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MrOwl® might be one of the most unique and interesting search engines and social media applications ever created. It operates on user-created “branches” that are based upon a topic but are highly customizable. Users add what they deem as relevant links, photos, and videos to their custom “branch.”
Branching Out
These custom branches could potentially allow for sharing tons of information on the most obscure topics. It’s also a great site for college students to host a study group or create custom branches about classes, subjects, or life hacks. You can get information on different kinds of college admissions exams and securing financial aid, join a community on college rugby, or find stats on drinking in college all in the same place.
MrOwl’s branching system means it doesn’t use algorithms, so companies have no need to search through your data because users create their own data. However, having users create the search webs could lead to highly inefficient and inaccurate searches.
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Personalize It
On top of having custom branches, users also have custom profiles pages. This profile page shows a bio, your profile picture, branches you’ve created (on your own or with others), and other users’ branches that you’ve saved. However, this profile page is not very customizable. It uses a fixed color scheme and locations for items. Similar to Yahoo!, MrOwl allows you to post photos in a gallery separate from your profile. It also allows you to join communities and message individual users or groups.
Room To Grow
Most of MrOwl’s features are not unique, but what makes it special is the manner in which they are integrated. MrOwl attempts what Google Plus failed to do. It’s a true social media search engine. However, the user-created branches may get in the way of Mr. Owl being a powerful or useful search engine, and at the moment the social media features are lackluster.
That said, the site is in its infancy and has a lot of potential. It has a small but growing user base. MrOwl also makes a big deal about how it protects privacy, which will bring aboard those on the fringes who care about internet privacy or internet free speech.
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Give It A Try
MrOwl operates in a heavily monopolized market and is competing against some of the biggest corporations in human history. It probably won’t surpass its rivals (who may not even know of its existence), but it is a site worth checking out. New MrOwl users will not likely abandon their current search engine or social media outlets for it, but if you’re a college student, using MrOwl on top of Google and Facebook could improve your search results.
