Hi5 – Social Gaming Site

: Image via CrunchBase

by Arnand V

Hi5 (http://hi5.com) is not just a social networking site; it’s a social gaming site. It has many aspects of Facebook – in fact, it has many aspects of many other sites and it relies on the strength of social gaming for its popularity and growth. Hi5 has obviously found a niche, with games added to the social networking experience for the young users aged anywhere between 18 and 35. Its infrastructure is way too attractive than that of online gaming sites (like Pogo), but trying to be the photo (and music and video) sharing site like how Facebook has become nowadays will be a tough hill to climb. As we all know, Facebook, in addition to its many other strong features offers games of its own—enough to satisfy those people looking to spend time conquering the farm or streets.

In Hi5, users create an online profile in order to show information such as interests, age and hometown and upload user pictures where users can post comments. Hi5 also allows the user to create personal photo albums and set up a music player in their profiles. Users can also send friend requests via e-mail to other members. When a person receives a friend request, he may accept or decline it, or block the user altogether. Hi5 relies on games found in other online gaming sites like Pogo.com. Hi5 rewards users for playing games, giving out coins that are the “currency” for the site. Like Facebook, users set up their profile and add their personal information, but unlike it, Hi5 also allows much more customization of users’ page using various backgrounds screens and colors and the ability to create their own avatar (much like setting up your Twitter page, actually) and send out gifts to other members in the site. The site isn’t cluttered heavily with advertisements and hence presents a clean aura of its own.

Hi5 is owned by hi5 Networks, Inc., which is a privately-held firm headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Hi5 (www.hi5.com) was founded in 2003 by Ramu Yalamanchi who is also the current CEO. It’s the 3rd largest social gaming site in the world, after Facebook and MySpace–claiming over 80 million members. According to Alexa it is the 50th most popular website in the world and the #1 social network site in over 25 countries across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It is also available in 23 language options.