WebChat Broadcasting System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:44, 23 May 2020

Revision as of 09:10, 23 May 2020

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In August 1996, WBS had 500,000 users and was growing by 3,000 users a day.

In February 1997, WBS reached a milestone of 1 million registered users, accruing 4,000 new registered users and 5.5 million page views every day.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619111447/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_Feb_3/ai_19082095/|title=WebChat Broadcasting System hits 1 million registered users Business Wire - FindArticles|date=2006-06-19|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref> Registrations were not confirmed. At this point, it was featuring 200 individual affinity groups. Within a week of the launch of a new feature to allow members to create their own home pages, over 15,000 members had begun using it.<ref name=":01_million_accounts">{{Cite press release | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_Feb_3/ai_19082095/ | title=WebChat Broadcasting System hits 1 million registered users | ___location=Menlo Park, California | publisher=[[Business Wire]], [[FindArticles]] | date=3 February 1997 | access-date=28 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619111447/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_Feb_3/ai_19082095/ | archive-date=19 June 2006 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

In May 1997 WBS had 1.4 million registered users. The other large web chat company at this time was WebGenesis Inc.'s [[theGlobe.com|The Globe]]. Also internet service provider AOL had over 14,000 chat rooms available to their customers through their non-web interface.<ref name="business_week">{{Cite web | last=Hof | first=Robert | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Breaking out of the yak pack | work=Business Week | publisher=McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. | date=May 5, 1997 | url=http://www.businessweek.com/1997/18/b35257.htm | doi= | accessdate=August 19, 2009}}</ref>

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In June 1997 WBS hit 1.5 million registered users and had 7 million daily page views with over 200 rooms.<ref name="business_journal">{{cite web | last=Fernandes | first=Lorna | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Techweek - WebChat serves 1.5 million | work=Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal | publisher= | date=June 20, 1997 | url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1997/06/23/newscolumn2.html | doi = | accessdate=August 19, 2009}}</ref>

WBS frequently hosted real-time multimedia programming events, which only increased as its popularity grew. Such events attracted celebrities such as [[Tom Clancy]], the celebrity cast of [[Star Trek]], bands [[Soundgarden]] and [[Metallica]], the former president of [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]], Lawrence Grossman from [[NBC|NBC News]], [[United States]] Senator [[Arlen Specter]], [[Intel]] CEO [[Andy Grove]] and feminist [[Gloria Steinem]].<ref name=":01_million_accounts" /><ref name="business_wire_flock">{{Cite webpress | last= | first= | authorlink= | coauthors=release | title=Internet Users Flock to WebChat Broadcasting System; Site Now the Largest Chatting Hub on the World Wide Web | work___location=BusinessMenlo WirePark, California | publisher=Business Wire, FindArticles | date=November 20, November 1995 | url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_Nov_20/ai_17769738 | doiaccessdate=23 May 2020 | accessdatearchive-url=Augusthttps://web.archive.org/web/20090912013719/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_Nov_20/ai_17769738 17,| archive-date=12 September 2009 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Rise of instant messaging===