Classmates.com
Classmates.com is a
social networking service created in 1995
by
Randy Conrads who founded Classmates Online, Inc.
The
social media website was originally designed to assist members in finding friends and classmates from
kindergarten,
primary school,
high school,
college, work and the
United States military.
In 2010, CEO Mark Goldston described the transition of the website "to
increasingly focus on nostalgic content" such as "high school yearbooks,
movie trailers, music tracks, and photographic images.
To this end, and to appeal more to older users, the website name was changed to Memory Lane, which included a website redesign.
Corporate information
United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNTD) acquired Classmates Online in 2004
and continues to own and operate the company as part of its Classmates Media Corporation subsidiary.
Classmates Media operates online social networking and loyalty marketing services under the Classmates.com
and MyPoints
brands.
Classmates Media also operates the following international sites designed to enable users to connect with old friends:
Classmates Media Corporation's
business model is based on
user-generated content and
revenue from paid
subscriptions and
advertising sales.
Users and ranking among other social networking sites
As of November 2010, Classmates was not among the top 10 social networking websites and forums, as measured by
Hitwise.
The only time Classmates appeared on Hitwise's top 10 list of social
networking websites was June 2009, when it appeared tenth with 0.45%
market share.
In early 2008,
Nielsen Online had ranked Classmates as number three in unique monthly visitors (U.S. home, work) among social networking sites.
As of June 30, 2008, Classmates Media had more than 50 million members, but only 3.8 million pay subscribers.
In 2006, television program
The View mentioned Classmates.com as having more than 40 million
members in the
United States and
Canada.
According to the Online Publishers Association Paid Content U.S.
Market Spending Report, Classmates.com was Number 4 among the Top 25 Web
Destinations Ranked by Consumer Content Revenue in both 2002 and 2003
(the last years that individual site rankings were broken out). As more
users move to Facebook, the site has fallen in popularity. Alexa.com
shows Classmates.com to be the 4,211 most visited website on March 12,
2011, falling from the top 1,000 as recently as January 2010.
Classmates.com was one of the first social networks, however its habit
of continuously dunning customers for small
fees prevented it from
reaching the scale and popularity of later social sites.
Privacy
Classmates.com members use real names, not screen names (although
some members use a "fake name"). Member privacy is protected through a
double-blind email system, so email addresses and contact information
are never revealed unless self-disclosed by members one-on-one.
Registering and networking
It is free for people to register as a Basic member of Classmates.com. Basic members can create profiles and search the entire
social networking service
for friends. Basic members may also post to and read community message
boards and view information about upcoming reunions, but they may not
email anyone or view other members' profiles. They can write emails and
send them, but the recipient cannot read them unless the sender becomes a
paid member. This doesn't become apparent until an email is already
composed and sent. Basic members who try to send emails or view profiles
are funneled to a page where they can upgrade to Gold member status for
a fee. Gold members, who pay a fee, may view other members' profiles,
photos, biographies, timelines, interests, announcements and send email
to and receive email from any member, view notes posted on their profile
bulletin board, see the names of others who have visited their profile
and signed their guest book, access and use tools for planning reunions
and create their own private groups.
Controversial business practices and legal issues
Membership renewal and cancellation
It is standard practice for Classmates.com to auto-renew memberships at the end of each billing period. In December 2006, when
PCWorld
field tested several companies to determine how easy or difficult it
was to cancel their service, Classmates.com was one of the companies
that received their worst rating.
Fraudulent e-mails and settlement
It is evident that Classmates.com has sent a significant number of
often fraudulent emails that told recipients their old friends from
school wished to reconnect (and the recipients would need to buy
Classmates.com memberships to receive their old friends' contact
information). The lead plaintiffs in the case, David Catapano and
Anthony Michaels, would each receive $20,500 as part of that provision.
Classmates.com has agreed to pay up to $9.5 million to its users to settle the lawsuit.
In addition, Classmates.com does not allow members to provide each
other with private e-mail addresses, street addresses or phone numbers
since this would allow the members to communicate with one another
outside of the site and therefore not pay for communications.
Piggybacking and post-transaction marketing
Classmates.com was accused of piggybacking and
post-transaction marketing.
United Online, the parent company of Classmates.com, earned $70 million
from marketing practices under investigation in 2009 by the
Senate Commerce Committee involving piggybacking a second credit card transaction with membership to Classmates.com involving a
loyalty program.
Settlement on hidden online shopping fees
On August 18, 2010, New York Attorney General
Andrew Cuomo
announced a settlement with six companies, including Classmates, as
part of a probe into the discount club industry. Classmates was among
the retailers that agreed to pay $2.1 million toward refunds and
consumer education.
Under the scheme investigated, consumers who signed up for discounts or
cash-back promotions were asked to enter their payment information;
entering this information triggered small, easy-to-overlook recurring
charges on the accounts, billed to unfamiliar company names. Classmates'
share of the settlement amounts to $960,000 and a commitment to end
these practices.
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