The recent growth of online communities, however, somewhat bucks this trend. With the advent of Facebook, everyone thought the need for these communities would go away, and, for a while, they were right.

The last few years has been Facebook mania, with people believing that this social media juggernaut could be all things to all people: sharing pictures, interests, passions, personal triumphs and tribulations, and – let’s not forget – what they cooked for dinner. (Cool salad, bro.) But recently, things have begun to change.

Very Pinteresting…

The Facebook effect is still widely relevant, and will undoubtedly continue to be so for a long time. But with its success, the social media giant has also found a counterbalance in the Pinterest effect. People have realized that Facebook works best and is most useful for keeping up with friends and sharing daily stories about jobs, love lives, and ultrasounds (yea, when will that one stop?), whereas Pinterest is a place to share fashion and beauty tips, wedding ideas, workout regimens, cooking recipes, home decor inspirations, and motivational quotes.

So it seems when it comes to geeking out about your favorite hobby or passion, your friends aren’t always the people you want to talk to – or can talk to, for that matter. Perhaps your best friend doesn’t quite understand your obsession with headphones, or none of your friends have had children yet but you’re dying to gush about your babies first steps.

Enter a number of online communities focused around these exact interests and hobbies; a place where you can unleash your geek and speak the same language as millions of others around the globe without feeling like you’re totally and completely out of your mind.

The Inforumation Age

Do you have a passion for home furnishing? Houzz is the place to find other aspiring interior designers. Want to geek out about the latest basketball game? The Bleacher Report is the where it’s at. Interested in finding out what everyone else got in their January Birchbox box? Join the conversation at Makeuptalk.com. Here at Huddler, we’ve seen traffic across our communities grow to over 29 million monthly uniques. It seems that for 2013, online communities may be the hottest new trend.

On top of that, these communities function as an invaluable resource for people to learn about products from real time experts and users that actively seek out the latest, greatest thing. You’re getting to know people, but you’re also getting to know who prefers what, and who you can trust before taking the plunge and purchasing an item. Huddler sites like Head-Fi.org, Mothering.com, and AVS Forum provide a conversational platform for users new and old to post reviews, ask questions and get experienced feedback. It’s the ultimate informational hub for interest based inquiries, which then gets shared among friends and followers on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. Whew.

So there’s room for everyone, it seems. Even the comeback kid.

After absolutely no kicking and screaming, Fok-Yan Leung, owner of the popular menswear site Styleforum, happily traveled across the pond to attend the Pitti Immagine Uomo 83 trade show. We asked him a few questions about the event, so stop reading this part and get to the good stuff.

1) First off, what is Pitti Immagine Uomo?

Held every winter (and summer) at the Fortezza de Basso in Florence, (Firenze if you are bourgeois), Pitti Immagine Uomo is the original and largest menswear trade show in the world. Its purpose is for brands to showcase their wares and set the tone for the rest of the selling season. Shows are held two seasons ahead from when the goods hit the retail floor – so in January 2013, we are seeing what will be in stores in Fall 2013. The brands run the gauntlet from military and outdoors inspired brands like Nigel Cabourn, to the top Neapolitan tailors like Kiton. It’s massive. Thousands of brands, more participants (buyers and vendors), and, of course, tons of media, both offline and online.

2) What was the coolest thing you saw?

I am always blown away by the unexpected. This year, there were some amazing leather goods, like the vibrantly colored handmade backpacks by Japanese brand Ohba. They apparently have some connection to the Japanese Royal family, and started by making school satchels. Anyway, very cool.

3) What do you think is the biggest trend that is going to catch on in 2013?

I think unstructured, jersey jackets are going to continue to be strong. It’s not exactly a new trend, but a lot of brands seem to be making them, and the basic concept carries over to all sorts of styles: from the Italian dandy look to more “street” urban looks to those “dark designer” looks.

4) What was THE party this year at the Pitti show?

By the end of the day, most people are completely knackered, so I suppose the best party I had was dinner at Trattoria Armando, which serves really spot on Tuscan food. The place was packed with people there from Pitti the first night I went, so I’m going to cheat and say that was THE party.

5) Who was the most random celeb you spotted?

I don’t know about random, but I did see Valentino. Does that count? I also saw a lot of people who are famous on the internet. That’s a weird thing to say.

6) If you had a blank check to buy anything you saw, what would it be?

If I could buy anything at all, I’d get a full get up, accessories included, like these stylings from Kiton. I don’t dress up much, and when I do, I generally prefer the cleaner lines of something like Tom Ford. But when you go to Pitti Uomo, you start to think, “Hmmm… maybe I should start wearing slim, barely structured suits and layer like a crazy person.” This way, I’ll be ready when I get that itch. Then I’d come home after lunch and get back into my jeans.

