It’s been the breaking and much talked about news for the past two days i.e. the launch of Linda Ikeji Social (LIS), a social networking website. In a statement on the release, the founder of LIS, Linda Ikeji, describes the site as follows:
“Linda Ikeji Social is basically Facebook meets Linda Ikeji Blog meets ebay.com! You can connect with friends on LIS, chat, get the latest breaking news, sell your eye witness stories to us and get paid. You can also buy and sell your goods and services from authentic buyers and sellers.
Six months after conceiving the idea…Linda Ikeji Social is here! It’s social networking meets blogging meets classifies ads/buy and sell all in one package…”
Congrats to Linda Ikeji. A couple of things on the launch:
First, Linda Ikeji says, “you have not had anything like LIS before, blogging and social networking combined to make sure you are entertained, informed, stay connected and also get paid.”
I am not so sure her claim is true. Facebook Instant Articles , launched in 2015, already appears to do the same or very similar thing. It is open to all publishers and publishers can monetize their content on Facebook via direct-sold ads, audience network and branded content . In relevant part, here is a description of the monetization aspect of Facebook’s Instant Articles:
“Facebook allows ads to appear inside Instant Articles. Publishers can keep 100% of the revenue if they sell the ads, and Facebook gets its standard 30% cut if it sells the ads…” -Wikipedia.
Second and finally, on the legal end, Ikeji will definitely have to deal with issues of copyright and trademark violations, end-user license agreements, and defamation claims, at a minimum. Therefore, as I discussed some weeks ago in an article about her new media venture, there has never been a clear need for a legal team (in-house or outsourced) for her media empire. Indeed, her launch of LIS further underscores this point.
Therefore, I wish her continued success, and the foresight to hire and vet a very strong legal team to help her with her new venture. Watch her video where she explains LIS:
-Ms. Uduak