Capazoo was a
social network
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 an ...
and entertainment web site which allowed its members to add friends, write
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
s, share music, photos, and videos. Capazoo was co-founded by two brothers, Michel Verville and Luc Verville in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and was launched for the first time in November 2006. Capazoo shut down for a period of time in the middle of 2007. Four months after Capazoo relaunched in October 2007 the co-founders sued each other in court due to the alleged corruption that was in the company.
Site features
Capazoo had a multi-lingual user interface which gave visitors and members the choice between
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
Members of Capazoo were able to search for other members and add them as friends. Friends could send messages to each other via an internal messaging system. Capazoo also provided blogging, photo, video, and music upload services.
One of Capazoo's unique features was the creation of its own online
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
called Zoops. Members are able to give other members Zoops for their videos, photos, music, blogs and profiles. Each Zoop was worth $0.01 U.S. Capazoo provided their subscribed members with a debit card enabling them to turn their accumulated Zoops into usable currency. Capazoo also had a referral program that let members earn Zoops by referring new members to the site.
On March 13, 2008 at 9 am EST, Capazoo Executives had a meeting where it was decided that they would lay off their entire staff because of unresolved legal issues with the co-founders.
Ultimately, the company has become bankrupt and ceased all operations.
Partnerships
On December 18, 2007
National Lampoon Inc
National Lampoon, Inc. is a company formed in 2002 in order to use the brand name "National Lampoon" in comedy and entertainment following the tradition of its magazine predecessor, '' The National Lampoon''. In the words of its prospectus, the ...
joined in a partnership with Capazoo. National Lampoon acquired an equity stake in Capazoo. All of National Lampoons internet content will be available on Capazoo. As well, Capazoo agreed to sponsor a series of live stand-up comedy acts.
Capazoo had a partnership in place with ComedyNet to add exclusive content to Capazoo.
Iovation was contracted to handle fraud management and security services.
Capazoo also entered into a $5 million, three-year agreement with Savvis for web hosting services, but received criticism about making such a move.
[update] Capazoo’s misguided efforts , Montreal Tech Watch
References
External links
Internet Archive - Capazoo.com - Feb 2008
Internet Archive - Capazooinsiders.com - Jan 2007
Capazoo
(link down)
{{Online social networking
Internet properties established in 2006
Defunct online companies
Defunct social networking services