|
| traded_as =
| foundation =
| location_city = [[San Francisco]], [[California]]
| location_country = [[United States|U.S.]]US
| area_served = Worldwide
| founder = Ade Olonoh
Formspring was launched in Indianapolis in November 2009 by the founder of [[website builder|online form builder]] [[Formstack]], Ade Olonoh. He noticed that most of their users were using the service to create "ask me anything" forms and decided to launch a separate site to make this easier. At launch, Formspring was referred to by its full [[URL]], formspring.me, to distinguish it from Formstack, which was at that time also called Formspring.com. Formspring.me gained 1 million registered users in its first 45 days, so the original Formspring website was renamed to avoid confusion between the two sites.
Formspring was soon spun off into a separate company and moved to [[San Francisco]], [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibj.com/formspringcom-changes-name-to-eliminate-confusion-with-social-site/PARAMS/article/18911 |title=FormSpring.com changes name to eliminate confusion with social site | Indianapolis Business Journal |publisher=IBJ.com |date=2010-03-27 |accessdate=2010-11-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://about.formspring.me/press#faq |title=About Formspring |publisher=about.formspring.me |date=2010-10-19 |accessdate=2010-11-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/68VMxwD10?url=http://about.formspring.me/press#faq |archivedate=2012-06-18 }}</ref> Due to its sudden popularity, a number of websites quickly implemented similar features, such as [[ASKfm]], [[Tumblr]], and [[MyYearbook]]'s "Ask Me" services.<ref>{{cite web|author=Jason Kincaid January 6, 2010 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/01/06/tumblr-formspring/ |title="Inspired" By Formspring, Tumblr Launches Nearly Identical "Ask Me" |publisher=Techcrunch.com |date=2010-01-06 |accessdate=2010-11-06}}</ref> On June 3, 2010, Formspring launched a major redesign, overhauling every aspect of the website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.formspring.me/2010/06/did-formspring-get-a-facelift/|title=Did Formspring get a facelift?|last=Watkins|first=Cap|date=2010-06-03|publisher=formspring.me blog|accessdate=3 June 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/68VMzEx4p?url=http://blog.formspring.me/2010/06/did-formspring-get-a-facelift/|archivedate=18 June 2012}}</ref>
In response to its growth, Formspring received a $2.5 million series seed round of funding from a large group of angel investors, including SV Angel, Lowercase Capital, Kevin Rose, and Dave Morin.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/spring-brings-funding-for-formspringme/?_r=0 | title=Spring Brings Funding for Formspring.me | work=The New York Times | date=18 March 2010 | accessdate=12 January 2014 | author=Stone, Brad}}</ref> In January 2011, it received an additional $11.5 million series A round of funding from Redpoint Ventures and Baseline Ventures.<ref>{{cite web|title=Formspring|url=http://www.crunchbase.com/company/formspring|publisher=CrunchBase|accessdate=18 August 2011}}</ref> To further guide the site's growth and explore revenue streams for the company, Formspring named Rogelio (Ro) Choy as COO in April 2011.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=TechCrunch|title=Formspring Names Ro Choy COO; Has Answered Three Billion Questions To Date|last=Lacey|first=Sarah|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/21/formspring-names-ro-choy-coo-has-answered-1-billion-questions-to-date/|accessdate=21 April 2011}}</ref> On June 28, 2011, Formspring announced that its 25 millionth user had signed up.<ref>{{cite web|last=O'Dell|first=Jolie|title=Q&A App Formspring Hits 25 Million Users [INFOGRAPHIC]|url=http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/formspring-25-million-users/|publisher=Mashable|accessdate=18 August 2011}}</ref>
In June 2011, Formspring launched features for celebrities to better communicate with their fans, including verified accounts.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Mashable|title=Celeb Q&A: Formspring Adds Special Features for the Famous|last=O’Dell|first=Jolie|url= http://mashable.com/2011/06/10/formspring-celebrities/|accessdate=9 January 2012}}</ref> Celebrity Formspring users could be found on the site's “Formspring"Formspring Favorites”Favorites" section,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Formspring.me|title=Formspring Favorites |url=http://www.formspring.me/favorites|accessdate=9 January 2012}}</ref> which categorized verified users by music, comedy and various entertainment verticals. In November 2011, Formspring launched a media partnership program,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Mashable|title=Formspring Partners With MTV, Hearst And Others For Topical Q&A|last=Kessler|first=Sarah|url=http://mashable.com/2011/11/03/formspring-partners-with-mtv-hearst-and-others-for-topical-qa/|accessdate=9 January 2012}}</ref> partnering for the first time with media outlets including [[MTV]], [[Hearst Corporation|Hearst]], [[Funny or Die]] and [[The Huffington Post]].
