'''WebChat Broadcasting System''', or '''WBS''' for short, was a [[virtual community]] that existedwas developed during the 1990s. Supported by online advertising, it was one of few services at the time to offer free integrated community services including chat rooms, message boards, and free personal web pages. Extremely popular during the mid to late 1990s in the era prior to the [[Dot-com bubble|Dot-com bust]], WBS was the largest and best-known social media website of its time.<ref name="French_(1999)_p66">{{Cite book | last=French | first=Deanie | title=Internet Based Learning: An Introduction and Framework for Higher Education | publisher=Stylus Publishing, LLC. | year=1999 | page=66 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYNWtoec0O8C&lpg=PA66&pg=PA66&vq=%22WebChat+Broadcasting+System%22&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false | isbn=9781579220075}}</ref> In 1998, WBS was acquired by the search engine [[Infoseek]], which was in turn acquired by [[Disney-ABC Television Group|Disney/ABC]]. The original WebChat Broadcasting System closed on 15 September 1999 after its chat rooms were integrated into Disney's existing [[Go.com|Go Network]] chat rooms.<ref name="WBS_closure">{{Cite web | title=Untitled statement about WBS' closure | url=http://hup1.go.com/cgi-bin/wbs/message.cgi | website=GO Network | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991130011633/http://hup1.go.com/cgi-bin/wbs/message.cgi | archive-date=30 November 1999 | url-status=dead}}</ref> A revival of WBS was launched in 2009 and is virtually identical to the original community.<ref name="classic-web.net">[http://classic-wbs.net WebChat Broadcasting System (Beta) - WBS.NET]. Retrieved on 25 September 2013.</ref>
