ChickClick

Last updated

ChickClick
ChickClick logo.jpg
Logo
Type of site
Available inEnglish
FoundedFebruary 1998;26 years ago (1998-02)
Dissolved 2002;22 years ago (2002)
Headquarters,
United States
Country of originUnited States
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
  • Heidi Swanson
Parent Snowball
URL ChickClick at the Wayback Machine (archived May 19, 2001)
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional (required for message board)
LaunchedFebruary 1998;26 years ago (1998-02)
Current statusDefunct
Native client(s) on Web browser

ChickClick was an American website for women that was online from 1998 to 2002. It was created by Heidi Swanson as a web portal for websites created by young women. The website also served as an online community, with a message board and Internet radio program called ChickClick Radio. It also provided a free e-mail and web hosting service, known as Chickmail and Chickpages respectively.

Contents

After ChickClick's launch in February 1998, it merged with EstroNet in October 1998. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the website became defunct in 2002 and now redirects to IGN's website.

During its years online, ChickClick was associated with zine culture and third-wave feminism. It was nominated for two Webby Awards in 2001.

History

Wanting to create alternative media for young women online, Heidi Swanson created ChickClick when she was 25 years old. [1] She pitched the idea to Chris Anderson, the head of Imagine Media who also owned IGN, requesting a computer to allow herself and her younger sister, Heather, to build the website. [1] [2] At the time, Swanson had quit her job as a web designer after working for six weeks due to focusing on her Master's Degree at Stanford University. [1]

Shortly after ChickClick's initial launch in February 1998, [3] it merged with EstroNet, a network of female-oriented Internet properties, in October. [4] ChickClick then divided its content between MissClick, targeted towards teenagers, and EstroClick, targeted towards adults. [5] :255 Afterwards, ChickClick began expanding on its web services, such as its free e-mail and web hosting services. [4] [6] Swanson explained that the web hosting, in addition to ChickClick's message boards, was to scaffold young women into using technology to both create and consume content. [7]

In February 1999, ChickClick became managed by Affiliation Networks, a company created as an offshoot of Imagine Media focusing on its online properties, [2] whose name was later changed into Snowball in August 1999. [8] In addition, ChickClick sponsored the music festival Lilith Fair. [3] The website also had plans to launch news channels, including SheWire, a technology-related news channel aimed at women. [3]

In 2000, ChickClick launched an online radio program called ChickClick Radio. [9] Following the dot-com bubble burst, ChickClick faced several employee lay-offs, and both Swanson sisters left the staff to work on Kibu.com. [10] In 2002, Snowball announced that they were closing ChickClick, citing "changes in the economy" as its reason as a reference to its financial losses. [11]

Content

ChickClick was launched as a zine and web portal aimed at women, featuring links to content that parodied mainstream teen and women's magazines. [6] Websites that were part of ChickClick's network included the Disgruntled Housewife; [1] [6] Riotgrrl; [1] GrrlGamer; [1] and Bimbionic. [12] :41 Unlike general women's magazines at the time, ChickClick was seen as "edgy", [6] [12] :41 with personal content and an aesthetic combining riot grrrl visuals with "reclaimed girl culture" such as Hello Kitty and "ironic" artwork from the 1950s. [12] :41

ChickClick also featured a message board, where users could participate. [3] It also had a free e-mail and web hosting service that was powered by Lycos. [4] [13] The e-mail service Chickmail and web hosting service Chickpages were advertised to the teenage demographic, while Estromail and Estropages were advertised to the adult demographic. [4] Websites hosted on Chickpages and Estropages were part of ChickClick's network, and the owners of ChickClick would profit from the advertisements. [7]

EstroNet

Like ChickClick, EstroNet was created as a collaborative network of websites and zines aimed at women. [14] It was intended to drive traffic towards independent websites created by women. [14] In addition, Heather Irwin, one of its founders, planned for EstroNet to host original content, such as spotlighting women in the technology industry. [14] EstroNet's member sites included Maxi, its first member; [15] and HUES (acronym for Hear Us Emerging Sisters), founded by Ophira Edut and aimed at women of color; [7] Bust , a print zine; [14] [16] Gurl.com; [14] [16] Minxmag, an online zine sponsored by Pseudo.com; [14] [16] Women's Room, an online zine on Tripod; [14] [16] and Wench. [16]

The founders of EstroNet were familiar with Heidi Swanson since 1995, and as ChickClick had corporate funding, which EstroNet lacked, they allowed Swanson to take over the website. [17] :431 After merging with ChickClick in October 1998, [4] EstroNet's original content was divided into its own category, EstroClick, aimed at older women. [5] :255

