Socialthing
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Social media, News aggregation |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | Ben Brightwell, Brian DeWitt, Matt Galligan |
| Fate | Acquired by AOL in 2008; rebranded as AOL Lifestream |
| Parent | AOL (from 2008) |
Socialthing was a social news aggregation service established in 2007 and subsequently purchased by AOL in 2008 for an undisclosed amount. It was later rebranded as AOL Lifestream and became a key component of AOL's strategy to rival emerging social platforms such as Facebook.
History
The platform enabled users to consolidate various social media feeds into a single interface. Created by Ben Brightwell, Brian DeWitt, and Matt Galligan, Socialthing was part of the inaugural TechStars accelerator program in Boulder during 2007. Its private beta launched in early 2008, supporting networks including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo, Pownce, and LiveJournal.
Differing from rivals like Friendfeed, Socialthing employed an algorithm to automatically detect friends across different networks without the need for users to compile lists manually. CEO Matt Galligan emphasized that this feature allowed users to view all their friends’ updates and interact within one unified platform.
Acquisition
In August 2008, AOL acquired Socialthing and incorporated it into its People Network division alongside AIM and Bebo, which AOL had previously bought for $850 million. Although the financial terms were not publicly revealed, Venture Capital Journal ranked the deal as the second-best “Top M&A Returns for VC-backed Internet Companies” in 2008.
By mid-2009, Socialthing had transformed into AOL’s social toolbar, offering login options through AIM, Bebo, or ICQ and enabling chat functionality while users browsed other websites. In 2010, amid challenges in AOL’s social media initiatives, the service was renamed AOL Lifestream; that same year, Bebo was sold to a hedge fund for $10 million.
By this point, Galligan had departed AOL to establish SimpleGeo, while Brightwell moved on to another TechStars startup called Occipital. As of October 2013, AOL Lifestream continued to operate.