Grono.net was a

social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, ac ...

based in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It was referred to as "the Polish equivalent of

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, Dust ...

" and had over 2 million members. It featured

Internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least tempora ...

photo sharing Image sharing, or photo sharing, is the publishing or transfer of digital photos online. Image sharing websites offer services such as uploading, hosting, managing and sharing of photos (publicly or privately). This function is provided through ...

, links to cultural events, an

employment website An employment website is a website that deals specifically with employment or careers. Many employment websites are designed to allow employers to post job requirements for a position to be filled and are commonly known as job boards. Other em ...

, and an

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

for the sale of property. The site included a

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ...

model; features for paying subscribers included the ability to moderate forums, take part in competitions, upload more photos and hide

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

s. It required an invitation from an existing member to register.

History

The website was founded by Wojciech Sobczuk and launched on February 11, 2004. In July 2009, Aleksander Kierski, one of grono.net's creditors, filed a bankruptcy petition against the service for unpaid debts, but on September 7, 2009, the Warsaw District Court dismissed the above petition on the grounds that all creditors had been paid. On 1 July 2012, the service was shut down without warning; it faced financial difficulties due to competition from

References

Defunct companies of Poland Defunct social networking services Internet properties established in 2004 Internet properties disestablished in 2012 {{Poland-media-stub