pretty jaded internet user. Not a lot impresses me. Sure, I am fascinated by the technology side of Web 2.0 and how I think it is revolutionizing the way people use the internet. Moreso, I think it’s exciting that people are experiencing Web 2.0 without even know it’s a new genesis of the internet. Which leads to the cause, the root of my jadedness is that while there is lots of innovation, there is almost nothing truly remarkable.

See, lots of companies are creating widgets and social networks but few of them are remarkable/usable/popular because they just seem to be "another widget." Then I found a different company, one that is remarkable, Lijit. (read about their venture capital)

Let me share two remarkable things about Lijit:

1. It has a very simple and easy to install search feature for blogs. They are linked up with TypePad so when I went looking for a search widget I quickly found this one to have the features I was looking for. I wanted to be able to offer my readers the chance to search my content… but I wanted something extra as well.) I got signed up in a matter of minutes, linked all my other pages like YouTube, Facebook, Digg, and Flickr to it, then clicked one button. Presto… it was here on adammclane.com. It was remarkable because it worked, it was simple to understand, and it wasn’t loaded with ads. I put it up, people started using it, I was happy. (But not talking about it!)
2. Lijit is run by real human beings. 3-4 days after I installed the widget (they call them wijits) I got an email from an employee. Like an actual email showing real person, from an actual worker at the actual company. That’s remarkable because I’ve used dozens of widgets and registered at hundreds of sites, and I’ve never been contacted by anything more than a form letter. The employee commented about something I wrote on my blog that day as well as asked me how the install went. When I emailed back… she responded to me in less than 30 minutes.

You see, I have a fundamental belief that humans long… crave… strongly desire… were made for human interaction. So while it’s incredible that I can install a little sliver of software on my personal website in minutes, while it’s cool that it works for my readers, while I appreciate that it’s not loaded with ads, it isn’t remarkable by itself. It’s not worth talking about and recommending. But what makes Lijit truly remarkable is that they followed-up with me… the end user. They treated me like a valuable person. Somewhere beyond the code someone said "Hey, we should get to know the people who use this stuff."

Why is that important? Well, do you think I’ll get tired of a widget that’s now tied to a relationship? See I try loads of widgets and gadgets for my various websites every day. I put code in and I take it out. When there is no name or actual relationship attached to it, why do I care if I take it down… it’s nothing more than code? But now that I’ve exchanged a few emails with Tara… I’d feel like I’d actually want to give her the reasons I was taking her code down. And that little interaction… that 2 minutes by an employee of Lijit… turns a cool widget into a remarkable one.

There is something to be learned there, isn’t there?

For those of you who do internet ministry, how do you build relationships beyond the code and screen?

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