Back in 2006, when I was a fresh faced student getting up at midday with a hangover, covered in snakebite I was super reluctant to join up to Facebook when I first came across it. I eventually joined, and the rest is history. Then came Twitter and I was more eager to join up, but it took a few weeks to actually ‘get it’ and understand how it works. A couple of weeks ago I came across thefancy.com and it took me no more than 30 secs from landing on the homepage to wanting to sign up. I haven’t looked back, its ruddy brilliant.

So what is The Fancy?

“Fancy is part store, blog, magazine and wishlist. It’s a place to discover great stuff, to curate a collection of things you love, to get updates on your favorite brands and stores and to share your discoveries. Use it to create a catalog of your favorite things around the web and around the world. When you find something you love somewhere on the web, Fancy it. ”

Essentially The Fancy is a collection of really beautiful things. I’ve never seen so much cool stuff in one place before. Everyday you feel encouraged to have a look and see what the latest things have been ‘Fancy’d’ and added to the site.

How does it work

You can download the app (iPad/iPhone/Android) and upload images from your device for others to ‘Fancy’, or you can add the Fancy widget to your toolbar on your computer and start ‘Fancying’ anything you come across which you really like. You can follow people and be followed in much the same way as Twitter. You can also comment on things you’ve Fancy’d, or find out where to buy it, or link through to the original source. It also allows you to share what you’ve Fancy’d across Twitter, Facebook and by email.

You can also invite/ find friends:

 

Browse categories which interest you the most

 

Then when you see something you like, ‘Fancy it’ and it catalogues it for you

 

Why this could be the next big thing?

• Its very easy to use
• Its inherently social (we all like nice things, and sharing nice things with our friends)
• Its addictive (I’m addicted, no really)
• Its everywhere (on your computer, on your mobile, on your tablet)
• The content is incredible, and always fresh
• Its aspirational (some of the things on there, particularly the houses!)
• You get a real buzz when someone ‘fancies’ something you’ve uploaded
• It’s cooler than cool…

This was the response after mentioning on Twitter I’d be doing a blog post about it :

I strongly recommend you getting involved, it will be interesting to see how this develops!