Cybercrime and its Impact on
New Media and Discourse
Robert M. Hayes, Professor Emeritus, UCLA
Information Technology and Journalism Conference
Dubrovnik, Croatia
24 May – 28 May 2010
My Website
 http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/rhayes/courses/courses.htm
 This PowerPoint presentation is available at that site.
Simply click on “Other” and it is the first entry there.
Introduction
 Cybercrime
 Social Networking:
The New Media and
Means for Discourse
The Contexts of Cybercrime
1. Cybercrimes against individuals
2. Cybercrimes against groups
3. Cybercrimes against property
4. Cybercrimes against corporations
5. Cybercrimes against governments
1. Cybercrimes against individuals
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Identity Theft
Sexual Predation
Confidence tricks and con artists
Financial Predation
 It is fascinating to observe the number of cybercrimes
against individuals that are reported on a daily basis
 Just within the weeks before my departure for this trip, the
following items were in the LA Times and Daily News:

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It was the text message of their lives, May 6, 2010
Facebook as a target for Internet criminals, May 15, 2010
Gruesome death photos and Internet privacy, May 15, 2010
 And, believe me, these are just a sample.
2. Cybercrimes against groups


The Game Online
System Predators
 Again, it is fascinating to observe the number of
reported attacks against groups, such as the following:

UC San Diego professor studies disobedience, Mat 7, 2010
3. Cybercrimes against property

Violations of Intellectual Property Rights
4. Cybercrimes with corporations
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Denial of Service
Cracking
Unauthorized access
Financial Manipulations
Violations of Record Keeping Laws
Spamming
5. Cybercrimes against Governments
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Cyberterrorism
Cyberwar
Internet Social Networking
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Internet Social Networking sites
Internet Dating Sites
Scientists Strive to Map the Shape-Shifting Net
Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social
involvement and psychological well-being?
Social Networking in Cybercrimes
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Identity Theft
Sexual Predation
Internet Bullying
Internet Harassment
Con Games
Cyberterrorism
Cyberwar
Governmental Efforts
 U.S. National Efforts
 U.S. State Efforts
 International Efforts
U.S. National Legislation
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Counterfeit Access Device & Computer Fraud & Abuse Act of 1984
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991
The National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996
The Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996
Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers of 1996
The No-Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) of 1997
The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) of 1998
The Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
The Patriot Act of 2001
Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003,
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008

Agency Procedures
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Reporting of Cybercrime
Determining relevant laws
Court warrants for procedures
Identifying crimes
Identifying perpetrators
Prosecuting perpetrators
Investigating and gathering evidence
Active Cases
U.S. State Legislation

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Nevada
Arizona
Florida
Massachusetts
California
Washington
Texas
International Efforts
What can individuals do to
protect themselves?


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Prevention
Caution
Protection
Proaction
Some relevant web sites:
 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TheLaw/teens-charged-bullyingmass-girl-kill/story?id=10231357 Teens Indicted After Allegedly
Taunting Girl Who Hanged Herself Nine Teens Accused of
Cyberbullying Phoebe Prince, 15. By RUSSELL GOLDMAN March
29, 2010
 http://ag.state.nv.us/org/admin/fiscal/techcrime/techcrime.htm
 http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.101.3969&
rep=rep1&type=pdf New Media Power: The Internet and Global
Activism. W. Lance Bennett
 http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/vie
wArticle/1394/1312#note4 A privacy paradox: Social networking in
the United States
 http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handl
e=hein.journals/cconsp16&div=11&id=&page= Child's Playground
or a Predator's Hunting Ground - How to Protect Children on
Internet Social Networking Sites, A; Groppe, Jessica S.
