Faceparty
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Faceparty is a UK based Social Networking site allowing users to create online profiles and interact with each other using instant chat and messaging facilities (like an interface similar to email).
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[edit] History
Faceparty was created by Andrew David 'Dave' Bamforth and Phineas Kibbey in Autumn 2000. Previously the pair had founded an earlier community website in 1998 under the name Captain Miracle, after having worked together at peoplesound.com. As of May 2008, Faceparty claims that the site was in fact established in 1996 though there is no evidence of its existence before late 2000. It is possible that this retroactive change has been made to back up the website's claim to be the first social networking site. [1]
[edit] New Faceparty
In April 2008, it was announced that a new company, "Anarchy Towers Ltd" would be acquiring faceparty from CIS Internet Ltd and that not all profiles would be purchased. [1]. It was also announced that all advertising had been removed in a bid to become less corporate, and that staff levels would fall from 18 to 4. By shifting strategy and relying solely on premium SMS income, the company stated that it would be free to return to its roots. [2]
In addition, and without notice, Faceparty systematically deleted the profiles of members over the age of 35. The reason given by Faceparty is that it was required to do this by the UK government to comply with new child protection laws. However it has widely been pointed out that the new legislation Faceparty refers to is not actually currently law, merely a proposal from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for a system whereby sex offenders are required to register their email addresses with the Government.[3]
The chatroom facility (Party Chat) was also removed from the site. A posting by the site's administration states that it will not return, and gives one of the reasons for its removal as the chatrooms' infiltration by paedophiles and other perverts. Anyone disagreeing with this decision would also have their profiles removed, instantly and without warning.[4]
Customers were allowed to purchase cool tools within the last 2 months before being told that any accounts made within the last 2 months were being deleted. In order to get a refund on the cool tools purchase, customers also need to send in a copy of their driving license or passport.Faceparty statement
Currently it is only possible to join Faceparty by invitation from another member. Any public posting of the passwords required to join will also result in instant profile deletion.[5]
[edit] Membership
On June 2006 the site claimed 6 million 'audited' subscribers with an additional 35,000 new members joining every week.
Since April 2008, faceparty have removed the new member count which always claimed roughly 35,000 to 40,000 new members a week. However, users noted that such large increases were not reflected in the number of people present in the chat rooms or the number of profiles. Additionally due to the site not requiring email verification of new members, many profiles were duplicates or covert advertisements for commercial webcam sites and adult contact networks.[6]
[edit] Further Controversy
In 2004, the British press reported that police were investigating Faceparty for allegedly featuring pornographic images of underage girls. It was reported that girls as young as 13 were posting provocative and sometimes sexually explicit images of themselves on the website in return for gifts such as mobile phone top-ups from other users.
Faceparty claimed that they have now banned anyone signing up who lists themselves as under the age of 16 however it has been common protocol for minors to signup as 16 and disclose their real age on their profile. Under British law (Protection of Children Act) no person under the age of 18 is permitted to have indecent images or video of themselves produced for distribution whether physically or digitally, and no person is allowed to have in their possession indecent images or videos of someone under 18 which has a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
Faceparty said it would liaise with police to remove all illegal material and implement measures to stop underaged persons from signing up to their website but has proven unsuccessful.Police Investigate Dating Website
In 2006, Faceparty censured for running a banner that told purchasers of Blue Skin clothing, it would ensure they "got laid", following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority from a member of the public, who strongly objected to the message the banner was projecting to Faceparty's younger internet surfers.ASA adjudication
A defining ruling followed, and the complaint was upheld about the banner that both Blue Skin and Faceparty insisted was a tongue-in-cheek way of communicating with a sex-savvy audience, however, both companies removed it following the complaint, and apologised for any offence it had caused. Faceparty said the ad was no longer appearing, but pointed out "individuals had to be 16 years old in order to join Faceparty".
The ASA noted the terms and conditions of Faceparty.com, which stated that members had to be 16 years old. However, they also noted the site could be browsed without membership. Although the membership function featured a disclaimer, there was no guarantee that those under 16 years of age would not join.
The ASA ruled that the advert made an explicit reference to sex and/or sexual activity and, because it was likely to be seen by those under the age of 16 years, it could be seen to condone or encourage underage sex, and therefore they concluded that the advert was irresponsible.
The ad was stated to have breached CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising), 47.2 and 47.3 (Children), and codes Section: 2.2, 47.2, 47.3 (Ed 11). Details
[edit] Pay-for services
Whilst some of the site is free to use, many of the features of Faceparty require Cool Tools [7] which allows users to see who has been visiting their profile and rating them. Unlike more widely used social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, users are required to pay an annual fee for these services.
Faceparty also offers its own 'Adult Verification System' (AVS) which allows users over the age of 18 to view restricted 'adult' content on other users profiles. A criticism is that due to moderators manually rating every image uploaded by users, very often relatively tame images are marked as 'adult'. For example, an innocuous image of someone giving the middle finger will be restricted to the 'adult pics' section[citation needed]. Faceparty charges a monthly subscription for its AVS service. [8]
[edit] Music
In mid July 2006, Sony BMG struck a short-lived partnership with Faceparty, allowing its artists to be promoted to the social network's members on an exclusive basis, with competitions, free music downloads, and other promotions planned.[2] Faceparty's music promotion push followed a trend set by other social networking sites such as MySpace.
