Bolt (website) facts for kids
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Type of site
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Social network service |
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| Available in | English |
| Owner | Fundbolt, LLC |
| Created by | Dan Pelson Jane Mount |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required for most services |
| Launched | 1996 |
| Current status | Inactive |
Bolt was an early social networking and video website. It was a popular online spot from 1996 to 2007. After facing some big problems, it briefly reopened in April 2008. The site had to shut down for about a year because of issues with people sharing content without permission. New owners tried to bring it back, but Bolt eventually went offline for good in October 2008.
Contents
What Was Bolt.com?
Bolt.com started in 1996. It was created by Dan Pelson and Jane Mount. It was one of the very first social networking sites on the internet. Bolt was designed as a fun place for teenagers to connect.
The website offered many cool features. You could check your daily horoscope. There were chat rooms to talk with friends. Message boards let you discuss different topics. "Tagbooks" were like a place to ask questions and get answers. You could also create photo albums. Bolt had internet radio and fun browser games. Users could write blogs and send e-cards. There was even an instant messenger service. A "clubs" feature let people with similar interests chat. You could earn "badges" as awards for your profile.
Bolt was also one of the first sites to give its members their own web page. This was a big deal back then! Later, Bolt stopped offering email. Other big companies like Yahoo and Google started giving away huge amounts of free email storage. This made Bolt's email service less useful.
Growing Up with Bolt
Bolt first aimed at teenagers. It was a safe place to create content and meet new people. As members got older, many stayed with the site. Soon, many users were college students or young adults.
In 2005, Bolt launched a new version called Boltfolio. It was meant to be a creative hub. Users could upload their own photos, videos, and music. They could also write blogs or record directly from a webcam. The idea was to attract creative people. It wanted to be a place like DeviantArt, YouTube, and Flickr.
Changes and Challenges (2006-2009)
In 2005, Bolt Media bought a video-sharing site called Yashi. Yashi and Boltfolio joined together. In 2006, Bolt Media decided to focus on this new video platform. The original Bolt.com moved to a new address, Bolt2.com. Over time, the site started showing fewer creative works from its members. Instead, it focused more on videos made by Bolt staff. It also featured popular music videos and viral videos. These were the same kinds of videos you could find on other video sites.
In October 2006, a big music company, Universal Music, sued Bolt Media. They said Bolt and another site allowed users to share music videos without permission. This is called copyright violation. A few weeks later, Bolt removed its music section. They did not explain why.
In February 2007, Bolt Media planned to sell itself to another video company, GoFish. The deal was for $30 million. Bolt's CEO said the company would focus on creating its own content. He felt that just letting users upload content was no longer a good business.
The End of Bolt2.com
On March 30, 2007, Bolt2.com announced it would close. The site officially shut down on April 6, 2007. This ended over 10 years of operations for the original teen community. A letter was posted to members. It thanked them for their support. It also said the company was moving in a new direction.
Later, the deal for GoFish to buy Bolt was called off. Bolt.com then faced more problems from copyright lawsuits. The site could not keep going. It filed for bankruptcy and shut down on August 14, 2007.
A Brief Return
On April 21, 2008, Bolt.com came back online. A new company, Fundbolt, LLC, owned the domain. On August 1, 2008, the site started bringing back old features. Tagbooks, a popular way to ask questions, returned.
However, on September 30, 2008, Bolt.com announced it was closing again. They said the return "not working out as they'd hoped." The site shut down on October 6, 2008. For a short time, Bolt.com tried to return again, hosted by Ning. But by July 2011, the site was shut down for good.
Bolt and American Idol
In 2003, Bolt was the official message board for Fox's TV show American Idol. This happened during the second season of the show. Many new members joined Bolt just to talk about American Idol. This made some of the older members unhappy. They felt the quality of discussions on the site went down.
Later, FOX created its own message boards for American Idol. But Bolt and American Idol still worked together. They had quizzes, avatars, and badges related to the show. By the fourth season, this partnership ended. There were no message boards created for the fifth season of American Idol on Bolt.
