However, an unpopular redesign wounded the company in 2012, and StumbleUpon laid off 30% of its staff the next year. StumbleUpon specialized in surfacing some of the strangest and clickable content on the web that you would never find on your own.īy November 2010, the web discovery platform had 12 million users, and continued to grow with success for a couple more years.

While StumbleUpon may have not gotten the same reputation of a social media service as Facebook or Twitter, it was an incredibly popular 'serendipity engine' that made browsing the web a randomized and curated experience. The Bebo site itself was then taken offline. Bebo relaunched again in 2014 as a messaging app where users are represented by avatars, but later shifted to the esports business and was acquired in 2019 by AOL hinted in 2010 that it might shut down the site, but it instead sold off Bebo at a major loss to investment firm Criterion Capital Partners.īebo has since continued to fade away: it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013, leading to Bebo's founders buying back the site for $1 million with a pledge to 'reinvent' it. The acquisition came just as Facebook took off, and Bebo struggled against its competitor. Bebo was essentially like Facebook: you created a profile, and connected with old friends.īut as Bebo hits its stride in 2008 with 80 million unique users, AOL purchased the network for a hefty $850 million. In 2011, Club Penguin was the largest virtual world for kids ages six to 12, with registered users in more than 190 countries.ĭisney expanded the property to mobile in 2013, and by 2015, reported that up to 40% of Club Penguin’s 220 million global users accessed the site through mobile devices.While it wasn't incredibly popular in the US, Bebo grew in popularity in countries like New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, where it was the most visited social network in 2007. Players can, however, pre-register for the upcoming app to reserve their penguin’s name.Ĭlub Penguin was co-created and co-founded by Lane Merrifield and Lance Priebe in 2005 and sold to Disney in 2007 for US$700 million. On March 29, Disney will cease operations on the brand’s current online and mobile products, and plans to relaunch the IP as a new app entitled Club Penguin Island.ĭisney has not announced an exact launch date for the new app, though it’s likely to debut before Club Penguin shutters.įor now, players and paid members with access to exclusive content and customization tools can still log in and experience the desktop and mobile version of Club Penguin.īut memberships will not be transferred to Club Penguin Island.

Disney is flying its Club Penguin virtual world to a new platform as more users migrate to mobile gameplay.

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