To read more thoughts and see pictures from this year’s Pitti Immagine Uomo, go here!

At Huddler, we had a few of our own attend the 2013 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, NV. When they stumbled back into the office, we asked them a few questions about their experience and all the futuristic (and practical) trends they saw. Fair warning, tech aficionados – you may start foaming at the mouth.

1. If you had a blank check to buy anything you saw at CES, what would it be?

ANTHONY: Sennheiser’s $30,000 Orpheus headphones or Sony’s Ultra HD 4K TV.

CONNOR: One of those awesome new 4K TVs!

BRIANNA: I would buy the Sony Cyber Shot- RX1. This digital camera is amazing! It will make me look like a professional photographer in no time!

2. What do you think is the biggest trend that is going to catch on in 2013?

ANTHONY: Some of the self-driving car tech from Audi, Toyota, and Ford seems like it will be reality soon.

CONNOR: I think the biggest trend eventually will be the 4K TVs once they figure out a way to easily create quality 4K content.

BRIANNA: The biggest release and trend that I saw are all of the TV’s that were released this year. The picture quality is very impressive on all of them.

3. What was THE party this year at CES?

ANTHONY: I went to a few events and they were all pretty much the same recipe: big suite, alcohol, and booth babes. It was great to connect and reconnect with clients past and present but nothing stood out as being “best.”

CONNOR: The Monster party at the Paris hotel was awesome. Alicia Keys performed a full set! Free drinks didn’t hurt either.

BRIANNA: THE party was the Alicia keys concert that was put on by Monster. A great show for all!

4. Who was the most random celeb you spotted?

CONNOR: I saw Xzibit and the crew from “Pimp My Ride” – does anyone remember that show? Also, Barry Sanders, NFL legend!

5. If you could invent one gadget to appear at next year’s CES, what would it be?

ANTHONY: A device to clear out the crowds in the convention center and the cab lines.

CONNOR: Time Traveling machine, obviously.

BRIANNA: If I could invent a gadget to show off at CES next year, it would have to be the vibrating spoon. The vibrating fork was a hit, so why not add a spoon to go with it?

6. What was the most useful thing you saw at CES?

ANTHONY: The Pebble Watch…it displays text messages and the display can be customized.

CONNOR: The headphone space is blowing up, so it was cool to see all the new headphone offerings.

BRIANNA: The most useful gadget that I saw was the new Adata wireless router. I don’t believe this has been released to the public, but it was just handy and had a slick design. I want one and would put it to great use during client meetings and trade shows.

Below is an excerpt from the article, click here to read it in full.

NikeTalk wasn’t the first sneaker community to arise online, but in the decade-plus of its existence it’s easily become the most well-known — and the most important. Over the years its membership has gone forth to create much of what we identify as sneaker culture. They’ve founded shops, designed shoes, started blogs. And all the while the original site soldiers on, serving as introduction, proving ground, and just a source of entertainment.

“Most start-up founders would bend over backwards for coverage.  So I was a bit surprised when a former NCAA championship gymnast raised $17 million in funding late last year, and not only didn’t do cartwheels, but kept it a secret — until now.”

–Kym McNicholas, Executive Producer and Reporter for PandoDaily

Enjoy the video and the write-up on PandoDaily:

What do you do for Huddler?
I am co-founder and CTO. I’m responsible for the product and engineering teams at Huddler (thank goodness they make me look good).

Where did you grow up?
Just like my brother and co-founder Dan, I was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. We moved to the U.S. when we were young and were lucky enough to live various places throughout the country. I spent my high school and college years in Virginia, so it’s the area that feels most like “home.”

What’s your favorite thing about being a Huddler
The communities! We’re lucky to work with so many incredible sites. It’s a pleasure to be a part of it all.

What’s your first online memory?
My earliest memories are using a 2400 baud modem to connect to many BBS’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system) throughout the DC area to play games and communicate with others users. BBS’s were the precursors to modern online communities…I’ve been actively involved since the very beginning.

How do you Huddle? What are your passions and hobbies outside of work?
I’m a bit of a gear head, I really enjoy cars and motorcycles (and really anything else that has an engine). My earliest motorcycles, sports cars and Jeeps were what caused me to be a regular on so many forums over the years.

I still play quite a few video games (on both PC and console) and enjoy that as well.

