Hyves
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Type of site | Social networking website |
|---|---|
| Available in | Dutch, English |
| Owner | Telegraaf Media Groep |
| Created by | Raymond Spanjar (Founder) Koen Kam (Co-founder) Floris Rost van Tonningen (Co-founder) Nine Ludwig (Editor-in-chief) |
| URL | Hyves.nl |
| Registration | Open |
Hyves is a social networking site in the Netherlands with mainly Dutch visitors and members and competes in this country with sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Hyves was founded in 2004 by Raymond Spanjar, Koen Kam, and Floris Rost van Tonningen.[citation needed]
In May 2010 Hyves had more than 10.3 million accounts. These correspond to two thirds of the size of the Dutch population (which stands at over 16 million in 2010), however these include multiple accounts per person and inactive accounts. The number of accounts had grown by over two million as compared to the 1.5 years earlier.[2] Hyves can be used free of charge, but there is an option for a paid Premium Membership (called Goldmembership). Goldmembers have access to some extra features, such as the ability to use some more different smilies in their messages and more uploading-space for pictures. The creators have said that the basic form of Hyves will always be free.[citation needed]
History
Hyves started in September 2004. The name Hyves was chosen because the desired domain name hives.nl was already taken.[3] The name refers to a beehive and the fact that social networks are built the same way.
In May 2006 it became known that the Dutch police are using Hyves in their inquiries against possible suspects.[4] Only information that is uploaded by suspects is being checked.[1]
On December 13, 2007 Hyves was appointed the most popular site of that year.
In April 2008, Dutch media tycoon Joop van den Ende took a large interest in Hyves.[5] The intention was to expand abroad and provide mobile services.[who?][2]
Hyves changed its design in July 2009. The site got a new look and feel which is more docile, synoptic and the profile pictures are a standard square shape.[6]
In her Christmas speech of 2009, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands expressed negative views about online social networks. In response, the founder of Hyves offered her a free account/profile, so that she could experience Hyves herself.[citation needed]
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In 2010, it became clear that the fast growth of Hyves was slowing down due to growth of Twitter and Facebook. Therefore Hyves announced extra measures to leave the competition further behind. These measures were successful, because Hyves welcomed its 10 millionth user in April 2010. Despite the perception that Hyves mostly has young members, the target group ages faster than it rejuvenates.[7] The average age of a member at Hyves is 30 years old.[8] Also, in that same month, Hyves announced Hyves Payments and Hyves Games, which allows users to play games and pay friends via the social network. ‘Hyven’ (Hyving) became a common word in Dutch and was therefore included in the authoritative Van Dale dictionary of Dutch.[9]
Although Facebook is rapidly growing in the Netherlands, Hyves was in 2010 still the most popular social network in with 10.6 million Hyves users and a 68% penetration. Hyves was sold to the Telegraaf Media Groep in November that year.[10][11]
Elections on Hyves
HANNIE HATES HYVES, I ONLY LIKE FACEBOOK
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK (between my legs)
In February 2006, Wouter Bos became the first Dutch politician with a Hyves account and created a trend: then-Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende also saw the potential to communicate with his target group via social media. He became a member in 2006.[12][13] During the Dutch elections of 2010, Hyves was used in a broad range of ways. Every leader of every political party had an account on Hyves, and the world’s first chat-debate between political leaders on a social network was organised and hosted by Hyves.[14]
Features
User profiles can be created without knowledge of HTML. Profiles can be built by filling in questionnaires and uploading content.[citation needed]
Privacy
If someone posts personal information on Hyves, this is visible for every visitor. Therefore, Hyves thought of something to protect the Hyver from misuse: it is possible to make a profile only available for friends or friends of friends (the so-called ‘connections’, in whole or partially. You can also protect your messages- you can make them visible only for your friends or connections. The consequence of this is that you also can’t read the messages from people outside the scope of your privacy-settings.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "Hyves.nl Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
- ^ Template:Nl Hyves.nl
- ^ Template:Nl "Raymond Spanjar van Hyves in BusinessWeek". 925.nl. 12 January 2009.
- ^ Template:Nl "Hyves.nl ook populair bij politie". Nu.nl. 18 May 2006.
- ^ Template:Nl "Joop Van den Ende investeert miljoenen in Hyves". Marketingfacts. 4 April 2008.
- ^ Template:Nl "Hyves lanceert nieuw design". Techzine. 2 July 2009.
- ^ Template:Nl "Hyves veroudert sneller dan het verjongt". Hyped.nl. 20 September 2009.
- ^ Template:Nl "De gemiddelde Hyver is 30 jaar". Hyves.nl. 30 June 2010.
- ^ Template:Nl "Merknamen in Van Dale-woordenboeken". August 31, 2010.
- ^ Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Dutch social network Hyves sold to media group, as European-based networks feel the Facebook heat, TechCrunch. 1 November 2010.
- ^ Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Dutch Social Site Keeps Facebook At Bay — For Now, WSJ Blogs. 1 November 2010.
- ^ Template:Nl "Politici ontdekken Hyves: Over Wouter Bos en zijn nieuwe mediagebruik". denieuwereporter.nl. 5 April 2010.
- ^ Template:Nl"Jan Peter Balkenende nu ook op Hyves". Marketingfacts.nl. 10 May 2006.
- ^ Template:Nl "Politici kruisen degens digitaal op Hyves". Telegraaf.nl. 27 May 2010.