As of early 2012, Formspring had reached over 4 billion responses.<ref name="Empson">{{cite web|publisher=TechCrunch|title=Formspring Hits 4 Billion Answers; Transforms Into Content Curator With "Smile Sort"|last=Empson|first=Rip|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/01/09/formspring-hits-4-billion-answers-transforms-into-content-curator-with-smile-sort/|accessdate=9 January 2012}}</ref> In February 2012, Formspring was named a top ten most innovative social media site by Fast Company.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Fast Company|title=The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012/industry/social-media#formspring|accessdate=13 February 2012}}</ref>
== Features ==
In September 2011, Formspring released an iPhone Application<ref>{{cite news|title=Formspring launches iPhone App|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2011/09/13/formspring-launches-iphone-app-for-its-personal-q-and-a-service/ | work=Forbes | first=Tomio|last=Geron|date=2011-09-13}}</ref> and several months later, in January 2012, further added to its mobile presence with the launch of its Android Application.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Mashable|last=Kessler|first=Sarah|title=Formspring Launches an Android App|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/24/formspring_android/|accessdate=24 January 2012}}</ref>
Also in January 2012, Formspring launched two additional features to the service. One new tool allowed users to sort responses to questions by the number of "Smiles" received in order to bring the most liked content to the top of response streams. The added functionality aimed to give users the power to curate the best content on the site. In addition to letting users see their top smiled responses, the new feature allowed Formspringers to view top responses from other users and also see the most smiled responses to a question that was asked to multiple people at once. The second new functionality launched gave Formspringers the option to choose whether they wanted to publicly or privately follow the accounts of other users. As part of this feature, Formspring users were then able to see how many others on the site were following their account.<ref name="Empson"/>
== Controversies ==
Since its inception, Formspring garnered controversies, especially among teenagers, as it opened doors for [[harassment]] and [[bullying|cyberbullying]] due to the anonymity of the entries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.www.uctangerine.com/media/storage/paper815/news/2010/02/26/Entertainment/Formspring.Sparks.Curiosity.Caution-3879960.shtml |title=Formspring Sparks Curiosity, Caution -– Entertainment |publisher=Media.www.uctangerine.com |date=2010-02-26 |accessdate=2010-11-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301090358/http://media.www.uctangerine.com/media/storage/paper815/news/2010/02/26/Entertainment/Formspring.Sparks.Curiosity.Caution-3879960.shtml |archivedate=2010-03-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/us/06formspring.html | work=The New York Times | title=Teenage Insults, Scrawled on Web, Not on Walls | first=Tamar | last=Lewin | date=May 5, 2010}}</ref> A fight between several students at a [[Central Dauphin East High School|high school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], started after an argument over Formspring and it received some media attention in February 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=School Disputes Claims of Near-Riot|first=Dennis|last=Owens|url=http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0210/707982.html|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611235957/http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0210/707982.html|date=February 19, 2010|archivedate=2010-06-11|work=abc27 News}}</ref> On 12 March 2010, a news article, which later turned out to be a [[hoax]], reported Formspring creators planning to release personal information about its users via [[Twitter]] and other social networking sites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inquisitr.com/66425/formspring-to-reveal-users-private-data/ |title=Formspring prank story plagues Twitter |publisher=Inquisitr.com |date=2010-03-12 |accessdate=2010-11-06}}</ref> Formspring has stated on its company blog that it will never publicly reveal anonymous information of its users.