Skyrock

Skyrock

URL	http://skyrock.com/
Slogan	Free People Network
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Social network service
Registration	Not Required
Available language(s)	French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Owner	Téléfun
Launched	December 17th, 2002
Alexa rank	#54
Current status	online

Skyrock.com is a social networking site offering its members a free, personal web space where they can create a blog, add a profile, and exchange messages with other registered members. The site also offers a specific space for members who create blogs showcasing their original musical compositions.

Skyrock ranks as the world’s 7th largest social network with over 21 million visitors in June 2008

Skyrock.com began as a blogging site, Skyblog.com, founded by Skyrock CEO Pierre Bellanger in December 2002.

In May 2007, after abandoning the Skyblog.com brand , Skyrock.com was launched as a full-scale social network.

Success and Controversy

Despite being ranked by comScore as the world’s 6th biggest social network with 21 million visitors worldwide, , Skyrock.com is less known than other social networks on an international scale. This is largely due to its origins as a French-language network, but also the fact that its target is young adults aged under 25.

Alexa consistently ranks Skyrock among the top 10 sites in France (n°3), in Belgium (n°6) and in Switzerland (n°9).

Massively embraced by the young generation, Skyrock.com is not always understood by older generations who associate the platform with potential dangers. Given the platform’s high penetration rate in France, Skyrock has its share of highs and lows in the public eye, and deals with its share of uses and abuses. For example, in several French middle schools, students used the platform to malign school personnel, resulting in their expulsion and in the issuing of alerts by schools to warn parents and students about such behavior .

Furthermore, certain American newspapers have attempted to associate the breakout of the Paris Riots in 2005 to usage of Skyblogs However, institutions of the French state have never filed formal complaints indicting the usage of Skyrock Blogs.

On the contrary, French politicians, from the right and the left, have created Skyrock Blogs to stay in contact with the young generation. Examples include Fadela Amara, currently French Secretary of State, and Julien Dray of the French Socialist Party.

Moreover, a few prominent French political institutions have opted to create a Skyrock Blog as a preferred tool to communicate messages. An example is la HALDE, the nation’s High Authority on the Fight Against Discrimination and Exclusion.