- Meebo
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Meebo 
Meebo's homepage as of 12 March 2010URL meebo.com, meebo.com Slogan "Together is Better" Commercial? Yes Type of site social media Registration Optional Available language(s) Multilingual Created by Sandy Jen
Seth Sternberg
WherryLaunched September 2007 Alexa rank 
1,900 (November 2011[update])[1]Current status Active Meebo is a social platform connecting users with their friends across the web. It began in 2005 as a browser based instant messaging program which supported multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat, Google Talk, CafeMom and others;
Meebo expanded its offering with the introduction of Meebo Rooms (now discontinued) and the Meebo Bar. The Meebo bar allows users to chat with their friends on hundreds of web sites including TV Guide, TMZ, CafeMom, Entertainment Weekly and others. Meebo has over 190 million unique users globally.[2]
The Meebo messaging platform is based on the free and open source library libpurple [1] created by the software developers of Pidgin.[3]
Meebo was founded in September 2005 by Sandy Jen, Seth Sternberg and Elaine Wherry, and is based in Mountain View, California.[4]
Meebo also developed a version of Meebo for use on the iPhone[5] and a native application that runs on Android mobile phones.[6]
Contents
Timeline
Meebo received funding from Sequoia Capital on December 15, 2005.[7] Meebo includes features such as invisible sign on (to prevent others from knowing when a user connects) and simultaneous connections to multiple IM services.[8] Early angel investors in Meebo include Auren Hoffman and Marc Andreessen.[9]
On August 2, 2006, Meebo launched the "meebo me" widget, which allows users to embed a version of Meebo on their personal website. Additionally, on October 11, 2006, they announced a partnership with Amie Street to include the "meebo me" widget on each Amie Street user page.[10][11]
Meebo allows some people who are behind firewalled networks (networks that block the various instant messaging protocols but have not blocked the meebo.com domain name) to connect to instant messaging services due to the fact the user connects to only port 443 (HTTPS) and the Meebo service itself then connects to the various instant messaging protocols.[12]
- As of 14 May 2007, Meebo incorporated "Meebo Rooms". Users of Meebo can connect to chat rooms or host their own for which multiple friends can join and chat. Meebo Rooms also grants a degree of control to the user with invite and ban authority. Classic Meebo was updated to reflect the release prior to Meebo Rooms to allow users with outdated browsers to continue to use meebo.[13]
- On 10 September 2007, Meebo announced support for file transfers between users.[14]
- In late 2007, Meebo was included as a web app with gOS, a Linux distribution.
- In April 2008, Meebo secured $25M in venture capital funding.[15]
- In November 2008, Meebo launched Meebo for Android.[16]
- In December 2008, Meebo added support for two new IM networks, Myspace IM and Facebook Chat.[17]
- In December 2009, Meebo launched Meebo Bar, a gadget that let visitors use Meebo from the bottom of a webpage. It replaces Community IM.
- In February 2010, Meebo launched Meebo for iPhone and iPod Touch.[18]
- In May 2010, the original Meebo Rooms service was discontinued as Meebo believed that it no longer fit their core mission of connecting users with their closest friends. The old public rooms remained online, but could only be accessed by users who added the room to their friends list before the service was discontinued. User responses to the change have been overwhelmingly negative, with many describing the rooms as places that allowed them to create meaningful friendships or as the primary reason that they used Meebo.[19][20] Since the change, the service, which previously featured several active communities, has fallen into disuse.[21] Users can still create private rooms which are password-protected, non-searchable, and require them to invite their friends.[22]
- In September 2010, Meebo launched Meebo for BlackBerry.
- In December 2010, Meebo secured another $27.5M in venture capital funding. This brings their total funding amount to around $70M.[23]
- In August 2011, Meebo announced that all rooms would cease to be available in October 2011. No explanation for the cancellation was given, and user response was overwhelmingly negative.[24]
Recognition
In 2009, Meebo received a Think Social Award from the ThinkSocial team.[25]
In 2010, Meebo was recognized as one of the "Hottest Silicon Valley Companies" by Lead411.[26]
Social integration
Meebo has been integrated into many Social Networking sites for IM features between users. The Meebo look will have changed and be replaced by the site's branding, but still uses Meebo's API's.
Bebo
Main article: Bebo#Bebo ChatBebo Chat, was launched in 2011, which allows users to chat to other users via Meebo's IM bar. You can also update your 'Saying' and show your availability status, as well as have access to other links to Bebo's pages, and special offers. It also provides a link for users to visit Bebo's fan page on Facebook, where they can 'Like' their page and receive updates.
References
- ^ "Meebo.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/meebo.com. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
- ^ "Quantcast Meebo". http://www.quantcast.com/meebo.com. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
- ^ "Support for MySpaceIM". http://forum.meebo.com/viewtopic.php?t=15192. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
- ^ DOT-COM ON THE CHEAP / Startups shun forebears' excesses, and some workers even bring their own chairs
- ^ "Meebo App Store link". http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/meebo/id351727311?mt=8.
- ^ "Meebo.com homepage about mobile phones clients". http://www.meebo.com/meebomobile/.
- ^ "Sequoia Capital funds Meebo". http://www.sequoiacap.com/company/meebo/.
- ^ "About Meebo". http://blog.meebo.com/about?i. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
- ^ Business Insider, Feb. 8, 2011: How Meebo Got Started And Its Strategy To Make The Web More Social
- ^ meeblog » Blog Archive » Meebo and amie street sing a duet
- ^ Amie Street - Music Lives Here - Independent Music Download Website
- ^ "meebo's Impressive Growth". 2005-12-12. http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/12/12/meebos-impressive-growth/. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
- ^ meeblog » Blog Archive » release 24: Meebo rooms!
- ^ http://blog.meebo.com/?p=353
- ^ "Meebo secures 25M in venture capital funding". http://www.sequoiacap.com/news/meebo-raises-$25-million/.
- ^ http://blog.meebo.com/?p=1105
- ^ http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/meebo_facebook_myspace.php
- ^ http://blog.meebo.com/?p=2281
- ^ meeblog » Blog Archive » new changes — rooms
- ^ meeblog » Blog Archive » rooms update
- ^ Recent Chat Logs from Gemini Chatroom
- ^ Meebo Rooms
- ^ "Content Sharing Provider Meebo Raises $25 Million". http://paidcontent.org/article/419-content-sharing-provider-meebo-raises-25-million/.
- ^ Meebo Announcement
- ^ Announcing Facebook, PepsiCo, Meebo & Loreen Arbus Foundation as CoChairs for Awards
- ^ Lead411 launches "Hottest Silicon Valley Companies" awards
External links
- https://www.meebo.com
- CEO Seth Sternberg Interview, Social Networking Watch, Nov 09
- Meebo application for the Android OS
- Meebo application for iPhone and iPod
Instant messaging Protocols
(comparison)See also Clients by protocol (comparison)Single protocol Multi-protocol - Adium
- Ayttm
- BitlBee
- Centericq
- Digsby
- eBuddy
- Empathy
- Fire
- iChat
- Jitsi
- Kopete
- Mail.ru Agent
- Meebo
- Miranda IM
- Microsoft Lync
- Nimbuzz IM
- Palringo
- Pidgin
- Trillian
- QIP 2010
- Xfire
XMPP (Jabber) .NET Messenger Categories:- Chat-related websites
- Instant messaging clients
- Android software
- IOS software
- Web 2.0
- Companies established in 2005
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