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.formspring.me/2010/08/can-you-tell-me-who-asked-me-an-anonymous-question/ |title=Can you tell me who asked me an anonymous question? |publisher=Formspring.me |date=2010-08-10 |accessdate=2010-12-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/68VN1hxm1?url=http://blog.formspring.me/2010/08/can-you-tell-me-who-asked-me-an-anonymous-question/ |archivedate=2012-06-18 }}</ref> On 22 March 2010, Alexis Pilkington, a 17-year-old New York high school graduate, committed suicide,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/family-friends-shocked-at-cyberposts-after-teen-s-death-1.1827393 |title=Family, friends shocked at cyberposts after teen's death |publisherwork=Newsday.com |date=2010-03-23 |accessdate=2010-11-06}}</ref> reportedly after several insulting comments targeting her had been posted on Formspring in the days leading up to her death. Soon after, a local grassroots boycott of the Formspring site began.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/after-teen-s-death-3-800-pledge-web-site-boycott-1.1829354 |title=Alexis Pilkington's friends vow to boycott social networking site|publisherwork=Newsday.com |date=2010-03-24 |accessdate=2010-11-06}}</ref>
In February 2011, an incident allegedly prompted by bullying on Formspring led to the death of 15-year-old Natasha MacBryde from [[Bromsgrove]], [[Worcestershire]], United Kingdom. The Coroner's inquiry heard that she received anonymous personal abuse via the website on 13 February; this appears to have compounded bullying and teenage anxiety to a level, where MacBryde took her own life on 14 February after researching suicide methods. According to the ''Daily Telegraph'', Det Sgt Shanie Erwin told the inquest that Natasha was known to have received a short anonymous message containing personal abuse via the Formspring networking site on February 13. The message, which was read to the jury by Det Sgt Erwin, derided MacBryde for “hiding”"hiding" behind make-up. It ended: “Start acting nicer to people or you will lose everyone. Mark my words.”<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/8653867/Teenager-in-rail-suicide-was-sent-abusive-message-on-social-networking-site.html |title=Teenager in rail suicide was sent abusive message on social networking site |publisherwork=The Daily Telegraph |date=2011-07-22 |accessdate=2011-09-16 |___location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birminghammail.net/2011/07/22/beautiful-and-talented-teenager-took-her-own-life-inquest-97319-29097736 |title='Beautiful & talented' teenager took her own life -– inquest |publisher=birminghammail.net |date=2011-07-22 |accessdate=2011-07-25}}</ref>
In September 2011, another bullying incident, involving anonymous harassment on Formspring, led to the death of a 14-year-old. [[Jamey Rodemeyer]], a student from [[Williamsville North High School]] in [[New York state]], [[United States]], committed suicide on 18 September after repeated incidents of [[bullying]] in real life and on Formspring. Rodemeyer's video, "[[It Gets Better]]", specifically called out Formspring as a factor in contributing to the anti-gay bullying impacting his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/city/schools/article563538.ece?articleId=563538&pubDate=2011-09-20&order=T&page=3|title=Teenager struggled with bullying before taking his life|publisher=Buffalo News|date=2011-09-20|accessdate=2011-09-20}}</ref>
In March 2011, Formspring participated in a White House Conference on Bullying Prevention along with MTV, Facebook, Survey Monkey and others. At the conference, Formspring announced that it was working with The MIT Media Lab to develop new approaches in detecting cyberbullying, and to design interfaces that would help prevent or mitigate when it occurs.<ref>{{cite web|title=PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY CALL FOR A UNITED EFFORT TO ADDRESS BULLYING|url=http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/10/president-and-first-lady-call-united-effort-address-bullying|publisher=The White House|accessdate=18 August 2011|date=2011-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=O'Dell|first=Jolie|title=Formspring Takes a Stand Against Bullies — With Help From MIT|url=http://mashable.com/2011/03/10/formspring-bullying/|publisher=Mashable|accessdate=18 August 2011}}</ref> In January 2012, Formspring also announced that it was a sponsor of the Great American NO BULL Challenge, a nationwide video contest that encourages teenagers to stand up to bullying.<ref>{{cite web|title=Introducing the Great American NO BULL Challenge|url=http://blog.formspring.me/2012/01/introducing-the-great-american-no-bull-challenge/|work=Formspring Blog|accessdate=5 February 2012}}</ref>
== See also ==
{{Portal|San Francisco Bay Area|Indiana|Internet}}
* [[Social media]]
* [[ASKfm]]
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