In the realm of new media, development is everywhere. It’s so fast paced that what’s hot right now may not exactly be the in thing after two weeks. There are trends, there are fads, and then there are those projects that go on a winning streak. These not only make their millions overnight. They also tend to be sticky. They tend to gain mindshare and these brands stick to our consciousness as if we’re born with them.

And as competition goes, those biggies try to hold on to the pole position for as long as they can, until the next big things come up.

Then there’s the hype. Some products and services may be overhyped from the start, but fail to deliver. Then after the honeymoon period is over, things fizzle out.

What differentiates successful Internet startups from the mediocre ones? Is it intelligence? Is it marketing? Is it the people involved? Is it money? Could it be luck? Or could it be a good combination of all these, and then some?

When Splashpress Media acquired Devlounge and Wisdump, we intended to continue the fine tradition of critiquing and analyzing web applications, development and design. With Wisdump increasingly becoming focused on development, and Devlounge on design, we are now launching Wislounge to focus on the business and strategy aspect of all these.

Here you can expect discourse and discussion on the exciting world of new media, be it design, development, applications, or even startups, with particular emphasis on the viability of these. While we are humans, and therefore make mistakes (and sometimes very costly ones), we will try to be as objective and helpful as possible.

As for our programming for the next couple of weeks, why don’t we focus on marketing of startups and applications? There are a handful of ways you can get the word out in the ever-changing realm of social media, and we can perhaps take a peek into some of these.

Image credit: flickr/caveman_92223