Skyrock (social network site)
Social networking website based in France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Skyrock, also known as Skyblog, was a social networking service (SNS) based in France that offered a free space on the web for users to create blogs, add profiles, and exchange messages with other registered members. Skyrock.com ceased operations on 21 August 2023.
Type of site | Social networking service |
|---|---|
| Available in | |
| Dissolved | 21 August 2023 |
| Country of origin | France |
| Owner | Téléfun |
| URL | skyrock |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 17 December 2002 |
| Current status | Defunct |
Background and description
Skyrock.com began as a blogging site, Skyblog.com, launched as a side project of Skyrock radio station by its CEO Pierre Bellanger in December 2002. In May 2007, after abandoning the Skyblog.com brand, Skyrock.com was launched as a full-scale social network.[1]
As of June 2008 Skyrock was ranked as the world's seventh largest social network with over 21 million visitors.[2]
The website was shut down on 21 August 2023. According to the Skyrock team, anonymized content has been transferred to the National Archives of France.[3]
Controversies
Skyrock had a high penetration rate in France. In several French middle schools,[when?] students used the platform to malign school personnel resulting in their expulsion and in the issuing of alerts by schools to warn parents and students about such behavior.[4]
Furthermore, certain American newspapers attempted to associate the breakout of the 2005 civil unrest in France to users of Skyblogs.[5] However, institutions of the French state never filed any formal complaint indicting the usage of Skyrock Blogs.[citation needed]
A few prominent French institutions created a Skyrock Blog as a preferred tool to communicate messages. An example is the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission.