StudiVZ
Encyclopedia
StudiVZ is a social networking platform for students (in particular for college and university students in Europe) and is based in Berlin
, Germany
. The name is an abbreviation of the German
expression Studentenverzeichnis, which means students' directory.
The service is largely comparable to other social networking sites. StudiVZ claims to be one of the biggest social networks in Europe, with (reportedly) over 15 million members as of September 2009, mostly in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland
, and Austria
. However, traffic to the site has entered a state of steady decline since late 2009.
, the Samwer brothers (founders of the ringtone vendor Jamba!
), and other sources. In fall 2006, similar services were launched in France (StudiQG), Italy (StudiLN), Spain (EstudiLN) and Poland (StudentIX). In February 2007, another version called SchülerVZ was launched, this time focused on secondary school students, with a reported membership around three million users. , VZ Networks claim a total userbase of over 16 million users. In February 2008, another version for non-students called meinVZ was launched.
In January 2007, StudiVZ was sold to one of its investors, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, for 85 million euro
s. After a massive decline in usage since late 2009, Holtzbrinck attempted to sell StudiVZ, but is not able to find any potential buyer.
. Dariani admits that his site is based on Facebook. There are some features that set the two sites apart, such as seeing who most recently visited the profile. Besides these additional features, the most notable difference is that features bear German instead of English names. For instance, the "poke" feature on Facebook has been re-named "gruscheln", usually interpreted as a portmanteau of the German verbs grüßen (to greet) and kuscheln (to cuddle). Some of the error messages reveal that one of the folders on the site is called "Fakebook", indicating that the developers were well aware of the similarities. Another difference is that sometimes while searching for users, a CAPTCHA
has to be entered to view search results.
In early November 2006, StudiVZ gained some notoriety outside its realm (and also in English-speaking countries) when the word was at times listed as the most popular search term on Technorati
, even eclipsing former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld
, who had just resigned from office. This followed discussions and speculations which the company had to face in the German blogosphere, mainly about issues, such as server performance, questions of privacy
, internationalization and publicity gaffes by the inexperienced team of founders.
Some blog
gers have also published critical accounts and speculations about the company's business practices, claiming they included spamming
, cybersquatting
and over-reliance on the enthusiasm of volunteers
. The company tried to respond to some of the criticisms, but the criticisms continued unabated. In March 2007, Dariani withdrew from the management, but entered the directorate.
In February 2007, hackers broke into StudiVZ and stole numerous profiles, which included passwords and e-mail addresses. As a result, the passwords of all members had to be reset.
In August 2007, studiVZ was criticized for the provocative contents of a campaign of viral videos. For instance, one of the three particular videos reportedly shows gang members murdering a vegetarian and feeding him to pigs.
Facebook sued StudiVZ in a California federal court on July 18, 2008, for copying its look, feel, features and services, the case Facebook, Inc. v. StudiVZ Ltd.
. StudiVZ denied the intellectual property lawsuit accusations, and asked for declaratory judgment
at the District Court in Stuttgart
.
Facebook stated: "As with any counterfeit product, StudiVZ's uncontrolled quality standards for service, features and privacy negatively impact the genuine article."
On September 10, 2009 a settlement was reached resulting in StudiVZ paying an undisclosed sum to Facebook and on September 14, 2009 the California case was dismissed with prejudice per the parties' stipulation.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The name is an abbreviation of the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
expression Studentenverzeichnis, which means students' directory.
The service is largely comparable to other social networking sites. StudiVZ claims to be one of the biggest social networks in Europe, with (reportedly) over 15 million members as of September 2009, mostly in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. However, traffic to the site has entered a state of steady decline since late 2009.
History
The network was launched in October 2005, inside a flat in Berlin by two students named Ehssan Dariani (CEO) and Dennis Bemmann and was financed by founding investor Lukasz Gadowski. Since then, they have also collected an undisclosed sum of investments by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing GroupGeorg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck is a Stuttgart-based publishing holding company which owns publishing companies worldwide. Holtzbrinck has published everything from Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses to classics by Agatha Christie, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway and John Updike...
, the Samwer brothers (founders of the ringtone vendor Jamba!
Jamba!
Jamba! is a premium-rate monthly SMS mobile phone content provider, based in Berlin, Germany. In China and the company's English-speaking markets—currently Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States—the company operates under the name...
), and other sources. In fall 2006, similar services were launched in France (StudiQG), Italy (StudiLN), Spain (EstudiLN) and Poland (StudentIX). In February 2007, another version called SchülerVZ was launched, this time focused on secondary school students, with a reported membership around three million users. , VZ Networks claim a total userbase of over 16 million users. In February 2008, another version for non-students called meinVZ was launched.
