Multiply to Drop Social Networking, Focus on Marketplace Features

Posted on August 9th, 2012. Written by Rico.

Those who visited their Multiply accounts this morning were greeted with an announcement: “From December 1st, we will unfortunately no longer be able to support Multiply in its current form”.

In the message, which can be found here, Multiply CEO Stefan Magdalinski said that “we will be removing the social networking and content sharing part of Multiply (photos, videos, blogs, social messaging, etc.)… other Internet sites who are committed to social networking services will do a better job serving you than we can.”

Multiply will keep all social networking content up until December 1 of this year. “We will be providing easy ways for you to either download your stuff (photos, blogs, content, etc), or migrate it to other online services. We’ll announce the precise details shortly. It will be your choice whether to download, migrate or just let your content lapse (and get deleted),” wrote Magdalinski.

Founded in 2003 by American Peter Pezaris, Multiply.com attracted local converts from social networking pioneer Friendster by offering comprehensive photo, music, and even video sharing features. Filipinos in particular were attracted to the site’s blogging tools, and the format’s suitability to selling items online. We’ve featured numerous individuals and companies who have used Multiply as an eCommerce vehicle.

However, like many other social networks, Multiply suffered from Facebook’s steady ride over the past few years. Even if, as Pezaris claimed, Facebook copied features from Multiply. And before introducing its Marketplace feature and advertising itself as the Philippines largest online shopping community, Multiply actually went after users treating their profiles as online stores.

The site then changed ownership through a buy out by an acquisition by South African media company Naspers. Earlier this year the company behind the site moved its headquarters from Florida to Indonesia.

Now it’s clear that Multiply will stake its feature on the Marketplace and its ability to facilitate online transactions. “As most of you are probably aware, Multiply’s mission has evolved over the past year and a half to become the biggest and most beloved ecommerce marketplace in two very exciting markets, Indonesia and the Philippines.” The good news is that for the most part the buying and shopping experience on the site will remain unchanged.