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Socialcam

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Socialcam is a mobile social video application for iPhone and Android, that was launched March 7, 2011. It allows users to capture and share videos online and on mobile, as well as via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. By July 2012, the application passed 16 million downloads and was acquired by Autodesk for $60 million. [1] Socialcam was founded by Michael Seibel, Ammon Bartram, and Guillaume Luccisano and is located in San Francisco, CA. [2]

Functionality

Socialcam was well known for the following functionality: applying filters to video[3], applying themes and soundtracks to video[4], and smooth integration with Facebook[5]. Socialcam's eventual goal is to replace the the default camera app on all smartphones[6].

Investors

Socialcam participated in the Winter 2012 class of Y Combinator (company)[7] and raised funding from a large list of silicon valley and hollywood angel investors[8]:

  • Yuri Milner & Felix Shpilman – Startfund
  • SV Angel – Ron Conway & David Lee
  • WME – Ari Emmanuel & Jason Lublin
  • Ronny Conway – Andreessen Horowitz
  • Paul Graham – Co-founder Y-Combinator
  • Jessica Livingston – Partner Y-Combinator
  • Troy Carter & Allison Streuter – Atom Factory
  • A-Grade Investments – Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Chris Hollod
  • Laurene Powell Jobs & Stacey Rubin – Emerson Collective
  • Brian Chesky – CEO, Airbnb
  • Jonathan Abrams – Partner, Founders Den
  • Jason Johnson – Partner, Founders Den
  • Zachary Bogue – Partner, Founders Den
  • Michael Levit – Partner, Founders Den
  • Jeff Kapel – Assistant Coach, Duke Basketball
  • Trajan Langdon – Retired NBA Basketball Player
  • Crunchfund – Michael, MG, Patrick
  • Paul Buchheit – Inventor of Gmail, Founder FriendFeed, Partner Y-Combinator
  • Garry Tan – Partner Y-Combinator, Co-Founder Posterous
  • Alexis Ohanian – Partner Y-Combinator, Co-Founder Reddit
  • Harj Taggar – Partner Y-Combinator, Co-Founder Auctomatic
  • Tim Draper – Draper Associates
  • Stewart Alsop – Alsop Louie
  • Erik Moore – Angel investor in Zappos
  • Justin Kan – Co-Founder EXEC, Co-Founder Justin.tv/Twitch.tv
  • Emmett Shear – CEO & Co-Founder Justin.tv/Twitch.tv
  • Kyle Vogt – Co-Founder Justin.tv/Twitch.tv
  • Matt Ocko – Angel Investor
  • Justin Caldbeck – Lightspeed
  • Shervin Pishevar – Menlo Ventures
  • Ram Shiram – Sherpalo, Angel Investor in Google
  • Shane Battier – NBA Basketball player, Miami Heat

Brands on Socialcam

A large number of brands use Socialcam to engage their social media audiences with video content including: Brooklyn Nets, Lipton Iced Tea, New York Jets, Sierra Mist, and General Electric [9]. A complete list of Socialcam brands can be found on its brand leaderboard[10] at this url: https://socialcam.com/leaderboard/brands.

Partnership with the Washington Post

On July 9, 2012, the Washington Post announced a partnership with Socialcam, becoming Socialcam's official news partner for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London[11]. Socialcam and the Washington Post worked together to create London Eyes - an interactive map of user generated videos taken in and around London during the olympic games[12]. Socialcam and the Washington Post teamed up again to cover the 2012 Democratic and Republican national conventions[13][14] to create "Unconventional: Behind the scenes at conventions" [15].

Criticism

Socialcam's popularity on Facebook suddenly increased in the spring of 2012, via unusually aggressive actions to induce contacts to join. It was criticized as "invasive" and a "bully" by many reviewers, for sharing what users were viewing without them realizing that that would happen.[16][17] This also led to questions about whether Facebook was playing favorites with what content gets featured.[18] In response to criticism, Socialcam quickly made a number of changes to make its sharing functionality easier to understand.[19]

References

  1. ^ Greg Eden (2012-07-17). "Autodesk Signs Agreement to Acquire Socialcam". Business Wire. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  2. ^ "Socialcam Team". Socialcam Website. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  3. ^ Jason Kincaid (2011-10-05). "Socialcam Crosses 2M Downloads, Adds (Wait For It…) Video Filters!". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  4. ^ Ryan Lawler (2012-03-28). "Socialcam adds themes, soundtracks to its video-sharing app". GigaOm. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  5. ^ Rafe Needleman (2011-03-09). "Socialcam: Mobile video sharing done right". CNET. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  6. ^ Stuart Dredge (2011-04-01). "Justin.tv boss: 'We want to replace the camera app on the phone'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  7. ^ Eric Eldon (2012-01-30). "SocialCam Is Growing, But It's The Latest Alum Startup Returning To Y Combinator Anyway". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  8. ^ Colleen Taylor (2012-04-30). "Socialcam Nabs Angel Funding From The A-List: Yuri Milner, Tim Draper, Laurene Powell Jobs, And More". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  9. ^ Matt Petronzio (2012-06-28). "Top 10 Brands on Socialcam". Mashable. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  10. ^ Ryan Lawler (2012-05-22). "To Capture New Users, Socialcam Redesigns Its Website And Introduces A Leaderboard". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  11. ^ "The Washington Post Becomes Official News Partner of Socialcam for 2012 Summer Olympics Coverage". Washington Post. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  12. ^ "London Eyes". Washington Post. 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  13. ^ Jeremy W. Peters (2012-08-28). "How the Media Adapt When News Is Scarce". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  14. ^ "'WaPo,' Socialcam Team For Convention Videos". MediaPost. 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  15. ^ ""Unconventional: Behind the scenes at conventions"". Washington Post. 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  16. ^ "Socialcam: A mobile video social network that's exploding". Apptitude Test - Boston.com. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  17. ^ Robert Hof (2012-04-30). "Why I Hate Socialcam, Even If It Might Be the Next Instagram". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  18. ^ "'Socialcam' Tries Redefining Video On Facebook". NPR. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  19. ^ Drew Olanoff (2012-05-16). "Socialcam responds to questionable tactics". The Next Web. Retrieved 2013-01-14.


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