Help me name a new online community service.

January 29, 2007 2:22 PM

I’ve seen some great suggestions come out of AskMe in the past and really need some creative help to break my naming block. I have been building a new online community service for groups. Our service specializes in helping groups collaborate and share knowledge effectively within their community. The obvious big issue (besides getting us to agree on the name) is acquiring the URL. We are not opposed to buying the URL, but all attempts to date have required obscene amounts of money A few names that we like, but cannot agree upon: (I own the URL’s): GroupSwim , Brighthive, GroopScoop As you can see, I’m really trying to incorporate group or the idea of community into the name. Any help or suggestions would be huge! Even a vote on the names above would be a big help. Thanks…
posted by tichance to Computers & Internet (16 answers total)

hatchingideas is a good one.
posted by iphog at 2:25 PM on January 29, 2007

hatchingideas is a good one. Dont know if it available.
posted by iphog at 2:26 PM on January 29, 2007

bighelp.com looks like it may be available
posted by Gungho at 2:33 PM on January 29, 2007

I'd vote AGAINST GroopScoop, unless you own GroupScoop as well.
posted by clh at 2:36 PM on January 29, 2007

If you're trying to get a good name without spending huge amounts of money, then keep in mind that you don't actually have to use a ".com" URL. It's not required by the laws of physics.

I've been very happy with my .nu domain.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 2:42 PM on January 29, 2007

As mr den beste says, try something creative. knowled.ge or br.io or protopla.sm or whatever (i just made those up, no idea if they are available). i mean, just look at del.icio.us, can't say it's not popular.
posted by londongeezer at 3:47 PM on January 29, 2007

GroupNotions
CrowdedThought
InterThinker (s)
ThoughtCoop
DotThoughts

all available per Go Daddy
posted by lobstah at 4:17 PM on January 29, 2007

Your name doesn't matter much. It's what you DO that will brand your name.

Anyway, while waiting for this FTP to finish:

we.know.com, nowknow.com, effectivesharing, sharenow, groupshare, sharethegroup, public space, groupthink, groupmeet, groupcog, group grope, cog groupies, blue cog, blue cog group, machine group, synapse group, axom group, soma think, synapse collection, group clump, snyapse clump, cognitive gang, cognitive collection, action faction, group hug, group home, glial group, the hand, a grouping of neurons, bundle of neurons, group bundle, neuron bridge, community group think, 100 billion plus neurons, group cognition, spokes on a wheel, grouping knowledge, sharetheknow, red boxes,
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:17 PM on January 29, 2007

Their whois info can be a little off, but I found this useful when looking for a domain name.

And there are always name generators. You never know...

I don't mind Brighthive.

Will your users be object oriented programmers? If so, it looks like groupoop.com is available!

Good luck.
posted by nonmyopicdave at 4:19 PM on January 29, 2007

IdeaMeld.com

CommuMind.com

CommuFind.com
posted by tallthinone at 6:52 PM on January 29, 2007

I'm not a big fan of brighthive--I had to read it a couple times before I figured out what it was supposed to say. (I wanted to pronounce it Brig-h-thive at first.)
posted by bokinney at 8:13 PM on January 29, 2007

MindMeld
clusterthink
clusterthing
thinkfinity
soluthink
re:solve
querious
togather
poolschool
flocktalk
posted by Rumple at 9:20 PM on January 29, 2007

I worked at a company that was paid a lot of money to do naming and branding. All we did was brainstorm names for a couple days and then pick something short, available, concrete, and appropriate. Use a thesaurus, look up words in the dictionay, be creative, you'll find something.

Btw, I still don't feel like I know what your site will do - could you explain it in more detail?
posted by xammerboy at 10:15 PM on January 29, 2007

i believe that one smart namer, acting alone, can pick the best url on a single pass through a registrar, and that checking names on whois can be counterproductive unless you snatch it at once, because somebody else out there is watching your whoises and is poised to snatch good url's for themselves.
posted by bruce at 12:05 AM on January 30, 2007

Are people really watching whoises?
posted by Alt F4 at 11:13 AM on January 30, 2007

Response by poster: Some great suggestions. Lots of rich ideas to consider as we finalize.

We have not launched the service yet, but if you want to stay posted or see more check out our blog at:



Thanks again for all the help!<a
posted by tichance at 3:12 PM on January 30, 2007