 http://lists.jammed.com/ISN/2006/01/0014.html
 http://mmictaskforce.com/default.aspx
 http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/ The
Top 10 Internet/Email Scams
 http://netsecurity.about.com/od/newsandeditoria2/a/socialpredator
s.htm Predators on Social Networks. Sexual Predators and Child
Molesters Find Easy Prey. From Tony Bradley, CISSP-ISSAP,
former About.com Guide
 http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080519GoldmanTask.html
 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.200
7-0693v1 How Risky Are Social Networking Sites? A Comparison
of Places Online Where Youth Sexual Solicitation and Harassment
Occurs Michele L. Ybarra, MPH, PhDa, Kimberly J. Mitchell,
PhDb
 http://publishing2.com/2007/05/22/every-newspaper-journalistshould-start-a-blog/#ixzz0lZgNBudw May 22nd, 2007, Every
Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog. Scott Karp
 http://social-networkingtagging.suite101.com/article.cfm/a_cyber_bullying_primer A
Cyber Bullying Primer. MySpace Information for Parents
 http://tallinn.cafebabel.com/en/post/2008/02/20/NATO-Centre-ofExcellence-in-Cyberdefence-to-be-Set-Up-in-Estonia-in-May
 http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/police/task_force.htm
 http://www.crime-research.org/ Cyber Crime Research Center:
 http://www.cybercrimelaw.net/Cybercrimelaw.html
 http://www.Cybercrimelaw.net/documents/Cybercrime_history.pdf
The History of Global Harmonization on Cybercrime Legislation The Road to Geneva
 http://www.fbi.gov/cyber/cysweep/cysweep1.htm
 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315684,00.html MySpace
Mom Linked to Missouri Teen's Suicide Being Cyber-Bullied
Herself. Thursday, December 06, 2007
 http://www.giantbomb.com/news/the-missouri-Internet-crimestask-force-thinks-were-perverts/1003/
 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713854367
&db=all The Advent of cyberwar: Analytic Background. John
Arquilla ;David Ronfeldt
 http://www.justice.gov/criminal/Cybercrime/ Computer Crime &
Intellectual Property Section, United States Department of Justice:
 http://www.kb.iu.edu/data/afvn.html Indiana University
Knowledge Base,
 http://www.mod.gov.ee/static/sisu/files/Estonian_Cyber_Security_S
trategy.pdf
 http://www.pctools.com/industrynews/article/britain_needs_dedicated_Cybercrime_taskforce18472419/
 http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1382/index.htm
l Networks and Cyberwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and
Militancy. Edited by: John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt. RAND,
 http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1382/index.htm
l Networks and Cyberwars
 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/fake_social_network_profi
les_a.php Fake Social Network Profiles: a New Form of Identity
Theft in 2009
 http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/ This site is dedicated to the
memory of our son Ryan and for all young people suffering in
silence from the pain of bullying and having thoughts of suicide.
 http://www.sdicac.org/
 http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/Cybercrime/reporting.htm
 http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/moe/Cybercrime.html
 http://www.valitsus.ee/brf/index.php?id=280677&tpl=1007&extern
al=0&search=&aasta=2006-11
 http://www.westernstar.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/24/ws012408Cyber
crimeweb.html
 http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/11/vigilante_
justice Cyberbullying Suicide Stokes the Internet Fury Machine.
By Kim Zetter Email 11.21.07
References
 Asokhia, M. O. (2010). Enhancing National Development and
Growth through Combating Cybercrime/Internet Fraud: A
Comparative Approach. J Soc Sci, 23(1): 13-19.
http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JSS/JSS-23-0-000-10Web/JSS-23-1-000-10-Abst-PDF/JSS-23-1-013-10-1003-Asokhia-MO/JSS-23-1-013-10-1003-Asokhia-M-O-Tt.pdf
 Arquilla, John & Ronfeldt, David (1996). The Advent of Netwar:
Analytic Background. Ft. Belvoir : Defense Technical Information
Center.
 Balkin, J., Grimmelmann, J., Katz, E., Kozlovski, N., Wagman, S.
& Zarsky, T. (eds) (2006) Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a
Networked Environment, New York University Press, New York.
 Brenner, S. (2007) Law in an Era of Smart Technology, Oxford:
Oxford University Press
 Clarke, Richard A. (2010). Cyber War. HarperCollins.
 Csonka P. (2000) Internet Crime; the Draft council of Europe
convention on cyber-crime: A response to the challenge of crime in
the age of the Internet? Computer Law & Security Report Vol.16
no.5.
 “Cybercrime More Profitable Than Drugs”, Sydney Morning
Herald, June 9, 2009 http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-newsnational/cyber-crime-more-profitable-than-drugs-20090609c1qm.html
 Fafinski, S. (2009) Computer Misuse: Response, regulation and the
law. Portland, Or. : Willan Pub.
