Facekoo was a
social networking
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for a ...
service created and designed by Facekoo, which targets the
Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...
market. It offers a unique way of
face recognition
A facial recognition system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, an ...
system to connect each member to create a social circle. According to
Alexa's ranking, its page views surpassed MySpace China in November 2008 and December 2008.
Launch
Facekoo () was a
social networking
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for a ...
platform created by a private proprietorship, the FaceKoo, Inc., which was based in
Beijing, China
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. The FaceKoo name is derived from "face" and "koo" (a
homonym
In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones (equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition, ...
for cool in Chinese). In the
Chinese-language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...
based market, this social networking platform targeted
teenagers
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
.
FaceKoo was created by co-founders Calvin Pak, CEO, David Yan, Chief technical officer, and Sheryl Liu, CMO, who are all
Chinese Americans with extensive business track records in the
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Count ...
.
[ FaceKoo offered numerous features, such as Mojing, a magic mirror that liked users to another FaceKoo member by facial analysis. Facial features could be chosen by users, so they could find their ideal “koo-friend”. Online games and other interactive applications are also fascinating features available on FaceKoo.
FaceKoo rapidly grew since the initial launch in March 2008 in China. A Facebook sound alike website, FaceKoo, was considered as one of the major Chinese social networking site that can fit into the Eastern culture, said FaceKoo's founder. According to ]San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...
, FaceKoo had 350,000 users since its introduction in 2004.
See also
*List of social networking websites
A social networking service is an online platform that people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.
This is a li ...
*Internet in China
China has been on the internet intermittently since May 1989 and on a permanent basis since 20 April 1994, although with limited access. In 2008, China became the country with the largest population on the Internet and, , has remained so. As ...
References
External links
FaceKoo Home Page
Chinese social networking websites
Student culture
Privately held companies of China
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