In January 2007, StudiVZ was sold to one of its investors, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, for 85 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s. After a massive decline in usage since late 2009, Holtzbrinck attempted to sell StudiVZ, but is not able to find any potential buyer.
Features
StudiVZ provides several features for its members. Students are able to keep and maintain a personal page containing information about their name, age, study subjects, interests, courses and group memberships within StudiVZ. They have the option to upload photographs on their personal pages. Through the search function, former classmates, fellow students, learning partners or people with the same interests can be found. The latter are often organized in groups within StudiVZ. These groups have their own pages and a discussion forum open to group members. Additionally, StudiVZ provides a private messaging service for its members, including a birthday reminder for people on their friends list.Criticism
The most common criticism of the site is its strong similarity to FacebookFacebook
Facebook 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...
. Dariani admits that his site is based on Facebook. There are some features that set the two sites apart, such as seeing who most recently visited the profile. Besides these additional features, the most notable difference is that features bear German instead of English names. For instance, the "poke" feature on Facebook has been re-named "gruscheln", usually interpreted as a portmanteau of the German verbs grüßen (to greet) and kuscheln (to cuddle). Some of the error messages reveal that one of the folders on the site is called "Fakebook", indicating that the developers were well aware of the similarities. Another difference is that sometimes while searching for users, a CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA
A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by a person. The process usually involves one computer asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade...
has to be entered to view search results.
In early November 2006, StudiVZ gained some notoriety outside its realm (and also in English-speaking countries) when the word was at times listed as the most popular search term on Technorati
Technorati
Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. By June 2008, Technorati was indexing 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media...
, even eclipsing former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
, who had just resigned from office. This followed discussions and speculations which the company had to face in the German blogosphere, mainly about issues, such as server performance, questions of privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
, internationalization and publicity gaffes by the inexperienced team of founders.
Some blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
gers have also published critical accounts and speculations about the company's business practices, claiming they included spamming
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
, cybersquatting
Cybersquatting
Cybersquatting , according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else...
and over-reliance on the enthusiasm of volunteers
Volunteering
Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be...
. The company tried to respond to some of the criticisms, but the criticisms continued unabated. In March 2007, Dariani withdrew from the management, but entered the directorate.
In February 2007, hackers broke into StudiVZ and stole numerous profiles, which included passwords and e-mail addresses. As a result, the passwords of all members had to be reset.
In August 2007, studiVZ was criticized for the provocative contents of a campaign of viral videos. For instance, one of the three particular videos reportedly shows gang members murdering a vegetarian and feeding him to pigs.
Facebook sued StudiVZ in a California federal court on July 18, 2008, for copying its look, feel, features and services, the case Facebook, Inc. v. StudiVZ Ltd.
Facebook, Inc. v. StudiVZ Ltd.
Facebook, Inc. v. StudiVZ Ltd., was a federal lawsuit filed on July 18, 2008 by Facebook, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against StudiVZ Ltd., a UK company with its principal place of business in Germany. StudiVZ had launched a website which was...
. StudiVZ denied the intellectual property lawsuit accusations, and asked for declaratory judgment
Declaratory judgment
A declaratory judgment is a judgment of a court in a civil case which declares the rights, duties, or obligations of one or more parties in a dispute. A declaratory judgment is legally binding, but it does not order any action by a party. In this way, the declaratory judgment is like an action to...
at the District Court in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
.
Facebook stated: "As with any counterfeit product, StudiVZ's uncontrolled quality standards for service, features and privacy negatively impact the genuine article."
On September 10, 2009 a settlement was reached resulting in StudiVZ paying an undisclosed sum to Facebook and on September 14, 2009 the California case was dismissed with prejudice per the parties' stipulation.
See also
- 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...
– Facebook Site - RateMyTeachersRateMyTeachersRateMyTeachers, abbreviated as RMT, is a controversial review site used to rate elementary and secondary school teachers' performance . Participants give numerical ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 in four different categories to their current or former elementary and secondary school teachers...
– ratings for high school teachers - Rate Your StudentsRate Your StudentsRate Your Students was a weblog that ran from November 2005 to June 2010. It was started by a "tenured humanities professor from the South," but was run for most of its five years by a rotating group of anonymous academics...
– a blog created as a reaction to RateMyProfessors - MyEduMyEduMyEdu is a private company founded in 2008 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. MyEdu works by collecting data from college students, as well as official academic data from universities, to identify patterns that lead to unexpected costs...