 Faturechi, Robert. “It was the text message of their lives”. Los
Angeles Times, May 6, 2010
 Grabosky, P. (2006) Electronic Crime, New Jersey: Prentice Hall
 Kraut, Robert; Patterson, Michael; Lundmark, Vicki; Kiesler,
Sara; Mukophadhyay, Tridas; Scherlis, William. (1998). “Internet
paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and
psychological well-being?”. American Psychologist. Vol 53(9), Sep
1998, 1017-1031.
 Krone, T., (2005). High Tech Crime Brief. Australian Institute of
Criminology. Canberra, Australia. ISSN 1832-3413. 2005.
 Longe, O.B. (2004): Proprietary Software Protection and
Copyright issues in contemporary Information Technology. (M.Sc
Thesis) Unpublished. Federal University of Technology, Akure,
Nigeria.
 McQuade, S. (2006). Understanding and Managing Cybercrime,
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
 McQuade, S. (ed) (2009) The Encyclopedia of Cybercrime,
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
 Parker D (1983) Fighting Computer Crime, U.S.: Charles
Scribner’s Sons.
 Pattavina, A. (ed) Information Technology and the Criminal
Justice System, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
 Smith, R. G., Holmes, M. N. &Kaufmann, P. (1999): Nigerian
Advance Fee Fraud., Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal
Justice, No. 121, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra
(republished in The Reformer February 2000, pp. 17-19).
 Sylvester, Linn (2001): The Importance of Victimology in Criminal
Profiling. Available online at:
http://isuisse.ifrance.com/emmaf/base/impvic.html
 Taylor, Paul. (1999). Hackers. Crime in the Digital Sublime
(November 3, 1999 ed.). Routledge; 1 edition.
 Walden, I. (2007) Computer Crimes and Digital Investigations.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Wall, D.S. (2007) Cybercrimes: The transformation of crime in the
information age. Cambridge: Polity.
 Williams, M. (2006) Virtually Criminal: Crime, Deviance and
Regulation Online, Routledge, London.
 Vernor, Jeff; Parija, Soubhagya; McGuire, Russell (2010).
Identification of Emerging Risk Using Bayesian Conditional
Probability. ERM Symposium, April 2010. Society of Actuaries.
http://www.soa.org/files/pdf/2010-chicago-erm-1b.pdf
 Yar, M. (2006) Cybercrime and Society, London: Sage.
 Zeviar-Geese, G. (1997-98). The State of the Law on
Cyberjurisdiction and Cybercrime on the Internet. California
Pacific School of Law. Gonzaga Journal of International Law.
Volume 1. 1997-1998.
Appendix 1
 List of social networking websites

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Name
Description/Focus
Users
Registration
General.
350,000,000 Open
Qzone
General. In Simplified Chinese; caters for mainland
China users
200,000,000 Open to the Public
Orkut
General. Owned by Google Inc. Popular in Brazil and
increasing, in India.[192]
180,000,000 Open to 18+
Habbo
General for teens. Over 31 communities Chat Room
and user profiles.
162,000,000 Open to 13+
General. HTML based site.
130,000,000 Open to ages 13+
Blogging (formerly MSN Spaces)
120,000,000 Open
Facebook
MySpace
Windows Live
Spaces
General. Popular in Southeast Asia. No longer popular
in the western world
90,000,000 Open to 16+.
India, Portugal, Mongolia, Thailand, Romania,
Jamaica, Central Africa
80,000,000 Open to 13+.
