Mrluvaluva
27-03-2012, 07:40 PM
Friends Reunited has today relaunched with a new focus on members getting nostalgic with more than 10 million "memories" that can be assembled in their own 'digital scrapbooks'.
Brightsolid Group, which acquired the site for £25m from ITV in 2010, has signed deals with The Press Association and photography archive The Francis Frith Collection for the new-look Friends Reunited.
The website remains a place for people to track down old school friends, but Brightsolid also wants it to be the place to search for those 'Remember when?' moments, and then share them with other users.
Brightsolid, which also owns the Genes Reunited and Findmypast networks, hopes that this will broaden the appeal of Friends Reunited, which was somewhat of a social networking pioneer after launching in 2000 - persuading ITV to lavish £120m on buying the company in 2005 - but soon lost ground to rivals, such as MySpace and Facebook.
Going live today, the beta of the new site features a range of images from the past, including The Silver Jubilee in 1977, or Freddie Mercury's career-defining performance at Live Aid in 1985.
Members can use a "keep" button to add images to their own nostalgia collection, covering events, places and moments from history.
Personal memories, such as videos, scanned ticket stubs or memorabilia, can be stored privately and then made viewable by just a select few, or open to the public.
The relaunch will start with 10m publicly available 'memories' at beta, including 6m photos, 2m events and 2m places covering a range of eras and themes. New collections will be added over time as part of the deals with PA and Francis Frith.
Brightsolid chief executive Chris van der Kuyl said that the new Friends Reunited will offer a "uniquely nostalgic experience" that is entertaining but also "powerful and lasting".
"Nowhere else can you find a single place to search, collect and save the bigger, more important moments in your life, memories which, in today's digital world, are in danger of slipping through your fingers," he said.
"We need to protect our precious and shared memories for longevity, which the new site enables you to do, or we're at risk of becoming the lost generation."
Last year, Brightsolid teamed up with the British Library to launch the British Newspaper Archive, offering a "unique treasure trove" of millions of newspaper pages online dating bating back to 18th century.
As part of this collaboration, Van der Kuyl said that 20th century editions of local newspapers and journals will also be "added to Friends Reunited in the future".
The new Friends Reunited will automatically create more than 24.3 million "Family Boxes" - one for each of the site's existing members - on which people can share memories with their own group of friends.
Friends Reunited has also created more than 10,000 nostalgic collections for people to browse, including such titles as "I Can't Believe We Wore It!" to "Maggie Thatcher's Britain".
Working similarly to Facebook Pages, companies can create their own "Brand Boxes" featuring their history and bespoke features to promote their wares to potential consumers.
"Brands are increasingly emphasising their rich history as a way to gain trust and loyalty in a recessionary market" said Van der Kuyl.
"As a company built on nostalgia, we are in a great place to offer brands a way to exhibit this heritage in a visually compelling and entertaining way."
In order not to compete directly with well-funded and powerful rivals, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+, Friends Reunited will instead encourage users to actively share their 'memories' on the social networks. It will also launch a dedicated app on Facebook.
Ian Maude, the head of internet at Enders Analysis, said that the relaunch of Friends Reunited is the "first serious attempt to do something different to Facebook".
"It's not just another social network, but rather a digital scrapbook aimed specifically at UK internet users," he added. "Chris and his team could be onto something."
Digital Spy (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a373408/friends-reunited-relaunches-as-digital-scrapbook.html)
Brightsolid Group, which acquired the site for £25m from ITV in 2010, has signed deals with The Press Association and photography archive The Francis Frith Collection for the new-look Friends Reunited.
The website remains a place for people to track down old school friends, but Brightsolid also wants it to be the place to search for those 'Remember when?' moments, and then share them with other users.
Brightsolid, which also owns the Genes Reunited and Findmypast networks, hopes that this will broaden the appeal of Friends Reunited, which was somewhat of a social networking pioneer after launching in 2000 - persuading ITV to lavish £120m on buying the company in 2005 - but soon lost ground to rivals, such as MySpace and Facebook.
Going live today, the beta of the new site features a range of images from the past, including The Silver Jubilee in 1977, or Freddie Mercury's career-defining performance at Live Aid in 1985.
Members can use a "keep" button to add images to their own nostalgia collection, covering events, places and moments from history.
Personal memories, such as videos, scanned ticket stubs or memorabilia, can be stored privately and then made viewable by just a select few, or open to the public.
The relaunch will start with 10m publicly available 'memories' at beta, including 6m photos, 2m events and 2m places covering a range of eras and themes. New collections will be added over time as part of the deals with PA and Francis Frith.
Brightsolid chief executive Chris van der Kuyl said that the new Friends Reunited will offer a "uniquely nostalgic experience" that is entertaining but also "powerful and lasting".
"Nowhere else can you find a single place to search, collect and save the bigger, more important moments in your life, memories which, in today's digital world, are in danger of slipping through your fingers," he said.
"We need to protect our precious and shared memories for longevity, which the new site enables you to do, or we're at risk of becoming the lost generation."
Last year, Brightsolid teamed up with the British Library to launch the British Newspaper Archive, offering a "unique treasure trove" of millions of newspaper pages online dating bating back to 18th century.
As part of this collaboration, Van der Kuyl said that 20th century editions of local newspapers and journals will also be "added to Friends Reunited in the future".
The new Friends Reunited will automatically create more than 24.3 million "Family Boxes" - one for each of the site's existing members - on which people can share memories with their own group of friends.
Friends Reunited has also created more than 10,000 nostalgic collections for people to browse, including such titles as "I Can't Believe We Wore It!" to "Maggie Thatcher's Britain".
Working similarly to Facebook Pages, companies can create their own "Brand Boxes" featuring their history and bespoke features to promote their wares to potential consumers.
"Brands are increasingly emphasising their rich history as a way to gain trust and loyalty in a recessionary market" said Van der Kuyl.
"As a company built on nostalgia, we are in a great place to offer brands a way to exhibit this heritage in a visually compelling and entertaining way."
In order not to compete directly with well-funded and powerful rivals, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+, Friends Reunited will instead encourage users to actively share their 'memories' on the social networks. It will also launch a dedicated app on Facebook.
Ian Maude, the head of internet at Enders Analysis, said that the relaunch of Friends Reunited is the "first serious attempt to do something different to Facebook".
"It's not just another social network, but rather a digital scrapbook aimed specifically at UK internet users," he added. "Chris and his team could be onto something."
Digital Spy (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a373408/friends-reunited-relaunches-as-digital-scrapbook.html)