Formspring
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Formspring pioneered the anonymous ask-me-anything Q&A format online. Launched in November 2009 in San Francisco by founder and CEO Ade Olonoh, it let anyone ask and answer questions, growing to more than 30 million registered users and 4 billion posts. The company raised $14 million in venture capital.
02 / Formspring FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Formspring was squeezed from two sides. Larger platforms, notably Tumblr, copied its signature Q&A features and siphoned off users, while anonymity made the site a magnet for cyberbullying, it was cited in the suicides of at least two teenagers, which poisoned the brand. A 2012 rebrand as an interest-based social network failed to revive growth, staff were cut, the COO departed, and the company could no longer sustain the resources to keep the site running, shutting down in March 2013.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Launch
Ade Olonoh launches Formspring in November 2009 as an anonymous Q&A platform.
- Rebrand and breach
Formspring rebrands as an interest-based social network and suffers a breach leaking 420,000 password hashes.
- Shutdown
Formspring announces its shutdown on March 15, 2013; posting ends March 31 and the site goes offline April 15 after data exports. Its assets are later acquired by Spring.me.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Formspring raised $14 million in venture capital.
- 02
The site shut down on March 31, 2013, with data exports available until April 15, 2013.
- 03
Formspring's website and database were later acquired by Spring.me.
- 04
No reliable loss figure with a clear subject, period and basis exists, so no loss amount is recorded.