Dogster

Dogster Inc
Subsidiary
Industry Internet
Founded 2004
Founder Ted Rheingold
Steven J. Reading
John Vars
Headquarters San Francisco, California
Key people
 Ted Rheingold (Top Dog)
Number of employees
 17
Parent I-5 Publishing
Website www.dogster.com

Dogster is a dog-themed social networking and forums-based website. Its sister site is Catster, a cat-oriented website with a similar format.

Users of the site create a pet page which is a customizable web page for which they can give treats or purchase virtual items using what are called zealies. This virtual currency can be given to the users after engaging in some of the website activities, using PayPal or by purchasing a Plus subscription.

Dogster won the 2005 Webby category for best community site.[1] It was acquired by SAY Media in 2011.[2] On January 16, 2014, SAY Media declared that all the social networking and forums would be removed from Dogster and Catster.[3][4] On February 12, 2014, the company announced that it was working with a new partner, and the community features would remain on Dogster and Catster.[5][6] In July 2014, Dogster and Catster were sold to I-5 Publishing.[7] In 2015, I-5 closed Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy and replaced them with print versions of Catster and Dogster.[8]

Special events

Dogster holds various special events during the year, ranging from face to face events or the World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show which happens on-line. During the events, users take part in a photo contest which consists of uploading a photo and photo for different photos in different categories.

Forums

Forums are public message boards that users use for everything ranging from regular conversation to role play and in-depth discussions concerning dog health, nutrition, training, and grooming. Most users talk in the voice of their dog.

Groups

Dogster users can form groups, which are clubs specially devoted to certain topics. These include hangout groups, role playing groups and groups for a particular dog breed.

Gifts

Members of Dogster receive a gift in the form of a blue star when they sign up. Dogster has three types of gifts: stars, rosettes, and special gifts.Stars last forever and can be given for 5 zealies. Rosettes expire after a month, and cost 1 zealie.Special Gifts also last a month, and are either 5 or 20 zealies. All these are displayed on a dogs page.

References

External links

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