Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Hot off the "press": Trusera's time may be up
First, I have to say that Twitter has changed my life as a blogger. I can't keep up with all of the interesting items I find out about this way--you should see the number of open tabs I have in Firefox. Minutes ago, I saw this tweet from TechCrunch: "Trusera’s Health 2.0 Portal Nearly Out Of Money."
This caught my attention because I blogged about Trusera back in July 2008, shortly after it launched. Trusera is a social networking site that allows people to share their health experiences and practical advice. Unlike sites like DailyStrength, Trusera is not organized around specific diseases
or health issues. Instead, it uses a matching tool to help users find each other based on a number of factors.
Last summer I wrote, "It remains to be seen how successful Trusera will be in what is becoming a bit of a crowded field; health-related social networking sites seem to be proliferating." At the time, it was certainly well-funded, with $2 million in angel investments. Founder Keith Schorsch, a former Amazon exec, now says that Trusera is almost out of money and will have to shut down by April 30 if it can't raise more money. From what I can tell, the site relies on Google ads for revenue; I don't think that will ever be enough to sustain the site, and I wonder what Schorsch's long-term plan might be.
NOTE: Written yesterday, when news really was hot of the press, but had to re-post today.