Xanga
Xanga (/ˈzæŋɡə/) was a website that hosted weblogs, photoblogs, and social networking profiles. It was operated by Xanga.com, Inc. and based in New York City.[2]
Type of site
2013
Xanga.com, Inc.
John Hiler, Marc Ginsburg, Dan Huddle
Free/Subscription
Required to blog
April 4, 1999[1]
History[edit]
Xanga began in 1999 as a site for sharing book and music reviews. It became public in 2000, following a series of e-mail recruitment methods via GeoCities.[3] Over the next few years, Xanga underwent several formatting changes. Featured Content was divided in 2002,[4] being replaced by Premium and Classic views.[5] Eventually, new profile features such as friends, "nudges", and chat forums that resemble Facebook were added, and video and audio capability were added in 2006.[6] In 2013, Xanga was under threat of shutting down unless it raised $60k by mid-July (for "Xanga 2.0").[7] Failing to reach that goal, Xanga became an un-navigatable page in late 2013.
Revenue[edit]
Premium subscriptions[edit]
Xanga offered two levels of premium subscriptions: Premium and Premium Plus. Members who subscribed to either service received additional features, including additional photo storage and monthly uploads.
The Premium plan provided 2 GB of photo storage and 100 MB of monthly uploads while the Premium Plus plan provided unlimited photo storage and 1GB of monthly uploads. Premium members on both plans could customize their site using skins, post entries to their site via electronic mail, and download archives of their entries. Pages of Premium members did not contain web banners. Some other Premium features included a higher limit on profile pictures, a custom sidebar, and specialized page skins.[25]
Xanga Premium was first launched on May 1, 2001, largely consisting of 20 MB of photo hosting (although limits on photos were not enforced). A downloadable archive of entries and comments was added to the premium offering on May 10, 2001, while customizable Skins were added on February 15, 2002.[26]
Payment options for Premium grew over time. When Premium first launched on May 1, 2001, Xangans could pay for Premium only with a credit card. Support for check payments was added on April 15, 2002, while support for PayPal was added on May 13, 2002. Support for gifting of Premium was added on December 23, 2001.[27] The Premium Plus plan was added on November 8, 2005.[28]
Xanga Premium later increased to 10 GB of storage space.[29]