 | |
Type of site | Web chat, message board, hosting service |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| URL | wbs.net (archived) |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Yes, required.[3] |
| Current status | Original site closed down; incorporated into Go.com. Site recreated in 2009 as classic-wbs.net |
WebChat Broadcasting System, or WBS for short, is a virtual community created during the 1990s. Supported by online advertising, it was one of few services at the time to offer free integrated community services including chat rooms, message boards, and free personal web pages. Extremely popular during the mid to late 1990s in the era prior to the Dot-com bust, WBS was at that time the largest and best-known social media website on the internet.[3] In 1998, WBS was acquired by the search engine Infoseek, which was in turn acquired by Disney/ABC. The original WebChat Broadcasting System closed on 15 September 1999 after its chat rooms were integrated into Disney's existing Go Network chat rooms.[2] A revival of WBS was launched in 2009 and is virtually identical to the original community.[4]
- ^ See archived versions of the splash page from 1997.
- ^ a b "Untitled statement about WBS' closure". GO Network. Archived from the original on 30 November 1999.
- ^ a b French, Deanie (1999). Internet Based Learning: An Introduction and Framework for Higher Education. Stylus Publishing, LLC. p. 66. ISBN 9781579220075.
- ^ WebChat Broadcasting System (Beta) - WBS.NET. Retrieved on 25 September 2013.