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Social Networking - Tuesday, March 20, 2007

VON: Stickam Says We're Not A Pain Like MySpace.

Friendster lost its edge because it got too cocky and started imposing restrictions on its users. MySpace took advantage of that with its laissez-faire attitude and now a new generation of sites targeting is Looking to take advantage of MySpace/Fox/Murdoch Inc's heavy-handed attempts to impose order.

Growing in user popularity, LA-based Stickam is a mix of Youtube and MySpace where users open themselves to Web cams. More recently, the company has started working with movie and music acts who expose themselves to live audiences. In fact, Stickam is building a production studio to create original video for the site.

Stickam has not yet launched ads on its site so it does not do revenue shares with Hollywood acts, rather its a way for entertainers to build fan bases. As MySpace's power has grown so has its restrictions and sites like Stickam are seeking to take advantage of that. MySpace now aggressively cracks down on its eco-system, often blocking third-party widgets without warning.

Stickam launched in February of 2005. The parent company is Advanced Video Communications, a Japanese company. Stickam has raised some financing from un-named Japanese investors and says that it is not interested in raising more funding at this point. Stickam has grown its membership to about 400K registered users; and it's adding 4K members a day.

Stickam Headliners

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Read - MySpace Restrictions Upset Some Users (NY Times)