Beta.Boston.com makes it very clear what its purpose is, “Be a part of the process… Test drive our digital products and provide feedback to us and our partners at Beta.Boston.com”.
While this new site has not been heavily promoted (to our knowledge at least), it appears to be a very smart play by Boston.com to test run many of its up and coming digital properties. This is a brilliant move by a company who must have taken note of recent backlashes at companies who took a leap without proper testing (i.e. Gap). While there is no way Boston.com would get the backlash for launching an unsuccessful new digital tool, they still are cautious to just throw something out there. By creating this beta site they are allowing savvy people to vote on the best new tool Boston.com is looking to put out to the general public.
Some of the products up for voting now are ‘BrandBowl 2011,’ a Boston.com Tumblr, and a local politics forum.
What do you think of Boston.com’s new beta site?