9GAG

9GAG is a Hong Kong–based[3] online platform and

9GAG
social media website,[4] which allows its users to
upload and share "user-generated content" or other
content from external social media websites. Since
the platform for collections of Internet memes was
launched on July 1, 2008,[5] it has grown in
popularity across the social media such as Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram.[a]

In November 2017, it had 223.35 million visitors:

11.03% from Germany, 5.55% from the United States,
4.40% from France, 4.19% from Brazil and 3.99%
from United Kingdom.[6]

Type of Private
business
Contents Type of site Entertainment
History Available in English
Mobile app development
Founded July 1, 2008
Content and authorship Headquarters Tsuen Wan, Hong
See also Kong
Mountain View,
Note
California, United
References States [1]
External links Country of Hong Kong
origin
Area served Worldwide
History Founder(s) Ray Chan
The website was co-founded in 2009–2010 by a Chris Chan
group of 5 Hong Kong people: University of Hong
Derek Chan
Kong student Ray Chan, his brother Chris Chan,
Marco Fung
Derek Chan, Marco Fung and Brian Yu, with the
intention of creating an alternative online platform to Brian Yu
email on which users could easily share humorous Key people Ray Chan (CEO)

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 photos or videos. In a 2012 interview, its CEO Ray Website 9gag.com (http://9gag.
Chan declined to explain the origins of the name com)
"9GAG".[7] Alexa rank 377 (January
2020)[2]
Starting the company under a "Just for Fun"
mentality, 9GAG's co-founders began using 9GAG as Advertising Banner ads
a résumé-builder for the 500 Startups accelerator Registration Optional (required to
program. During the summer program, the 9GAG submit, comment, vote
team worked on other startup ideas, including or view NSFW content)
StartupQuote and Songboard. [8] Following the 500 Current status Active
Startups accelerator program, 9GAG participated in
Y Combinator's incubator and its user-base increased to 70 million global unique visitors per
month.[9] The 9GAG co-founding team discontinued all other projects and shifted their
focus exclusively on 9GAG. 500 Startups was given equity for their aid and mentorship.

In July 2012, 9GAG raised an additional US$2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley-
based venture capital,[10] including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners. In August 2012,
9GAG received another US$2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalists,
including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners, as well as individual investors like
Christopher Sacca, Kevin Rose, and Naval Ravikant. This funding was able to support
9GAG's engineering team growth both in Hong Kong and in Silicon Valley.[11] 9GAG is
headquartered in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong with offices in Mountain View, California.[12][13]

Mobile app development

9GAG has a mobile application on iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, and BlackBerry
10.[14][15]

In July 2012, 9GAG launched an app for iOS and Android. The mobile application serves as a
streamlined version of the web-based content.[16] In summer 2014 9GAG launched 9CHAT.
9GAG users are able to log into their account and write to others by sending them a message.
9CHAT also added support for the creation of groups in different sections.[17] January 2015,
9GAG launched its first game called 9GAG Redhead redemption.

Content and authorship

9GAG users and admins may also re-post content (usually without any consent from its
respective authors) from other websites (e.g. 4chan, Newgrounds, Reddit, SomethingAwful,
FunnyJunk, YTMND, Instagram, etc.), replacing the source site's watermark with their own.

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 In 2011, 9GAG and 4chan disputed authorship of internet memes published on both
websites, whereby each company claimed the memes originated from their own website. As
stated by 9GAG co-founder Ray Chan, "9GAG does not create memes or rage comics, but
helps spread them." [18][19] In a 2015 Slate article, writer Amanda Hess described 9GAG's
reposting of content from Instagram as part of an "online ecosystem of joke stealing".[20]

In his 2014 article "Building Identity and Building Bridges Between Cultures: The Case of
9gag", the linguist Albin Wagener examined 446 posts found on 9GAG's main page; of these,
40 (8.97%) were clearly discriminatory Most of the discriminatory posts were misogynist
(57.5%), followed by cultural discrimination (25%) and homophobia (12.5%). According to
Wagener, 9GAG brings people together in an international context, but through masculine
and heterosexual symbolism and the devaluation of other groups.[21]

See also
1CAK

Note
a. As of November 2017, it reached more than 38.3 million Facebook likes [22] 13.9 million
Twitter followers[23] and 42.6 million followers on Instagram[24]

