Gaia Online

Gaia Interactive, Inc.
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedFebruary 18, 2003 (2003-02-18)[1][2]
Founders
Headquarters,
U.S.
Key people
Number of employees
25[4]
Websitewww.gaiaonline.com

Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations. It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh,[1][2] and the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive. Gaia originally began as an anime linklist and eventually developed a small community,[2] but following a statement by founder Derek Liu, the website moved towards social gaming and[5] eventually became forum-based.[6][7]

In 2007, over a million posts were made daily,[6] and 7 million unique users visited each month[8] (with over 26 million total registered users). Gaia also won the 2007 Webware 100 award in the Community category[9] and was included in Time magazine's list of 50 best websites in 2008.[10] In January 2011, the company won the Mashable Best User experience Award for 2010.[11]

  1. ^ a b "Gaia Intranet :: About us". Gaia Online. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2009. Founded in 2003, Gaia Online is the leading online hangout on the web
  2. ^ a b c "Interview: Derek Liu, Gaia Online Anime Community". fif-flowers.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009. Creation date of the board: February 18, 2003
  3. ^ Liu, Derek. "Ask the Staff - 3 October 2017". Gaia Online. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  4. ^ Liu, Derek. "Ask the Staff interview, 17 January 2017". Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  5. ^ "Guest Authentication – Gaia Online". Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Move over MySpace, Gaia Online is here". GigaOmniMedia, Inc. April 22, 2007. Archived from the original on June 1, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  7. ^ According to some sources, 2channel is the largest forum in the world."Japan Media Review -- Reining in the Web in Japan". Archived from the original on June 7, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2007. [1]
  8. ^ "Virtual Worlds News: Virtual Greats' Snoop Dogg and Incredible Hulk Goods Launch in Gaia". Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved September 18, 2008.
  9. ^ "Gaia Online: Webware 100". CNET Networks, Inc. June 18, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
  10. ^ "50 Best Websites 2008". Time. June 17, 2008. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  11. ^ Mashable Team (January 7, 2011). "Mashable". Mashable. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2015.