The photo sharing site ipernity, the sole French winner, won the “palm” at the 2008 2nd Open Web Awards. This global competition rewards the best web innovations in 26 categories. Over 50,000 sites were nominated, with more than 170,000 votes counted. Launched in April 2007 by two pioneers of the French internet, ipernity is based in Sophia-Antipolis. Originators of services like Voila.fr, Estat.com, or Respublica, Christophe Ruelle and Christian Conti developed a site decidedly oriented towards Web 2.0.
But what exactly is ipernity?
Originally dedicated to biographies, ipernity performed a 360° turn by becoming… a multimedia file sharing site (photos, videos, audio, etc.). This site from the French Riviera aims to cater to families and groups of friends for private use, but also to creators who want to promote their works to a wider audience. Ipernity, a blend of “ip” and “eternity,” bets on the long-term use of its services. Thus, in theory, the user will have long-term access to “their digital memory heritage.”
Contact networks, groups, chat, messaging, this site encompasses a good portion of the services that have contributed to the success of its competitors like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Picasa, etc.
Available in 12 languages, this free site still offers a paid pro subscription. Ipernity offers a synthesis of multimedia publishing tools, à la carte sharing, and social networking on the Internet.