I also try to play golf as often as I can and have a lot of fun traveling, so I’m trying to find the time to take trips more frequently and see the world.”

What community do you wish was on the Huddler platform?
www.flyertalk.com

Tell us a success story you’ve shared with a site owner.
Late last year, MommySavers (http://www.mommysavers.com/) was the unfortunate victim of overseas hackers. Their servers and site were compromised allowing the hackers to hold the site and its content hostage.

Our team was able to fast track the site and get it converted and live on the Huddler platform in a matter of days, minimizing the impact of the security breach. I was incredibly proud of what the team was able to do on such short notice.

What do you do for Huddler?
I am a co-founder and CEO. I’m fortunate to bounce between all the various operational elements at Huddler – business development, partner success, building out our media business, marketing, finance, and anything that I can do to help out our team, partners, and advertisers.

Where did you grow up?
I was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. It’s a small enough place that my Mom, Dad, and both brothers were all born in the same hospital, and the same doctor delivered my Mom and all 3 of her sons. I grew up a bit of a nomad – Belleville; then Fairfield, CT; Springfield, Il; Richmond, VA; Fairfax, VA; then to Palo Alto, CA for college. Since college I’ve lived/worked in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. One of these days I’d love to move internationally.

What’s your favorite thing about being a Huddler
I love and am so proud of our team. To think that such brilliant, hard-working, passionate people signed on to our mission in founding Huddler and that they show up and hustle with me everyday is truly inspiring.

What’s your first online memory?
Getting our 2400 baud modem and logging on to the BBS’s to play an ASCII game called “The Pit.” I also vividly remember yelling at my mom to “hang up the phone!!!” when she’d pick up and interrupt our sweet dial-up.

How do you Huddle? What are your passions and hobbies outside of work?
I like to be pretty active outside of the office. I try to do Crossfit when I can. I’ve learned to LOVE skiing thanks to Joan Rostad from EpicSki. I like to surf with my father in-law when I can. And my wife and I are aspiring foodies – we’re always trying to find new spots in San Francisco.

What community do you wish was on the Huddler platform?
www.crossfit.com

Tell us a success story you’ve shared with a site owner.
This incredible thread from NikeTalk was just shared with me by one of Huddler’s earliest team members Frank Farmer: http://niketalk.com/t/500011/i-owe-my-career-to-method-man-and-niketalk-true-story#post_16000336

“Method Man” is the owner/administrator behind Niketalk and the story is about him helping one of his power users edit his college essays and get in to his dream school. It reminds me the power of shared passions in our communities. Our sites aren’t social networks, but the bonds created by those with shared passions can be incredibly strong.

If you had 24 hours left in San Francisco, what would your itinerary be?
Breakfast at Maverick. 9 holes at Harding Park. Lunch from Ike’s sitting in Dolores Park. Play volleyball in Crissy Fields. Wander around the De Young, then pop over to Cal Academy of Sciences to soak in the planetarium one more time. Dinner at Spruce. Cocktails at Bourbon & Branch, then down to Beretta for more cocktails in the Mission to find some music and mischief to round out the night.

We spent much of yesterday watching Judy Shapiro’s AdAge piece, “The Key Issue Isn’t Free or Paid Media, But ‘How Can We Regain Consumers’ Trust’” light up our twitter feeds as stakeholders across the spectrum weighed in with their opinions (to which, it should be noted, Shapiro responded with equanimity and patience.) There are a few thoughts in her piece worth quibbling with: the 1/3 of Team Blog who’s currently at business school isn’t positive Shapiro’s using “freemium” correctly, though not so uncertain that she would put her name to this paragraph. Additionally, we take some issue with the characterization that “the free-content/ad-push model of traditional media worked because it rested on tightly controlled and trusted media channels, allowing the laws of scarcity to raise media value.” If anything raised media value, it was more like a converse Law of Plenty, the vast reach and huge impressions realized by most media channels in a pre-fragmentation universe.

That said, we hear her on the Trust Gap—as Shapiro rightly notes, between the inundation of banner ads and the “sheer tonnage of increasingly creepy, algorithmically accurate push advertising,” building a “sustainable, trusted user franchise” verges on impossible. Her answer to this is an entirely new “media inventory” including “platforms where people have powerful tools to pick which brands they want in their digital lives, and new types of scalable networks that are distinct from content sites or social networks by creating trust through connecting people who share similar interests.”

