eCRUSH
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2007) |
Hearst Corporation | |
Created by | Clark Benson, Karen DeMars Pillsbury |
---|---|
URL | eCRUSH.com |
Registration | Yes |
Launched | February 14, 1999 |
Current status | Defunct as of August 1, 2011 |
The eCRUSH network consisted of two sites: eCRUSH.com and
eSPIN
eSPIN was a spin the bottle-like social networking service backed by a matchmaking engine. Users would "spin the bottle" to find other users (although they could also search); the site also had quizzes. Registration was free, however, one had to pay a monthly fee or unlock various tools via sponsors to do key processes like chatting or sending messages.
Age restrictions
eSPIN prohibited minors from contacting adults and vice versa, and their administrators screened user-submitted content before it was made public. Additionally, minors were prohibited from publicly posting contact information like
eCRUSH
eCRUSH.com was a teen-oriented anonymous matching site designed to obviate fears of unrequited love.[4] A user created a list of people he was interested in, and had the option of sending anonymous emails to those individuals indicating that an unidentified person had a crush on them. The recipient could then log on to the site and create a list of people they were interested in. If the two people selected each other, then the system notified them of the match. This system is a type of viral marketing in which awareness of the site spreads among friends and acquaintances similarly to a virus as they list each other as crushes and send emails.
Other aspects of eCRUSH
Demographics
In accordance with the
The "Don't Be An Idiot" Campaign
In January 2009, eSPIN began the "Don't Be An Idiot" campaign to educate teens about
The company's emails promised, "At eCRUSH, we know how important your love life is to you, and we would never take advantage of your emotions just to spam your crush." However, an April 22, 1999 article in Ohio University's The Post argued, "It is rare to be matched up with your one and only by trickery or bizarre circumstance. When eCRUSH's initial e-mail is sent, the recipient might discard it like a chain letter or an invitation to a porn site".[6]
The "Someone has an eCRUSH on you" emails did not list the name of anyone the friend knows; therefore, a recipient unfamiliar with eCRUSH could very well interpret them as
Deactivation of Websites
On August 1, 2011, the entire eCRUSH/eSPIN network was deactivated by Hearst Digital Media, and all eCRUSH-related domains began redirecting to a Seventeen.com-hosted landing page.[7]
References
- ^ "Hearst Magazines Announces Acquisition of eCRUSH.com, INC". Hearst Magazines Digital Media. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
- ^ "Hearst Corp. buys Chicago's eCrush". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
- ^ Siklos, Richard (January 21, 2007). "Big Media's Crush on Social Networking". The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
- ^ Stern, Daniel (February 14, 2001). "Be Mine Online". The Cavalier Daily. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
- ^ Yamada, Ken. "Shop Talk: The Web has an eCrush". Red Herring. Archived from the original on April 5, 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
- ^ Elig, Jenny and Harvilla, Rob: "Even computers won't make match-making easy". The Post. April 22, 1999. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
- ^ "A Message for eSPIN Users". Seventeen.com. July 27, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2017.