http://62ndstories.com/
This website has just come to my attention. Every day, a new short story appears, gets voted upon by members, and fades into the archives or is promoted, depending on how well it fares.
A few quirks:
The stories really are short. The link to each is equipped with an icon estimating the amount of time you’ll need to read it; it’s usually two minutes and seldom more than five, and I find the estimates quite accurate.
Also, all of the narratives purport to be nonfictional, since this is part of the site’s submission guidelines. The effect is that of an anthology of minimemoirs.
Finally, the stories are invariably optimistic, positive, cheerful in tone. A bit of achy nostalgia is as dark as it goes, as far as I’ve seen. People falling in love and everything working out right, people baking cakes together to celebrate their friendship, parents wishing a happy birthday to their children. It’s charming if you’re in the right mood, especially since some of the material is quite good. Otherwise it can seem twee.
About the site: It’s pretty and clear; I like the layout. It’s fast. But the voting function seems to be only clickable for logged-in users, and logging in is uncomfortably closely tied to Facebook (as is the whole site.) Not so welcoming for someone who has sworn never to join Zuckerberg’s empire.
It seems to me that this site is still in its early stages and is actively seeking traffic and submissions. Everythingians may find it an interesting venue. I’ll be keeping an eye on it.