Online pub creates forum
Posted on April 26, 2007
Most are familiar with the image of the pub as a cultural meeting place, a venue in which to socialize, relax, and enjoy a few pints. A new Web site called cherryTAP.com is challenging that beloved archetype by launching the first-ever online pub.
“If you had asked me a couple years ago if I’d ever see an online pub, I would’ve just laughed,” senior Brian Kennedy said.
CherryTAP was created by three friends, Bill Lee, Mike Hedlund and Ryan Riccitelli, who used to enjoy going to local pubs together before they moved to different cities. The site was their way of recreating the experiences they used to have, and it quickly caught on with the 20-to-30-year-old age group. Users on CherryTAP interact through a network of profile pages and message boards, similar to those on the popular networking site Myspace.com.
On February 5, the site came out of testing by launching their “Happy Hour.” CherryTAP now has more than 790,000 users, and the number is growing every day, according to a press release from the owners of CherryTAP.
The site also caught on with soldiers abroad, visiting the virtual pub provides reminders of home while they are away.
“CherryTAP gives them the opportunity to help out and keep their mind off the dreadful place they are in,” said Sergeant Charles “Tex” Newbold who was disabled in a car bomb explosion during his tour in Iraq.
Newbold acts as a volunteer moderator on the site, their equivalent of a bouncer. Bouncers are community volunteers who moderate content and user behavior in an effort to keep the website fun and safe.
“Becoming a bouncer on CherryTAP is great for me,” Newbold said. “It gives me the opportunity to help others and it helps me feel like I’m doing something important instead of absolutely nothing and just taking up space.”
CherryTAP boasts several features that are similar to what you might find in a real bar.
The site has virtual bartenders in the form of a message board, called MuMMs (Make up My Minds) where users can post questions and ask advice from the CherryTAP community, ranging from what outfit to wear to relationship advice.
“Unlike other sites, you don’t have to know anyone to have a good time on CherryTAP,” Hedlund said. “You can hang out with your friends or meet new ones at any time. In fact, many are amazed at how welcoming and immediate the response is the minute you join.”
CherryTAP users have the opportunity to earn “Cherry Bucks,” a virtual currency on the Web site. Cherry bucks are earned through interaction with others, and can then be used to purchase gifts such as beer, flowers and even gag gifts like “chill pills” and beer goggles for characters. Users may also sponsor happy hours, during which all “Cherry Bucks” earned are doubled, and all gifts are half priced.
Senior Brian Kennedy is not surprised that a virtual bar exists.
“It’s amazing to see how successful the MySpace phenomenon has been,” he said. ”If you had asked me a couple years ago if I’d ever see an online pub, I would’ve just laughed.”
Not everone likes the concept.
“It sounds kind of sketchy,” sophomore Emily Reid said. “I wouldn’t use this kind of Web site over Facebook or MySpace.”
Freshman Mickey Ainger thinks the Web site is too much work.
“It seems like it’s too much effort for the results it could render you,” he said. “Sometimes the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.”
Hedlund, however, enjoys the fact that something is always happening on CherryTAP.
“No matter what time of day or night, you can log on and instantly find something to do or someone to talk to,” he said.