MyYearbook
Encyclopedia
History
myYearbook was initially created by two high school students, David and Catherine Cook, and their older brother Geoff, during Spring BreakSpring break
Spring break – also known as March break, Study week or Reading week in the United Kingdom and some parts of Canada – is a recess in early spring at universities and schools in the United States, Canada, mainland China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the United...
of 2005. Catherine persuaded Geoff, who founded EssayEdge.com and ResumeEdge.com from a dorm in 1997, to invest in their project. At the launch of the site in April 2005, Dave was a junior and Catherine was a sophomore; the project was initially activated at Montgomery High School, in suburban New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
where they attended. The site was created entirely by developers in India.
In 2008, myYearbook partnered with casual game developer Arkadium to bring Flash based games to the site. The games incorporate Lunch Money, the myYearbook virtual currency
Virtual currency
Virtual currency is used to purchase virtual goods within a variety of online communities; which include social networking websites, virtual worlds and online gaming sites....
. Lunch Money earned playing games are used elsewhere on the site.
In April 2009, the site added the Meebo
Meebo
Meebo is a social platform connecting users with their friends across the web. It began in 2005 as a browser based instant messaging program which supported multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat, Google Talk, CafeMom and...
instant messaging client to the site in order to provide real time chat.
In November 2009, myYearbook launched Chatter, a real-time stream that incorporates media sharing and gaming to help bring members together. Games you can play inside the stream include Ask Me, Rate Me and 2 Truths and a Lie. These games incorporate mechanics that help myYearbook members meet each other. By April 2010 the site reported the Chatter feature surpassed 1 million posts per day.
In January 2010, myYearbook rolled out a new site design aimed to appeal to an older demographic. Of note is the "winning" site design was chosen through crowd-sourcing its members.
In May 2010, myYearbook launched an iPhone/iPod Touch and Android application designed to bring the Chatter real time feed to mobile devices.
In July 2011, myYearbook announced it had agreed to be acquired by Latino social networking site Quepasa for $100 Million In Cash And Stock. The purchase was finalized on November 11, 2011.
Virtual economy
myYearbook includes a virtual economyVirtual economy
A virtual economy is an emergent economy existing in a virtual persistent world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an Internet game...
through which members earn and spend "Lunch Money," the myYearbook virtual currency
Virtual currency
Virtual currency is used to purchase virtual goods within a variety of online communities; which include social networking websites, virtual worlds and online gaming sites....
. Lunch Money enables the purchasing of gifts which members can send to each other. Lunch Money can also be donated by members to their favorite charity through the Causes application.
Revenue model
myYearbook derives its revenue from three sources - advertising, virtual-currency sales and monthly subscriptions. Advertising makes up two-thirds of its revenue, with the other sources making up the rest. It has an established sales office based in New York City and Los Angeles.In February, 2010, myYearbook reported the company ended 2009 with a $20 million dollar run rate. In December 2010, myYearbook partnered with Viximo
Viximo
Viximo is a provider of virtual goods solutions located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The company provides social networking, online dating and casual gaming sites with technology to implement a virtual goods economy...
service to provide better gaming opportunities for users.
Financing
In 2006, myYearbook raised $4.1 million from US Venture Partners and First Round CapitalFirst Round Capital
First Round Capital is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage funding to technology companies. Managed by Josh Kopelman, Chris Fralic, Rob Hayes and Howard L. Morgan, the Philadelphia-based company typically provides seed-stage investment that ranges from $250,000 to $500,000...
. In 2008, myYearbook raised $12.8 million dollars in a Series B round.
See also
- List of social networking websites
- MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...