Analysis

Critical reception

In 1998, ChickClick received more than a million visits a month. [1] Entertainment Weekly gave the website a B+, stating that both ChickClick and EstroNet had "useful information, provocative thought, and handsome visuals laid out with clarity and taste" but that its effect can be hard to take seriously. [18] ChickClick was also one of the websites criticized for having sexual information, and in 1999, anti-pornography advocates cited concerns that this would lead to more underage sexual activity and cause harmful development in young girls. [19]

Awards

YearAwardCategoryNomineesResult
2001 Webby Awards CommunityChickClickNominated [20]
LivingNominated [20]

Use in academia

ChickClick has been used as a study of zine culture and women's media in the 1990s. [7] [21] Scholars Tasha Oren and Andrea Press named ChickClick as one of the websites that encouraged female participation on the Internet. [7] They also noticed that while ChickClick was active as part of the zine culture, it was branded as alternative content for women and separated itself from radical feminist zines. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lycos</span> Search engine and web portal

Lycos, Inc., is a web search engine and web portal established in 1994, spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, web hosting, social networking, and entertainment websites. The company is based in Waltham, Massachusetts, and is a subsidiary of Ybrant Digital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Wide Web</span> Linked hypertext system on the Internet

The World Wide Web is an information system that enables content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond IT specialists and hobbyists. It allows documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet according to specific rules of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Website</span> Set of related web pages served from a single domain

A website is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education, commerce, entertainment, or social media. Hyperlinking between web pages guides the navigation of the site, which often starts with a home page. The most-visited sites are Google, YouTube, and Facebook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web banner</span> Type of advertising

A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser. In many cases, banners are delivered by a central ad server. This payback system is often how the content provider is able to pay for the Internet access to supply the content in the first place. Usually though, advertisers use ad networks to serve their advertisements, resulting in a revshare system and higher quality ad placement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zine</span> Collection of self-published work reproduced by photocopying

A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation. A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and popularized within science fiction fandom, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proxy server</span> Computer server that makes and receives requests on behalf of a user

In computer networking, a proxy server is a server application that acts as an intermediary between a client requesting a resource and the server providing that resource. It improves privacy, security, and performance in the process.

Google AdSense is a program run by Google through which website publishers in the Google Network of content sites serve text, images, video, or interactive media advertisements that are targeted to the site content and audience. These advertisements are administered, sorted, and maintained by Google. They can generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis. Google beta-tested a cost-per-action service, but discontinued it in October 2008 in favor of a DoubleClick offering. In Q1 2014, Google earned US$3.4 billion, or 22% of total revenue, through Google AdSense. In 2021, more than 38 million websites used AdSense. It is a participant in the AdChoices program, so AdSense ads typically include the triangle-shaped AdChoices icon. This program also operates on HTTP cookies.

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model used to drive traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked.

Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising that uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. Online advertising includes email marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, many types of display advertising, and mobile advertising. Advertisements are increasingly being delivered via automated software systems operating across multiple websites, media services and platforms, known as programmatic advertising.

An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer magazine Datamation. Some online magazines distributed through the World Wide Web call themselves webzines. An ezine is a more specialized term appropriately used for small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by email. Some social groups may use the terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as "electronic magazines", "digital magazines", or "e-magazines" to reflect their readership demographics or to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreamcast online functionality</span>

The Dreamcast is a home video game console by Sega, the first one introduced in the sixth generation of video game consoles. With the release of the Dreamcast in 1998 amid the dot-com bubble and mounting losses from the development and introduction of its new home console, Sega made a major gamble in attempting to take advantage of the growing public interest in the Internet by including online capabilities in the console as a selling point. As such, the Dreamcast was the first console to include a built-in modem for Internet support and online play. Sega would end up leaning heavily into the online capabilities to sell the Dreamcast as hype grew for Sony's then-upcoming competitor, the PlayStation 2, which also promised online gaming in addition to its DVD capabilities.

Kibu.com was an American website for teenage girls that was created in 1999 and launched in 2000. The website was founded as an online community for girls to discuss and exchange advice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IVillage</span> American media company (1995–2013)

iVillage, Inc. was a mass media company that operated the ”most popular female-oriented sites” on the internet in the 1990s. In addition to ivillage.com, the company operated iVillage UK, Astrology.com, GardenWeb, and the NBC Digital Health Network. The iVillage website ceased operations on October 31, 2014, and the domain name was redirected to the Today Show website, while the other domain names were sold.

