Faceparty
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| File:Facepartylogo.png | |
|---|---|
| URL | http://www.faceparty.com |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Online Community |
| Registration | Yes |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Owner | Anarchy Towers Ltd |
| Created by | Andrew Bamforth |
| Launched | Autumn 2000 |
Contents |
[edit] History
| This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009) |
Faceparty was founded by Andrew David Bamforth and Phineas Kibbey in Autumn 2000. The pair met while working at music site Peoplesound.com.
In March 2008, Faceparty was reclaimed by Bamforth and Anarchy Towers, having lost control of the organisation in 2005 to CIS Internet Ltd.
It was also announced that all advertising had been removed in a bid to become less corporate, and that staff levels would fall from 18 to 4.Template:Cn
Faceparty threw two large and expensive parties, which had free admission for the more active members of its community. The first party, named the "Mushroom Party" was held on the 20th December 2008 at Faceparty headquarters in Worship Street. The second party, known as the "Marshmallow Party" was held on the 11th April 2009 in an old warehouse. According to "Fraggle", a freelance worker who has been heavily involved with Faceparty, the site considers itself to be a "community centre" where, after paying for staff and hosting, profits are sunk back into events for the community.[1]
[edit] Membership
By June 2006 the site had 6 million members, with another 35,000 new members joining every week. It soon became the UK's most visited website by page impression ,beating the likes of EBay and Amazon with over 1 billion page impressions per month (source Hitwise / ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations UK)).
In April 2008, shortly after its acquisition by Anarchy Towers, Faceparty removed 7 million members from its database leaving 200,000 members. However, it would later reinstate those deleted by mistake. The reason given by Faceparty was that it was required to do this by the UK government to comply with new child protection laws, although it later turned out that this was not true.[2]
[edit] Paid services
The Faceparty signup process currently requires users to buy a unique, one use only password, via text message or Paypal.[3] Additionally, some of the features of Faceparty such as a user being able to see who has been visiting their profile and rating them, require Cool Tools. Users that want to take advantage of these extra features are required to pay an annual fee.
Faceparty also offers Adult Verification System (AVS) which allows users over the age of 18 to view restricted Adult or Pending photos content on other users profiles, for an additional monthly fee.
[edit] Music
In mid July 2006, Sony BMG struck a short-lived partnership with Faceparty, allowing its artists to be promoted to the social network's members on an exclusive basis, with competitions, free music downloads, and other promotions planned. This partnership was cancelled when Faceparty was re-claimed by the original owners.[4]
[edit] Controversy
In 2006, Faceparty was censured for running a banner that told purchasers of Blue Skin clothing it would ensure they "got laid", following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority from a member of the public, who strongly objected to the message the banner was projecting to Faceparty's younger internet surfers.[5]
In June 2008, three men were sentenced to jail at the High Court in Paisley for sexual abuse of a 13-year-old schoolgirl who they met and communicated with on Faceparty.[6]
On 5 November 2008, three men pleaded guilty at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court to various crimes involving indecent contact with a 14-year-old girl via Faceparty. The men were 20-year-old Barron Wright, 32-year-old Michael Henderson from Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, and Colin Holmes from Nottinghamshire.[7] The men claimed that they didn't know the girl was underage, and that she was "promiscuous and inviting". The offences came to light after another man was jailed for statutory rape of the same girl.
[edit] References
- ↑ "> Gossip > Faceparty > i think i get it... > Posts". Faceparty. http://www.faceparty.com/gossip/thread.aspx?topic=689538. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
- ↑ "Faceparty bans over-36s in shock ageist move", TechRadar, May 21, 2008.
- ↑ "retrieved 6th September, 2009". Faceparty.com. http://www.faceparty.com/account/join.aspx. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
- ↑ http://www.newmediazero.com/News/List.aspx?liArticleTypeID=1
- ↑ "Three jailed for sexual abuse of schoolgirl, 13". Edinburgh Evening News. 2008-06-12. http://news.scotsman.com/topstories/Three-jailed-for-sexual-abuse.4178495.jp.
- ↑ Stephen Deal (2008-11-06). "Net predators sent explicit e-mails to girl". The Metro.