General. Micro-blogging, RSS, updates
75,000,000 Open
Social Network for Russian-speaking world including
former Soviet republics
71,111,000 Open
Tagged
General. Subject to controversy about its e-mail
marketing and privacy policy
70,000,000 Open
Flixster
Movies
63,000,000 Open to 13+
Netlog
General. Popular in Europe, Turkey, the Arab World
and Canada's Québec
61,800,000 Open to 13+
Business and professional networking
60,000,000 Open to 18+
Friendster
hi5
Twitter
Vkontakte
LinkedIn
MyLife
Locating friends and family, keeping in touch (formerly
51,000,000 Open
Reunion.com)
School, college, work and the military
50,000,000 Open to 18+
Connect with old classmates. Popular in Russia and
former Soviet republics
45,000,000 Open
Bebo
General
40,000,000 Open to 13+
Flickr
Photo sharing, commenting, photography related
networking, worldwide
32,000,000 Open to 13+
Classmates.com
Odnoklassniki
Name
Last.fm
MyHeritage
Xanga
Viadeo
Mixi
imeem
Skyrock
Description/Focus
Users
Music
30,000,000
family-oriented social network service
30,000,000
Blogs and "metro" areas
27,000,000
Global Social Networking and Campus Networking 25,000,000
Japan
24,323,160
Music, Video, Photos, Blogs
24,000,000
Social Network in French-speaking world
22,000,000
Photoblogging. Popular in South America and
Fotolog
20,000,000
Spain
BlackPlanet
African-Americans
20,000,000
myYearbook General
20,000,000
Friends Reunited UK based. School, college, work, sport and streets 19,000,000
LiveJournal Blogging
17,564,977
General. Popular in Latin America and Spanish
Sonico.com
17,000,000
and Portuguese speaking
Geni.com
Families, genealogy
15,000,000
University students, mostly in the GermanStudiVZ
15,000,000
speaking countries.
Renren
Significant site in China.
15,000,000
Plaxo
Aggregator
15,000,000
Nasza-klasa.pl School, college and friends. Popular in Poland
11,000,000
Buzznet
Music and pop-culture
10,000,000
Registration
Open
Open
Open
Open
Invite-only
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open to age 13 +
Open to 13+
Open
Open to 13+
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Name
WAYN
Multiply
Care2
deviantART
Hyves
XING
Open Diary
Trombi.com
iWiW
Books iRead
Ibibo
Cellufun
Bigadda
My Opera
MocoSpace
Livemocha
Itsmy
Draugiem.lv
Kiwibox
Description/Focus
Travel and lifestyle
"Real world" relationships. Popular in Asia. Not
in the western world
Green living and social activism
Art community
General, Most popular in the Netherlands.
Business (primarily Europe (Germany, Austria,
Switzerland) and China)
First online blogging community, founded in 1998
French subsidiary of Classmates.com
Hungary
All about Books, Reviews, Recommendations and
Authors
Talent based social networking site Most popular
in India.
Mobile social game network, Number 8 US mobile
website[33]
Indian Social Networking Site.
Blogging, mobile blogging, sharing photos,
connecting with friends. Global
mobile community, worldwide
Online language learning
Mobile community worldwide, blogging, friends,
personal TV-shows
General (primarily LV, LT, HU)
General. a social network that is more than a
community.
Users
Registration
10,000,000 Open to 18+
10,000,000 Open to 13+.
9,961,947 Open
9,040,962 Open
9,000,000 Open
8,000,000 Open
5,000,000 Open to 13+
4,400,000
4,000,000 Invite-only
4,000,000 Open
3,500,000 Open
3,000,000 Open to 14+
3,000,000 Open to 16+
3,000,000 Open
3,000,000 Open to 14+
3,000,000 Open
2,500,000
2,400,000 Invitation only
2,400,000 Open to 13+
Name
Grono.net
Stickam
Description/Focus
Poland
Live video streaming and chat.
Vampirefreaks.com Gothic and industrial subculture
TravBuddy.com
CouchSurfing
Yahoo! 360°plus
Vietnam
Nexopia
CafeMom
Fubar
LunarStorm
Zoo.gr
aSmallWorld
IRC-Galleria
Ryze
Gather.com
italki.com
SocialVibe
LibraryThing
Travel
Making connections between travelers and
communities they visit.
Users
Registration
2,000,000 Open
2,000,000 Open
Open to users
1,931,049
13+
1,588,000 Open to 18+
1,560,459 Open
Popular in Vietnam.
1,500,000 Open
Canada
Mothers
dating, an "online bar" for 18 and older
Sweden
Greek Web Meeting point
European jet set and social elite world-wide
1,400,000
1,250,000
1,200,000
1,200,000
890,000
550,000
Finland
Business
Article, picture, and video sharing, as well as
group discussions
Language learning social network. 100+
languages.
