Radiohead's W.A.S.T.E. opens a social network for fans

W.A.S.T.E. Central, a social network for Radiohead fans, went online late on Thursday 3 April without any announcement. It takes its name from W.A.S.T.E., the band's mail-order shop and fan club, which goes back to their fan newsletters of the early 1990s. Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Colin Greenwood all had profiles on it from the first night, though none of them had yet said a word to the members.

Members get a private page, a blog and the message boards, and can upload songs, photos and videos. Radiohead clips get a page of their own, and the uploads on the first night already ran to Battles and Nick Cave as well. The gig listings let fans find others going to the same show, and anyone who joins can sign up for a Radiohead email address. It all runs on Ning, the service that lets anyone build a social network of their own.

The only word from the top at the opening was a welcome from the W.A.S.T.E. administrators on 3 April, promising more features in the coming weeks and fixes for whatever goes wrong. Thanks very much for joining up! It'd be very quiet in here indeed otherwise.²