I admit it, I don't know the meaning of the word fishizzle.
Russell Simmons
(Credit: Russellsimmons.com)I know it's popular with the hip-hop generation, a group that a new community site called Global Grind is pursuing. Plenty of people complain how young urban hipsters degrade the English language with their patois. I would suggest that the new venture is better off with words like fishizzle than by polluting the mother tongue with phrases like the following:
"Global Grind is a next generation start page solution that gives users the ability to aggregate content, wrap community around that content, utilize a proprietary relevance engine that 'bubbles up' relevant content based on the activity of the users and have access to curators..."
This woeful passage, found in a press release issued Wednesday by Global Grind to announce the launch of its site, not only obscures meaning but robs the Web site of any hint that it might be fun. Moreover, press releases like this remind me of Bubble 1.0. That's when dot-com companies of the late 1990s attempted to pump up their silly business plans with trendy buzzwords and jargon.
Is that what's happening with Global Grind?
Global Grind is backed by Russell Simmons, a co-founder of DefJam Recordings and one of hip hop's elder statesman, and Jim Breyer of venture capital firm Accel Partners. The site enables users to aggregate RSS feeds, podcasts, favorite videos and widgets.
There's not much here that's not offered at Facebook or MySpace. On the site's front door are a few tabs and empty video players. There's no information describing what the site does or how to use it. Apparently, this company is planning to ride its "hip hop" moniker and the pedigrees of its backers. Blah.
Or should I say: fishizzle.
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