That sounded pretty sensible to us, and also pretty familiar. We agree that new types of media, and certainly new ad frameworks are required to create viable and sustainable revenue streams for our ever-evolving media options. However, we’re not sure we have to build them from scratch; instead of the mountain coming to the marketers, they may have to go to the mountain. The reality is, as innovative and zeitgeisty as it sounds to talk about new types of networks and disruptive media inventory, interest-based communities are all around; we call them forums, and they predate any of the social networks of which Shapiro so despairs. We’ve long agreed that the best way for brands to increase consumer trust is to reach out when consumers want to hear from them; in an appropriate context, with relevant content. Because consumers opt into these interest-based communities, they’re much more receptive to the brands that are there, and because most passions require products, they typically have much higher purchase intent. In short, we suppose, we’re always glad to see a newcomer on the interest-graph wagon, but the good news for Ms. Shapiro is, the future is now.

Other links of note:

- “You’ve Got Facebook Fans, Now What?” Booshaka Raises $1M to Ensure Your Posts Earn You Money”—Interesting solution to the problem that businesses “only reach an average of 12%-16% of their fans with each news feed post.”

- “Social Media is Now a $16.9 Billion Business” We’re just going to go ahead and file that one under ‘BOOM’ (and cross-reference “Thanks for the starter loan Mom and Dad, next week dinner on us!’)

- “The Facebook Reckoning Is Upon Us” You’re going to have to know something about Facebook’s big first earnings report, so if your knowledge of The Market skews more farmer’s than financial, why not read up on it somewhere they translate an increase in CapEx to “Facebook spent a lot of money this quarter on stuff”?

Taken together, the two companies present a great case study on how directed user behaviors are by design choices, from the minute (“how many pixels should this icon be?”) to the meta (“how should our site work?”) Rob Walker’s look at David Karp’s aesthetics- and instinct- driven approach to design shows how Karp’s philosophy delivers a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Each of his choices (a metrics-free format, icons that could come with an Atari trademark) combine to create not just a notably attractive and inviting online space, but also to drive remarkably positive user behaviors and communities; it’s Pay It Forward for the HTML5 set. In an era where even the savviest media heavyweights consider online civility our Great White Whale—elusive, chaotic, and dangerous to chase—it’s amazing to view Tumblr through Walker’s lens and reassess what they’ve achieved (largely, as he notes, through refusal.)

On the other hand, the sale of Digg is a stark—and, for the many, many Digg supporters out there, sad— reminder that any design, no matter how right it seems in prototype, can turn out wrong, (and, as Alexis Madrigal puts it, that the technology that powers a “once-massive social network is worth about $500,000” in the end.) Every founder I know got into startups for their own reasons—some for bucks, sure, but more for glory, or to change the landscape, or to change the world. And with every different goal, comes a unique blindspot; the money-hungry might monetize too aggressively, the design nerds may refuse to compromise aesthetics even when they become obstacles, and the world-changers aren’t always the best at conforming their Big Idea to business reality.

There’s a lot to admire in the latter—would that we had more CEOs too wedded to their principles. That said, it’s awful to see a great site go down because they couldn’t bring themselves, quite, to kill their darlings. There’s a major fidelity factor in Digg’s downfall; even as an entire cottage industry sprang up around artificial promotion, driving users away in droves, they could never really bring themselves to redesign the concept. A weird combination of management fumbles and good faith meant Digg ended up watching helplessly as power-users and marketers secured an iron grip on the homepage, rendering their original premise—that every user would have a say in what made the headlines— a farce.

In fairness, when everyone’s saying you’ve redefined the future of journalism, the internet, information itself, what are you supposed to do when you want to change that definition? Sadly, the answer this time seems to be watch your users flock to Reddit, whose design decisions (many “homepages”, little advertising) ensures there’s little incentive for marketers to invade. Is it more appealing to users? Unquestionably. Is it a business? We’ll see.

At Huddler, we’re viewing this as a cautionary tale. Our company is predicated entirely on keeping our core users and influencers on board, and delivering services, function, and opportunities they might not otherwise have found. That said, it should surprise no one that we are, in fact, a for-profit entity. We look forward to one day reaching the size, impact and user affection that Digg and Reddit have both enjoyed at different times, but we’re not sure we’re going to be copying their business models.

As founders, it feels like every single piece of what we do here everyday is important. Reading about these guys, though, reminds us that priority one is delivering value to everyone to whom we promised it; our Forum owners, by being responsive and leading-edge partners for them. Our advertisers, by continuing to curate the foremost audience of influencers online. And above all our forum members, by continuing to seek out marketers that bring something to the table—products, insights, conversation—and genuinely enhance the conversation. Because without you guys, we’re just $500,000 of servers, which, suffice to say, was not the reason we started this thing.