KiiRaa

Even the best can eventually become too big for their own good -- just look at American cars, or Marlon Brando. Saving the Internet from its own ignominious heft, KiiRaa.

Leveraging a combo of user suggestions and editorial sensibility, 'Raa boils down the 'Netz to what they determine to be the finest sites in a grip of categories, a goal the founder says was inspired by how difficult it was to find information online, and "my Mom who continues to struggle with the Internet". To achieve said goodness, users suggest their favorite websites for inclusion on the 'Raa, whose editors do a simple quality assessment and place the site in a category; once a submission's posted, users hit Digg-like up/down buttons to positively or negatively score sites, with those getting the best ratings garnering the highest placement in category lists and greatest exposure, like a Spring Break wet t-shirt contest for Play Him Off Keyboard Cats. The result's an easily-navigable compendium of both well-known destinations and hidden gems, each accompanied by a one-line synopsis and frontpage shot, searchable by keyword or exploding subcatgeory lists, e.g., Computer and Tech splits into the likes of social networks, media sharing, and games, while Lifestyle covers stuff like food, autos, and pets, because owning a chow is so much more than just a hobby.

Though still in its infancy, Kii's system has paid dividends by unearthing some lesser known sites, including Craigslist-aping personals map Kijiji, and TheSixtyOne, a music site that eschews old-guard record label execs for a voter-based system, a reminder of another American institution that got too big for its own britches: democracy.