Seesmic
Encyclopedia
Seesmic is a suite of freeware
web
, mobile
, and desktop
applications which allow users to simultaneously manage user accounts for multiple social network
s, such as Facebook
and Twitter
.
Launched in 2008 by French entrepreneur Loïc Le Meur
, the service was initially a video sharing website, billed as a cross between Youtube and Twitter, allowing short video comments to be published online. Le Meur shut down the service in 2009 due to its stagnating user base, and then relaunched Seesmic as a social networking tool, with a suite of desktop, mobile and web apps integrating streams from Twitter
, Facebook
and other social media sites. Following the failure to monetize the company, in 2011 Seesmic was relaunched yet again as a customer relations management app.
where it was called the "Twitter
of video". It had 20,000 users and 70,000 viewers per month as of 2008. On April 3, 2008, Seesmic announced that it had purchased Twhirl, an Adobe AIR based Twitter
client.
In 2009, Loïc Le Meur, Seesmic's founder, announced that the video portion of the site had stagnated as it struggled to attract new users. He refocused the site, changing the objective from creating a new video social networking site to creating a suite of tools that would instead aggregate content from other social networking sites such as Twitter
and Facebook
. The video site, whilst remaining available, was relegated to a different domain name
.
Le Meur moved from Paris to San Francisco
to launch Seesmic due to the perception that it would stand a better chance of success there. It is backed by a number of investors, the primary one being Atomico, a venture group that includes Niklas Zennstrom
and Janus Friis, who sold Skype
to eBay
in 2005 for $2.6 billion.
In January, 2010 Seesmic acquired Ping.fm
. In March, 2010, Seesmic reached 1 million registered users.
Seesmic produces a number of social network clients including:
In August 2011, Seesmic announced it was moving into the Customer Relations Management business, releasing Android and iOS
CRM apps that interface with Salesforce. The former social media apps are being maintained as a "second branch" of the company.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, mobile
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
, and desktop
Desktop computer
A desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...
applications which allow users to simultaneously manage user accounts for multiple social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
s, such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
Launched in 2008 by French entrepreneur Loïc Le Meur
Loïc Le Meur
Loïc Le Meur is a French rube entrepreneur and blogger. He served as Executive Vice President EMEA at software company Six Apart after merging French blogging company Ublog with Six Apart in July 2004...
, the service was initially a video sharing website, billed as a cross between Youtube and Twitter, allowing short video comments to be published online. Le Meur shut down the service in 2009 due to its stagnating user base, and then relaunched Seesmic as a social networking tool, with a suite of desktop, mobile and web apps integrating streams from Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and other social media sites. Following the failure to monetize the company, in 2011 Seesmic was relaunched yet again as a customer relations management app.
History
Starting out life as a video blogging website, its original aim was to make video uploading from webcams easier to promote online video conversations. Seesmic made its debut at the Demo tech conferenceDEMO conference
The DEMO conference is a technology conference that focuses on showcasing new products from both entrepreneurs and established companies. It is held by IDG....
where it was called the "Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
of video". It had 20,000 users and 70,000 viewers per month as of 2008. On April 3, 2008, Seesmic announced that it had purchased Twhirl, an Adobe AIR based Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
client.
In 2009, Loïc Le Meur, Seesmic's founder, announced that the video portion of the site had stagnated as it struggled to attract new users. He refocused the site, changing the objective from creating a new video social networking site to creating a suite of tools that would instead aggregate content from other social networking sites such as Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. The video site, whilst remaining available, was relegated to a different domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
.
Le Meur moved from Paris to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
to launch Seesmic due to the perception that it would stand a better chance of success there. It is backed by a number of investors, the primary one being Atomico, a venture group that includes Niklas Zennstrom
Niklas Zennström
Niklas Zennström is an entrepreneur best known for founding several high-profile online ventures with Janus Friis including Skype and Kazaa. More recently he founded the investment group Atomico and has become a significant figurehead for entrepreneurs in the tech sector.-Career:Zennström started...
and Janus Friis, who sold Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
to eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
in 2005 for $2.6 billion.
In January, 2010 Seesmic acquired Ping.fm
Ping.fm
Ping.fm is a free social networking and micro-blogging web service that enables users to post to multiple social networks simultaneously.Making an update on Ping.fm pushes the update to a number of different social websites at once...
. In March, 2010, Seesmic reached 1 million registered users.
Seesmic produces a number of social network clients including:
- Seesmic Desktop - a cross platform Twitter and FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
desktop client written using Adobe AIRAdobe Integrated RuntimeAdobe Integrated Runtime, also known as Adobe AIR, is a cross-platform runtime environment developed by Adobe Systems for building Rich Internet Applications using Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, HTML, and Ajax, that can be run as desktop applications or on mobile devices...
. Version 2 was rewritten in Microsoft SilverlightMicrosoft SilverlightMicrosoft Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications, with features and purposes similar to those of Adobe Flash. The run-time environment for Silverlight is available as a plug-in for web browsers running under Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X...
and added support for Google BuzzGoogle BuzzGoogle Buzz is a social networking, microblogging and messaging tool from Google integrated into the company's web-based email program, Gmail. Users can share links, photos, videos, status messages and comments organized in "conversations" and visible in the user's inbox. On October 14, 2011,...
. - Seesmic Web - a Twitter web applicationWeb applicationA web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
client for Twitter written using Google Web ToolkitGoogle Web ToolkitGoogle Web Toolkit is an open source set of tools that allows web developers to create and maintain complex JavaScript front-end applications in Java. Other than a few native libraries, everything is Java source that can be built on any supported platform with the included GWT Ant build files... - Seesmic for Android - a native Twitter client, Facebook, and Salesforce Chatter client for Android
- Seesmic for Windows Phone 7Windows Phone 7Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
- a native Twitter, Facebook, and Salesforce Chatter client for Windows Phone 7 - Seesmic for iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
- a native Twitter, Facebook and Ping.fm client for iPhone and iPod touchIPod touchThe iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line... - Seesmic for BlackBerryBlackBerryBlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
- a native Twitter client for BlackBerry - discontinued in June 2011
In August 2011, Seesmic announced it was moving into the Customer Relations Management business, releasing Android and iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
CRM apps that interface with Salesforce. The former social media apps are being maintained as a "second branch" of the company.