Kondek: Okay, so FanPop is a social portal. Tell us what a social portal is. How does it differ from other communities or user-driven content aggregators?

Lu: Fanpop is actually a network of thousands of niche social portals around all kinds of topics of interest. We call them social portals because communities of fans actually own each individual portal and interact with other fans to share and create content they find all around the web for their shared passions. We've tried to bring together a feature set for each portal that facilitates community-building like social bookmarking, aggregated news feeds, community publishing/blog forums and an underlying social network. It brings together the idea of communities like Yahoo! Groups and user-drive content aggregators like Digg and del.icio.us by integrating the experience under common interests like television shows, sports teams, hobbies, bands and more.

We believe that everyone is a fan of something and that by bringing these features together, we empower communities to grow around those shared passions. A lot of social networks are too broad and only allow individuals to connect to other individuals. Many content aggregators also cast a wide net and might not appeal to everyone. We wanted to marry those concepts together by allowing individuals to connect to other individuals around topics that actually care about.

Kondek: How's it going then? You're still in beta. When do you predict you'll have the kinks worked out? And what can you share with us about current user activity and projected user activity?

Lu: It's actually been going really well! We've been growing a lot since our launch in August and have almost 2,000 topics created by fans. Apparently there are all sorts of things that people are fans of in the long tail from rats and pigeons to pens and moleskin. I had no idea the variety of things people could be passionate about. Users continue to add new content every day and we're very happy with the current user activity. We're still in beta as we continue to build out more and more features and as we listen to our users' feedback and suggestions. Because we're a small team, we can move very quickly and we really do value what our users think. We're really excited about the next few months because I think our users are going to be pleasantly surprised with what we have in store. I predict that we'll be out of beta once we roll those features out and everything is stable.

Kondek: Okay, so I'm a new user on Fanpop (I really am, my name is Andromeda77 - 100 points if you can guess the reference). I've already added the Bruce Lee and Kung Fu "spots" to "my spots." What do I do next to maximize my Fanpop experience?

Lu: The great part about Fanpop is that unlike most social network profiles where you declare you have interests, Fanpop actually allows you to consume content about those interests. So once you've joined the Bruce Lee and Kung Fu spots, you can go and participate with other fans of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu. You can contribute articles, videos, websites and more and start discussions or even write original articles. Based on your quality of contributions, you receive a reputation in each spot and earn medals accordingly. These medals correspond to respect from peers and administrative rights for that particulat spot. You also get feeds to your profile page telling you if new links have been added or discussions have started in spots you've joined. In other words, Fanpop allows you to efficiently filter out only the content that you actually want to see rather than having to fish around for it. You essentially create a customized social content experience based on your personal interests.

Kondek: Do you foresee a Fanpop profile become part of an Internet user's "business card," so to speak? Say, a link you your ID on Digg, your Myspace and your Fanpop user-ID as your sig in e-mails and the like?

Lu: We'd love it if your Fanpop profile became part of users online identities! We think that it's a lot more interesting than what articles a person "dugg" or a boring profile page with a bunch of comments on it, because a Fanpop profile is a gateway to content that the individual is excited about. It gives a better picture of a person when I can find out more about the bands they listen to or the television shows they like rather than just read their names.

Kondek: Any partnership opportunities in the works?

Lu: We're talking to a lot of potential partners right now ranging from large media companies to small startups with really cool technologies. Our goal is to give the users the best experience possible which means great content and great features that help build great community. We hope to have some pretty cool stuff up along those lines very soon.

Kondek: I have to ask this: how best do you think marketers like myself can interact with Fanpop? Obviously, if you produce something like a TV show or a clothing line, you can join and create a "spot" to promote your material. What's the best way to do this? Where is the line drawn between joining the community and being a disruption?

Lu: That's a great question, Charlie. Anyone who is a fan of anything can create a spot around their topic of interest. We wanted to allow users the freedom to express themselves. That being said, we have a separate area for brand new spots that we call "pending spots" because we want to avoid duplication and spam. In order for a spot to be promoted to official there has to be enough demand and interest in that topic (number of fans, amount of content). Our community of fans also police the site for spam by reporting users, links, or spots that might be inappropriate.

Kondek: So, bascially, if I am a filmmaker or TV studio, I should join and participate in the various spots, and even offer Fanpop-specific content.

Lu: Exactly. That's the beauty of Fanpop compared to other social networks and content sites. We build communities around brands and interests. This means that targeting for filmmakers and TV studios can be focused on specific types of fans. For example fans of FX new show Dirt are very likely to be similar to fans of “Nip/Tuck,” or Bravo can target fans of cooking for their show “Top Chef.” Because we are designed around affinity networks, it makes it easier to figure out who is a fan of what and cater to those users tastes. Exclusives and other content would be great for anyone trying to generate some buzz.

Whew! I hope that was helpful ,Charlie! Look forward to seeing andromeda77 active on Fanpop! Oh and I think Andromeda77 a reference to the Andromeda show in the 90s starring Kevin Sorbo? Do I get my 100 points? :)

I'm afraid not, Dave. According to a friend of mine from Japan, Andromeda 77 is the planet where Ultraman comes from. (Something not mentioned in the version that was in re-runs on the U.S.)

So there you have it. Stop by and take the social portal for a spin. You can even meet me at the spot I created for PR.