Grono.net was a social networking service based in Poland. It was referred to as "the Polish equivalent of Facebook"[1] and had over 2 million members.[2]
It featured Internet forums, photo sharing, links to cultural events, an employment website, and an online marketplace for the sale of property.
The site included a freemium model; features for paying subscribers included the ability to moderate forums, take part in competitions, upload more photos and hide advertisements.
It required an invitation from an existing member to register.
History
The website was founded by Wojciech Sobczuk, Piotr Bronowicz and Tomasz Lis and launched on February 20, 2004.
In July 2009, Aleksander Kierski, one of grono.net's creditors, filed a bankruptcy petition against the service for unpaid debts, but on September 7,[3] 2009, the Warsaw District Court dismissed the above petition on the grounds that all creditors had been paid.[4]
On 1 July 2012, the service was shut down without warning; it faced financial difficulties due to competition from Facebook.[5]
References
- Dan Bilefsky. Dark Film on Teenagers Echoes From Mall to Church The New York Times, March 4, 2010^
- Beata Ratuszniak. 2 mln zarejestrowanych użytkowników Grono.net Media2.pl, 27 May 2009^
- Tomasz Grynkiewicz. Aleksander Kierski złożył wniosek o upadłość Grono.net Gazeta Wyborcza, 2009-09-05, retrieved 2009-09-09^
- Maciej Gajewski. Sąd oddalił wniosek o upadłość portalu grono.net CHIP, 2009-09-08, retrieved 2009-09-09^
- Michał Chrobot. Grono.net zniknęło z sieci! Hosting plików zamiast społecznościówki Computer Bild, 2 July 2012^