Hi5
 |
 | |
 Screenshot of Hi5's home page | |
Type of site | Social Networking |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Owner | Sona Networks |
| Created by | Ramu Yalamanchi |
| URL | [1] |
| Commercial | yes |
| Registration | Required |
Hi5 is a social networking website on the Internet. The company was founded in 2003 by Ramu Yalamanchi.[2] Bill Gossman was appointed CEO in April 2009,[3] and Alex St. John joined as President and CTO in November 2009.[4] In early 2010, hi5 acquired social gaming company, Big Six.[5] The company raised $20 million in series A venture capital from Mohr Davidow Ventures, as well as $15 million in venture debt, in 2007 [6], and announced it had raised $3 million convertible note from existing investor Mohr Davidow, bringing the funding up to $38 million.[7]
Features
In Hi5, users create an online profile in order to show information such as interests, age and hometown and upload user pictures where users can post comments. Hi5 also allows the user to create personal photo albums, play online games, and set up a music player in the profile. Users can also send friend requests via e-mail to other users. When a person receives a friend request, he may accept or decline it, or block the user altogether. If the user accepts another user as a friend, the two will be connected directly or in the 1st degree. The user will then appear on the person's friend list and vice-versa.
Some users opt to make their profiles available for everyone on Hi5 to view. Other users exercise the option to make their profile viewable only to those people who are in their network. The network of friends consists of a user's direct friends (1st degree), the friends of those direct friends (2nd degree) and the friends of the friends of direct friends (3rd degree).[8]
In early 2010, Hi5 began to evolve from a social network into a site focused on social gaming and opened to new game developers.[9]
Market share
According to comScore, in 2008 Hi5 was the third most popular social networking site in terms of monthly unique visitors.[10]
Although created and headquartered in the United States, it is more popular in other countries, particularly in Latin America, being ranked 37th in the world only among people who have the Alexa toolbar installed on their browser [11] but only 84th in the US [12].
Criticism
Spam
Hi5 has used controversial email address import methods to gain more users - which may be considered a form of spam. When registering the site will send an invitation e-mail to all Gmail or other email contacts if opt out boxes are not checked. It has been criticized by privacy and spam watch groups for this practice. [13]
See also
References
- ^ "hi5.com - Traffic Details from Alexa". Alexa Internet, Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ http://gigaom.com/2007/07/22/hi5/
- ^ http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/04/24/bill-gossman-is-social-network-hi5s-new-chief-executive/
- ^ http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/30/hi5-recruits-a-beastly-gaming-veteran-as-its-president/
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/24/hi5-acquires-social-gaming-company-big-six/
- ^ http://www.crunchbase.com/company/hi5
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/01/social-network-hi5-raises-23-million-in-funding/
- ^ Allwood, Brandon (May 03, 2005). "Entertain yourself online". Jamaica Observer.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2010/tc20100312_481808.htm
- ^ "Social Networking Explodes Worldwide as Sites Increase their Focus on Cultural Relevance".
- ^ http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global&lang=none
- ^ http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?cc=US&ts_mode=country&lang=none
- ^ http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/shields-up-a-look-at-the-privacy-controls-at-the-major-social-networking-si/
External links
- hi5 - Official Website