FFFFOUND! was a

social bookmarking Social bookmarking is an online service which allows users to add, annotate, edit, and share bookmarks of web documents. Many online bookmark management services have launched since 1996; Delicious, founded in 2003, popularized the terms "social ...

web site that allowed registered users to share already existing images on the Internet and to receive personalized recommendations of other images. Users not registered could view these posts and the corresponding recommendations; registration was strictly by invitation. The site was established in 2007 by Yosuke Abe and Keita Kitamura of the Japanese company Tha, owned by

Yugo Nakamura is a Japanese web designer. Yugo studied engineering, architecture and landscape design. He is one of the authors of ''New Masters Of Flash'' (2003). Yugo has exhibited and lectured in Asia, United States, and Europe. His artwork has been shown ...

. The site closed down on 15 May 2017.

Operation

FFFFOUND! operated as a

web site for

sharing Sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite goods, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. Still ...

already existing images on the Internet. Based on their support of other images by means of a

like button A like button, like option, or recommend button, is a feature in communication software such as social networking services, Internet forums, news websites and blogs where the user can express that they like, enjoy or support certain content. In ...

, users received personalized recommendations comprising other images. These recommendations were available to the public and may serve as artistic inspiration. FFFFOUND! was established by Yosuke Abe and Keita Kitamura of Tha, a Japanese web development company owned by

, in June 2007. Since its founding, registration has been allowed strictly by invitation, out of fear of the site becoming too large to organize and manage. Nakamura avoided elements of modern web design while directing the development of the site in order to keep its appearance simple. By December 2008, the site hosted over 500,000 images.

Reception

An editor of ''

Creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...

'' called FFFFOUND! a magnet for

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

s at the launch of the site's

beta version A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

in 2008. Calling invitations to this release a desirable commodity, the editor praised the site's ease of use and the unpredictable nature of its algorithm for creating recommendations. Russell Davies of ''

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

'' called social interaction on the site minimal but thought the community of users cohesive in spite of this. Louisa Pacifico of ''

Design Week ''Design Week'' is a UK-based website, formerly a magazine for the design industry. It was first published in October 1986 by Centaur Communications. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations primary circulation for 2007 was 8,074. In 2011, ...

'' considered the small number of users constructive to the site's quality and thought that the large number of images would leave any user regularly satisfied. The Brazilian web designer Fabio Giolito created

We Heart It We Heart It is an image-based social media, social network. We Heart It describes itself as "A home for your inspiration" and a place to "Organize and share the things you love." Users can collect (or "heart") their favorite images to share with f ...

, another image bookmarking service, in response to FFFFOUND!'s limited registration.

Notes

References

External links

*{{Official website, ffffound.com Internet properties established in 2007 Internet properties disestablished in 2017 Japanese social networking websites Image-sharing websites Social bookmarking websites