IGN is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former editor-in-chief, Peer Schneider. The IGN website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29, 1996. It focuses on games, films, anime, television, comics, technology, and other media. Originally a network of desktop websites, IGN is also distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu, and Snapchat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Interactive</span> Interactive subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company.

Clickability, Inc., was a web content management system company. Founded in 1999, it was acquired by Limelight Networks in 2011. Limelight Networks sold Clickability to Upland Software in December 2013.

Shockwave.com, or Shockwave, is an online and offline video games distributor and game portal. It is owned by Shockwave LLC, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was launched by Macromedia on August 2, 1999, to promote the company's Shockwave and Flash players, both used on the website. As of 2005, the website had 22 million users. By 2010, it hosted more than 400 games in a variety of genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clickbait</span> Web content intended to entice users to click on a link

Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow ("click") that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading. A "teaser" aims to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content. Clickbait headlines often add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered. The "-bait" suffix makes an analogy with fishing, where a hook is disguised by an enticement (bait), presenting the impression to the fish that it is a desirable thing to swallow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSN Dial-up</span> Internet service provide operated by Microsoft

MSN Dial-up is an Internet service provider operated by Microsoft in the United States and formerly also in several other countries. Originally named The Microsoft Network, it debuted as a proprietary online service on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of Windows 95. In 1996 and 1997, a revised web-based version of the ISP was an early experiment at interactive multimedia content on the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gurl.com</span> Former social networking website

Gurl.com was an American website for teenage girls that was online from 1996 to 2018. It was created by Rebecca Odes, Esther Drill, and Heather McDonald as a resource centered on teen advice, body image, female sexuality, and other teen-related concerns. First published as an online zine, it later expanded into an online community. At one point, it provided a free e-mail and web hosting service, known as Gurlmail and Gurlpages respectively.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ganahl, Jane (December 24, 1998). "THE CHIEF CHICK OF CHICKCLICK". SF Gate . Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Gedes, Ryan (January 11, 2008). "Origins: The History of IGN". IGN . Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Web Site of the Week: ChickClick". CMJ New Music Report . Vol. 59, no. 624. CMJ. June 28, 1999. p. 24. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Dawson, Angela (January 25, 1999). "ChickClick Seeking a Creative Agency". Adweek . Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Reichert, Tom; Lambiase, Jacqueline (December 1, 2002). Sex in Advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN   9780805841183.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Macantangay, Shar (April 18, 2000). "Chicks click their way through the Internet". Iowa State Daily . Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Oren, Tasha; Press, Andrea (May 29, 2019). The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminism. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN   9781138845114.
  8. Cox, Beth (August 27, 1999). "Newly Renamed Snowball.com Plans $6M Campaign". ClickZ. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  9. "CHICKCLICK TO OFFER CUSTOM RADIO". Women's Wear Daily . 2000. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  10. Zeitchik, Steven M. (October 18, 2000). "Analysis: Teen portals proving unfruitful". CNN . Archived from the original on April 11, 2001. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  11. "ChickClick Shuts Down". Wall Street Journal . March 27, 2002. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 Marwick, Alice E. (November 26, 2013). "A Cultural Study of Web 2.0". Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN   9780300209389. JSTOR   j.ctt5vkzxr. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  13. Ladendorf, Martina (November 6, 2002). "Cyberzines: Irony and Parody as Strategies in a Feminist Sphere". Digital Borderlands: Cultural Studies of Identity and Interactivity on the Internet. By Fornäs, Johan; Klein, Kajsa; Ladendorf, Martina; Sundén, Jenny; Sveningsson, Malin. Switzerland: Peter Lang. p. 119. ISBN   9780820457406. Archived from the original on July 8, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021. The Web ring Chickclick also has a similar section, called "Chickpages"... Chickclick use[s] a service offered by Lycos. The offer to users to create their own Web sites indicates that the editors imagine their readers/users not only as a target group at the receiving end but also as active creators of messages and new media content. The result is the creation of networks among users.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "EstroNet Pumps Out 'Girl Culture'". Wired . November 13, 1997. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  15. Pepper, Rosemary (October 29, 1998). "Women on the Web". The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 25, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "Short Take: Women's sites team up in network". CNET . October 20, 1997. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  17. Gray, Jonathan; Johnson, Derek (April 22, 2013). "Collaboration and Co-Creation in Networked Environments". A Companion to Media Authorship. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   9780470670965.
  18. "ChickClick". Entertainment Weekly . May 1, 1998. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  19. Brown, Janelle (July 28, 1999). "Girl talk". Salon.com . Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  20. 1 2 "Webby Awards". 2001. Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  21. Rayman-Read, Alyssa (December 19, 2001). "Lipstick and Politics". The American Prospect . Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.