GLEE.com 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 ...

site geared toward the

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, lesbian,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

communities. The site was launched in February 2007 by Community Connect Inc. Community Connect was acquired by RadioOne Inc (now

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American ...

) in 2008. The site was shut down in 2010-11. Community Connect operated several niche market social networking sites and GLEE was their latest venture. As with their other social network sites, GLEE was modeled after the popular MySpace and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

offering many of the same features. GLEE.com was available only in the English language and primarily the North American market with approximately 86% of its users in the United States.

Operations

The site was free to users, generating revenues through advertising. Users registered and created profiles, which could include a variety of layout themes for profiles, users also had the option of custom designing a profile layout. Typically, profiles might include uploaded photo albums, music players, lists of interests and friends list. Other features included blog hosting, video hosting, groups, style and news sections, and community bulletin boards covering a variety of issues but with the added emphasis on those issues of importance to the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

community.

Instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...

, and email iswasavailable with other registered users. In addition, profiles are allowed a mirror on GLEE.com's professional networking site, which allows for job search (through an arrangement with

Monster.com Monster.com is a global employment website owned and operated by Monster Worldwide, Inc. It was created in 1999 through the merger of The Monster Board (TMB) and Online Career Centre (OCC). It is a subsidiary of Randstad Holding, a Dutch mu ...

) along with the other features found on the social network.

Publicity

GLEE.com's launch in early 2007 received generally favorable coverage in internet focused media, with the caveat about competition from established sites and others still on the drawing board divvying up the niche market for potential LGBT users. In October 2007 GLEE.com received free publicity from an unlikely source, the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. The advertising firm that handles the military's recruiting advertising inadvertently placed the ads on the site. The mainstream and LGBT press along with several comedians picked up on the gaffe of advertising to an audience that the U.S. military then actively barred from joining through its

Don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decembe ...

policy. The ''Washington Post'' noted that

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

created a profile on the site during the 2008 US Presidential election campaign.

References

External links

*
Community Connect, Inc. Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glee.Com American social networking websites Companies based in New York City Internet properties established in 2007