Hi5 is a social networking site based in San Francisco, California.
The company was founded in 2004 by Ramu Yalamanchi.
In 2007 it was reported to be the 2nd largest social network after Myspace while comScore
reported that Hi5 was the third most popular social networking site in monthly unique visitors
in 2008.
The social networking site, if(we), formerly known as Tagged, purchased Hi5 in December
2011, for an undisclosed sum and operates it today.
History The company was founded in 2003 and had become
the 8th largest social network by mid 2006.
Bill Gossman was appointed CEO in April 2009, and at that time, Hi5 refocused itself as
a social gaming platform and opened itself to new game developers.
In early 2010, Hi5 acquired social gaming company Big Six.
The company raised $20 million in series A venture capital from Mohr Davidow Ventures,
as well as $15 million in venture debt, in 2010, and announced it had raised $3 million
convertible note from existing investor Mohr Davidow, bringing the funding up to $38 million.
In July 2010, the company raised $14 million from Crosslink Capital.
Gaming industry veteran Alex St. John joined the company as President and CTO in January
2011.
Quantcast reported Hi5 has 2.7 million monthly US visitors and 46.1 million global visitors.
Software-industry veteran Karen Richardson served as chairwoman of the company's board
in 2011.
In December of 2011, the company was acquired by Tagged, now known as IF(WE).
Original Features
Hi5 had many typical social networking features, such as friend networks, photo sharing, user
groups, and status updates.
In a 2009 redesign, Hi5 added a number of features oriented toward gaming and entertainment.
The site featured over 200 games in a variety of genres, and was adding games at a rate
of 2-3 per week.
At Hi5, users can create an online profile in order to show information such as interests,
age and hometown.
Users can also upload photos and create personal photo albums where other users can post comments.
Users can also send friend requests via e-mail to other users.
When a person receives a friend request, he may accept or decline it, or block the user
altogether.
If the user accepts another user as a friend, the two will be connected directly or in the
1st degree.
The user will then appear on the person's friend list and vice-versa.
Some users opt to make their profiles available for everyone on Hi5 to view.
Other users exercise the option to make their profile viewable only to those people who
are in their network.
In early 2009, Hi5 began to evolve from a social network into a gaming network.
In order to join Hi5, you must be 18 or older.
With Tagged's acquisition of Hi5, their gaming platform changed from third-party developed
games to games developed by Tagged's in house team.
Tagged noted that Hi5's games weren't as "vibrant" as they could be.
Tagged has seen better results from their own games.
Past Market share
Due to Hi5’s shift in focus to social gaming, comScore reclassified Hi5 as an online gaming
site in early 2011.
According to comScore, Hi5 ranked as the 6th most trafficked online gaming site.
Although created and headquartered in the United States, it is more popular in other
countries, particularly in Latin America, being ranked 37th in the world only among
people who have the Alexa toolbar installed on their browser but only 84th in the US.
Former Technologies In 2010, Hi5 began introducing new developer
tools to strengthen the adoption of social gaming on the site.
In October, Hi5 announced Sociopath, a set of tools designed to make it easier for developers
to bring their game to the Hi5 platform.
A major part of the program was the implementation of Facebook compatible APIs, which simplified
the process of bringing games already developed for Facebook to Hi5.
Sociopath also introduced anonymous play to the site, making it easier for gamers to play
games immediately without first having to provide registration info.
Sociopath was initially introduced at GDC Online in 2010.
As a companion to Sociopath, Hi5 introduced Sociopay in early 2011.
Sociopay was intended to help Hi5 to better monetize users, increasing revenues for themselves
and developers.
Sociopay automatically adjusts the prices for Hi5 coins based upon a user’s region,
capitalizing on Hi5’s international success and helping to monetize users from many different
economies.
Sociopay also helps monetize users less likely to purchase coins by instead serving them
advertisements.
Magi.com After selling to Tagged, the management team
of hi5 formed magi.com as a pure gaming site open to other game developers.
Magi.com was shut down in June of 2012.
See also List of social networking websites
Bebo Facebook
Tagged if(we)
References
External links Official website