socialADDICT

We’ve all had them - whether with our sibling, coworker or neighbor - everybody’s experienced a little disagreement with somebody. Competition is not always a bad thing and JealousBrother.com definitely brings some good ole rivalry back into the web. JealousBrother.com is a place where people can submit issues to the digital space and allow the community to vote sides on the issue, comment their beliefs, passions, understandings and opinions. The concept is extremely simple but the passion behind the issues is powerful, which is what makes a site like this so compelling. Everybody has an opinion so this is a centralized place for people to come together, learn more about an issues and share their opinions…civilized or not.
I was corresponding with the CEO and Founder, Ryan Kazinec, and here’s his story behind JealousBrother.com:

“So here’s how the idea came about - I grew up the youngest of three with a brother and sister. My brother and I have always competed and have always tried to outdo one another. It is this sibling rivalry in a very strange way that inspired the idea behind the website. As we grew older we didn’t necessarily act older, so the brotherly competitions continued. We both became home owners and had to find something else to compete over, so naturally it was lawn mowers. He had a better push mower so I got a used riding mower. Mine had 12 horsepower so he got one with 18. Not to be outdone I purchased a mower with 20 horse power. It was that lawn mower that provoked the message I left on his cell phone. I said, “I posted new pictures of my lawnmower on JealousBrother.com you can check out.” It wasn’t until my brother’s wife and other family members asked if it was a real website that I actually thought; maybe it could be. During the holidays of 2005 I created a JealousBrother family newsletter for comedic relief. It was in early 2006 when I registered the domain and began trying to make it a reality.

The logo was designed loosely based off of a picture of my brother and I when we were younger. It went through many stages until we got what we were looking for; a personal touch that embodied the premise of the website, the jealousy and competitive nature between siblings. The reality is that most people can relate to our friendly feuds whether it’s with a family member, fellow employee, or neighbor down the street.”

After countless hours of discussion, Ryan and his developer Dennis, decided the rivalry concept would be the most effective way of sticking to the background of the project while making it user friendly and fun to use. I think they did a great job of holding those pieces together.

Ryan says that he just wants people to have fun on the site and always see two sides of every issue. He wants to create a space where like-minded individuals can truly come together to support an issue to create change. It’s a unique space where people can share what they are truly passionate about and rally behind it. Not only is it a place to bring like-minded people together but also take into consideration the other side and understand (whether if you accept it or not) where others are coming from. That is what is truly amazing about JealousBrother.com. That and the face I can see how many people prefer Mac to PC.

Some additional info about JealousBrother.com:

CEO/Sole Proprietor: Ryan Kazinec

Trademarks Registered: Ryan Kazinec

Founders: Ryan and Crystal Kazinec

Project Financed: Boot-strapped

Features Planned:
1.) Flash Video Support (server side video processing)
2.) More advanced user photo system
3.) We are looking into integrating WordPress MU
4.) Increased customization for user profiles.
Much more…

If you have any suggestions or feedback for JealousBrother, please send all inquiries to Ryan Kazinec at bigkazzyry (at) bellsouth (dot) net. Tomorrow, August 18th is their official 1-year anniversary since they first started development! Congrats Ryan and good luck with your future initiatives.

Now go get a little competition going, people! I feel a rivalry brewing…