Microsoft Fails...

Well, your first question may be regarding the little-known origins of the said social network but the present news deals with the shuttering down of Microsoft’s failed social experiment So.Cl.

The project from Microsoft Research’s FUSE Labs division was launched in late 2011 as a social community where the objective was “collaborative consumption, not communication.” It allowed users to create, collect and share everything from rich visual collages to short animated video Though So.cl was initially meant for students but it later opened up to anyone once it had gotten going and subsequently added support for mobile devices, too.

Though So.Cl’s first impressions made many people assume it to be Facebook’s rival but it was actually a Pinterest kind of model that Microsoft’s social network adopted.

Curiously, So.Cl managed to survive for more than five years but now the time’s up. The company is shutting down the service on March 15, Microsoft Research said in a brief post blog–

“Socl has been a wonderful outlet for creative expression, as well as a place to enjoy a supportive community of like-minded people, sharing and learning together. In supporting you, Socl’s unique community of creators, we have learned invaluable lessons in what it takes to establish and maintain community as well as introduce novel new ways to make, share and collect digital stuff we love.”