Swivel: A You Tube for Data?
A New Web Repository For Data and Graphs
I just discovered this very innovative web site called Swivel. According to its website Swivel was founded in December 2005 by Dmitry Dimov and Brian Mulloy and its mission is to liberate the world’s data and make it useful so new insights can be discovered and shared. The concept behind Swivel is quite simple however, as it is basically a web repository that allows users to upload data sets so that others can view them, explore them and share them through the web. The best and most visually appealing way to explore the data sets uploaded by users on Swivel is through graphs but you can also download the spreadsheets and view the tables they are based on. I had quite a bit of fun exploring the graphs and data available on Swivel and can see some good uses and benefits coming from it. There are several options to view graphs or data by most viewed, most discussed, highest rated or most recent. You can also read comments or ratings others have left about the graph as well write comments on or rate graphs yourself. If you want to learn more about Swivel and what it’s about here is a link to a tour of Swivel’s features from their website.
According to their website they expect to make money on this venture by appealing to businesses or professionals who want the great functionality the site offers but want to keep their data private and secure. They plan to offer a professional edition of the web site in the future. The business model they have planned works as follows: if you upload data for the public, Swivel will be free but if you choose to upload data and keep it private and secure there will be a fee. It’s uncertain whether this business model will scale but Swivel seems to think it can.
Swivel may indeed have the potential to be the “You Tube for Data” and from my initial glance it does appear to have a lot of good things going for it. The site is very usable and has a the look and feel one has come to expect from web 2.0. If you are into graphs or just exploring data this website will probably appeal to you and keep you hunting for more information.
