WebProNews

Entertainment portal Lycos has announced the launch of a new feature called Lycos Mix, where visitors to the site can select video clips from a variety of popular sources across the Web and create playlists.

The new feature expands on the "watch and chat" technology the company used to launch Lycos Cinema in November where users can watch and discuss films. With Lycos Mix users have the option of inviting other member to view their playlist and add to it or they can remain private.

"Lycos MIX continues the evolution of community and video with a true Web 2.0 collaborative, contributory and interactive social viewing experience," said Brian Kalinowski, chief operating officer for Lycos, Inc. “Unlike social networking sites, each MIX is a collection of video clips where users socialize around content, not individual people or profiles, creating combinations of lasting content to share with others. With Lycos MIX, users can create an amalgamation of video content where others participate by viewing, commenting and adding more clips."

Moderated MIX features allow users to submit videos to the MIX, but the owner has the final approval of what content will appear. Users can also create multiple MIXES, containing multiple video clips and can email them to friends, inviting them to participate.

The company plans to offer banner ad units and sponsorships around the MIX community. Plans are also in the works to offer licensed video content that would have in-stream ads.

One other feature that users may find convenient is a downloadable bookmark that allows videos to be added to their MIXES from other sites without having to cut and paste Web addresses.