Social Network for Charity
Book lovers
Open to 13+
Open to moms
Open
Open
Open
Invite-only
Open to
505,000
Finnish12+
500,000 Open
465,000 Open
450,000 Open. Global.
435,000 Open
400,000 Open to 13+
Name
Taringa!
Description/Focus
General
Online collaboration for musicians, remix
Indaba Music
contests, and networking.
Ravelry
Knitting and crochet
Hospitality Club Hospitality
GamerDNA
Computer and video games
FilmAffinity
Movies and TV Series
Faceparty
General. Popular UK.
An online movie theater where you watch,
discover, and discuss auteur cinema.
Community and wiki around Fantasy and sciElftown
fi.
Foursquare
Location based mobile social network
MyAnimeList Anime themed social community
Social networking site for entrepreneurs and
PartnerUp
small business owners
MyChurch
Christian Churches
ResearchGATE Social network for scientific researchers
JammerDirect.com Creative resource website
For computer fans that want to discover new
Wakoopa
software and games
Gays.com
Social network for LGBT community,
Athlinks
Running, Swimming
Blogging service that lets users "add friends"
Blogster
or establish business connections
The Auteurs
Users
Registration
350,000 Open to 13+
350,000 Open and Global
331,000
328,629
310,000
250,000
Invite-only
Open
Open
Open
Invitation only to
200,000
18+
200,000 Open
Open, approval
needed
170,000 Open
160,000 Open to 13+
185,000
150,000 Open and Free
144,295 Open
140,000 Open
136,000 Open
100,000 Open
100,000 Open. Global
68,496 Open
58,344 Open
Name
Muxlim
Description/Focus
Muslim portal site
Politic community, Social network, Internet radio
Dol2day
(German-speaking countries)
Badoo
General, Popular in Europe
Online community space for the social justice and
WiserEarth
environmental movement[265]
Fetlife
People who are into BDSM
kaioo
General, nonprofit
ReverbNation.com Social network for musician and bands
Exattosoft MyCity General.
Non-Profit news sharing and networking, mainly in
NGO Post
India
Frühstückstreff General
Advogato
Free and open source software developers
Biip
Norwegian Community.
Stumble through websites that match your selected
StumbleUpon
interests
Fillos de Galicia Galicia and Galician diaspora
Spanish-based university and High School social
Tuenti
network.
Amie Street
Music
ANobii
Books
Avatars United Online games.
BabyCenter
Mothers, Parenting, Pregnancy
Users
Registration
50,000 Open to 13+
40,200 Open
37,000,00 Open to 18+
34,240 Open to 16+
32,500 Open to legal age
30,000
25,000 Open to 16+
25,000 Open
15,000 Open
14,800 Open
13,575 Open
13,476 Norwegian
8,822,92 Open
6,772 Open
4,500,00 Invite-only
Open
Open
Open
Open
Name
BigTent
Bleetbox
Bolt.com
Cake Financial
Cloob
CollegeBlender
DailyBooth
DailyStrength
Decayenne
DigitalVerse.org
Disaboom
DontStayIn
Epernicus
Eons.com
Experience
Project
Exploroo
Faces.com
FledgeWing
Gaia Online
Description/Focus
organization and communication portal for
groups
Social networking instant messaging website
General
Investing
General. Popular in Iran
Ffor college students, faculty, and alumni.
Photo-blogging site where users upload a
photo every day
Medical & emotional support community
European and American social elite
Poets
People with disabilities (Amputee, cerebral
palsy, MS, and other disabilities)
Clubbing (primarily UK)
For research scientists
For baby boomers
Users
Registration
Open to 18+
Open
Open
Open
Open
Requires EDU address
Open
Open
Invite-only
Open to 14+
Open
Open
Open
Open to 13+
Life experiences
Open
Travel Social Networking.
