Europe1 .fr with AFP 16:21 p.m., June 23, 2023

The Skyrock group will close its platform "Skyblogs", pioneer of social networks since its creation in 2002, it announced Friday. According to its founder, the site had risen to the 17th place of the most visited sites in the world in 2007 and had more than 33.5 million blogs in 2011.

End of an era for teens of the 2000s: the group Skyrock, known in particular for its radio, will close its platform of "Skyblogs", pioneer of social networks since its creation in 2002, before the explosion of Facebook, announced Friday its founder.

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"To comply with the legislation on personal data, to keep the platform and skyblogs in their candid and eruptive presentation, we must freeze it and remove it from public access," wrote Pierre Bellanger, founder and president of the Skyrock group, and its deputy CEO Jérôme Aguesse.

More than 33.5 million blogs in 2011

Long the leading social network in France before the emergence of American platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat ...), Skyrock claimed in 2011 still more than 33.5 million blogs and 4.5 billion comments. According to its founder, the site had even risen to the 17th place of the most visited sites in the world in 2007.

It allowed teenagers of the first internet generation to share online their passions, their intimacy, their moods, or to comment on the photos of their friends.

"Everyone will be able to transfer their blog to their machine, if they wish, and possibly delete it. Then this sociological treasure will be anonymized and will take the path of the national archives" so that researchers can realize "what was the new generation of the beginning of the twenty-first century," said Pierre Bellanger, on a blog post.