References
1. "9GAG, Inc. Company Information" (https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/
snapshot.asp?privcapId=191824007). Bloomberg L.P.
2. "9gag.com Site Info" (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/9gag.com). Alexa Internet. Retrieved
January 14, 2020.
3. "9GAG CEO Ray Chan: 'Building a healthy community is a never-ending battle' " (https://
techcrunch.com/2017/07/26/9gag-ceo-ray-chan-building-a-healthy-community-is-a-never
-ending-battle/). TechCrunch.
4. "9GAG" (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/9gag). Crunchbase.
5. "9GAG.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info" (http://whois.domaintools.com/9gag.com).
DomainTools. 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
6. "9Gag.com Traffic Statistics" (http://www.similarweb.com/website/9gag.com#overview).
SimilarWeb. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
7. Fiona Ren (24 July 2012). "How Ray Chan started 9GAG, and a career in fun" (http://ww
w.meldmagazine.com.au/2012/07/9-gag-ray-chan/). Meld Magazine. Meld Magazine.
Retrieved 15 September 2014.
8. Mott, Nathaniel (2012-08-21). "9GAG, the Biggest Little Startup at Y Combinator's Demo
Day | PandoDaily" (http://pando.com/2012/08/21/9gag-the-biggest-little-startup-at-y-com

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 8. Mott, Nathaniel (2012-08-21). "9GAG, the Biggest Little Startup at Y Combinator's Demo
Day | PandoDaily" (http://pando.com/2012/08/21/9gag-the-biggest-little-startup-at-y-com
binators-demo-day/). Pando.com. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
9. "Jokes aside, 9GAG's co-founder Ray Chan shares about the serious side of their latest
US$2.8M round" (http://e27.co/jokes-aside-9gags-co-founder-ray-chan-shares-about-the
-serious-side-of-their-latest-us2-8m-round/). E27.co. 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
10. "Project st@rt-up | South China Morning Post" (http://www.scmp.com/magazines/money/
article/1264362/project-strt). Scmp.com. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
11. "Meet 9GAG, the Community Comedy Site That's Growing Like Crazy - Liz Gannes -
Social" (http://allthingsd.com/20120412/meet-9gag-the-community-comedy-site-thats-gro
wing-like-crazy). AllThingsD. 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
12. "9gag office" (https://www.archdaily.com/782606/9gag-office-laab-architects).
13. "9GAG, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg" (https://www.bloomberg.com/re
search/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=191824007). www.bloomberg.com.
Retrieved 2017-11-11.
14. "Behind 9gag. Its business modelFix Need" (https://web.archive.org/web/201407050342
04/http://www.fixneed.com/2012/11/09/9gag-business-model-and-business-proposal/).
Fixneed.com. Archived from the original (http://www.fixneed.com/2012/11/09/9gag-busin
ess-model-and-business-proposal) on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
15. http://9gag.tv/
16. "Humor Website 9GAG Ups the Ante for Fun, Launches New Mobile App and Receives
$2.8 Million in Seed Funding" (http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/Humor-Websit
e-9GAG-Ups-Ante-Fun-Launches-New-Mobile-App-Receives-28-Million-Seed-1684998.
htm). Marketwired.com. 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
17. http://9chatapp.com/
18. Seitz, Dan (September 12, 2012). "Redditor Details 9Gag's Theft Process" (http://uproxx.
com/technology/2012/09/redditor-details-9gags-theft-process/). UPROXX. Retrieved
17 June 2014.
19. Eördögh, Fruzsina (June 4, 2012). "Internet pounces on 9GAG after joke theft" (http://ww
w.dailydot.com/entertainment/rob-delaney-9gag-twitter-joke-theft/). Daily Dot. Daily Dot.
Retrieved 17 June 2014.
20. Hess, Amanda (26 August 2015). "Laugh Factory" (http://www.slate.com/articles/technol
ogy/users/2015/08/the_fat_jew_is_not_alone_the_shady_business_of_internet_joke_ste
aling.html). Slate. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
21. Wagener, Albin (2014). "Creating Identity and Building Bridges Between Cultures: The
Case of 9gag" (http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2448/1227) (PDF). International
Journal of Communication. 8. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
22. "9GAG" (https://www.facebook.com/9gag). 9GAG on Facebook. Facebook. November
2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
23. "9GAG" (https://twitter.com/9GAG). 9GAG on Twitter. Twitter. November 2017. Retrieved
22 November 2017.
24. https://www.instagram.com/9gag/

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 External links
Official website (https://9gag.com/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=9GAG&oldid=936432312"

This page was last edited on 18 January 2020, at 20:47 (UTC).

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