British teens
Entrepreneural community targeted towards
worldwide university students
Anime and games
Open
Open to 13+
Open to university
Open to 13+
Name
Description/Focus
Fair play in Music - Social networking site
Gogoyoko
for musicians and music lovers
Goodreads
Library cataloging, book lovers
Google Buzz General
Gossipreport.com Anonymous gossip
InterNations International community
Jaiku
General. Owned by Google
General. In Simplified Chinese; caters for
Kaixin001
mainland China users
lifeknot
Shared interests, hobbies
Listography
Lists. Autobiography
MEETin
General
General. Used to plan offline meetings for
Meetup.com
people interested in various activities
Business and Finance community,
Meettheboss
worldwide.
mobikade
mobile community, UK only
MOG
Music
Social Network, social media, consumer
MouthShut.com
reviews
Nettby
Norwegian Community
Users create their own social websites and
Ning
social networks
Not for Profit Social networking and
OneClimate
Climate Change
Not for Profit Video sharing and social
OneWorldTV
networking
Users
Registration
Invite only
Open
Open
Open to 16+
Invite-only
Open to 13+
Open
Open to 18+
Open
Open
Open to 18+
Open
Open to 18+
Open to 14+
Open
Open
Open to 13+
Open
Open
Name
Description/Focus
OUTeverywhere Gay/LGBTQ Community
Passportstamp Travel
Collaborative platform for the world's
Pingsta
Internetwork Experts
Playahead
Swedish, Danish,Norwegian teenagers
Playboy U
Online college community
Micro-blogging, RSS, updates. Very
Plurk
popular in Taiwan
Enterprise social networking and microPresent.ly
blogging
A a business-oriented social networking
Qapacity
site and a business directory
A social network for artists, filmmakers,
quarterlife
musicians, and creative people
Science-oriented multimedia platform and
ScienceStage
network for scientists
Scispace.net Collaborative network site for scientists
Music Community. Sharing and listening
ShareTheMusic
to music for free and legally
Shelfari
Books
Sneppi
Social Network for sharing photographs
TalentTrove Online Talent Network
Talkbiznow Business networking
Taltopia
Online artistic community
Education / Learning / Teaching - More
TeachStreet
than 400 subjects
Travellerspoint Travel
Users
Registration
Open
Open
Invite-only
Open
Open to college students
Open
Open
Open to 16+
Open to 14+
Open
By invitation
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Name
tribe.net
Tumblr
Vox
Wasabi
WebBiographies
Description/Focus
General
General. Micro-blogging, RSS
Blogging
General
Genealogy and biography
General with emphasis on privacy and
WeOurFamily
security
Wer-kennt-wen General, largest German Social Network
Catholic social networking, created after
Xt3
World Youth Day 2008
Yammer
Social networking for office colleagues
Yelp, Inc.
Local Business Review and Talk
UK Social Network (focus on data
Youmeo
portability)
Users
Registration
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
General
Open
Open
Open
Appendix 2
 List of online dating websites

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Name
Yahoo!
Personals
Description/Focus
Basic premium dating site
with international sites.
Registered Free
users
Top U.S
dating site.
No
Premium
Web address
Yes/No; free profile but
subscription required for
most features.
personals.yahoo.com
One of the biggest online
15,000,000 No
Yes
www.match.com
singles meeting sites
Dating site based upon preYes/No; free profile but
eHarmony
screening using personality 15,000,000 No subscription required for
www.eharmony.com
tests.
most features.
A sister site of Match.com,
Yes/No; users can see 5
members are matched up with
Chemistry.com
14,000,000 Partial matches a day unless
www.chemistry.com
other members based on their
they are paid members
profiles.
Yes/No; Users can take
One of the most popular
a test and pay a fee to be
PlentyofFish
dating sites in the United
1,400,000 Free
www.plentyoffish.com
upgraded to the status of
States and United Kingdom
"serious member"
Uses answers from userYes/No; Free to join,
generated questions to find
OkCupid
420,000 Free search, messaging, and
www.okcupid.com
matches that conform to a
chat.
user's stated preferences.
Compatible
eHarmony's service for sameNo
Non-free
www.compatiblepartners.net
Partners
sex relationships.
One of the oldest dating
Lavalife
No
Yes
www.lavalife.com
companies in the world.[5]
Listed as one of the top 100
Non-freeBased on user
ShakeMyWorld
No
www.shakemyworld.com
sites of 2008.[16]
creating activities.
Premium users can see
Spray Date
Run by Spray Network AB
Partial larger images and have
www.spraydate.se
more search options
Known for running
Yes/No; Monthly
background checks on its
subscription fee for
True.com
No
www.true.com
users to ensure they are not
communicating to other
felons or married.
members.
Match.com
The End