Bonfire
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Bonfire Inc is a social media company founded in 2054 by Michael Jasik. In 2092 it recorded 1.3 billion active users. Bonfire owns a number of social media products, such as Book, Fanland, Ownland, Instagrim, and Freetown. Bonfire also owns the two biggest dating and mating networks of the Western world, Tander and Meec.
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Bonfire |
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|---|---|
| Employees | 123,000 |
| Revenue | $900B (2092) |
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 4 Aprile 2054 (Island of California) |
| Headquarters | Higher Menlo Park, IC |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| CEO | George Hoplau |
Michael Jasik founded Bonfire following a blind investment from Sequoia at the age of 33. Michael pitched the idea of acquiring the 10 biggest video micro-blogging social networks and merging them behind the scenes (Meeting A324 with the Sequoia partners, June 2062). The idea was that a unified social media conglomerate was still possible if end users were unaware of the unified algorithm training happening behind the scenes. During the partners meeting, Michael said: [citation needed]
The Social Media Diaspora damaged our understanding of human nature, and will be considered a bug in the history of the internet. We need to bring back users under the same roof in order to gain the insights that we need to make better products.
Following the Sequoia investment, Michael Jasik proceeded to acquire 5 social media companies in 5 weeks. Bonfire went through subsequent rounds of investment and acquired more than 75 social networks, mainly in the Western hemisphere. The Federal Trade Authority invested in its D round.
In the years 2054-2045, Bonfire started to acquire dating networks and apps. Jasik articulated the new direction of the company at a Bonfire annual address of 2054:
In 2053, 87% of the new relationships were initiated following a match on a dating app or a mating network. That will translate into mating and prole that benefitted from these matches. We think that, by combining the knowledge of these matches on a global scale, we can benefit humanity by providing more successful combinations of genes, social status, and potential. Bonfire now owns more than 250+ social networks and 30+ dating networks.
Reasons for success
During the activism of the ‘30 and ‘50, it seemed unlikely that a holding company could purchase smaller networks, both for regulatory and consumer behavior reasons. The regulations at the time prohibited the aggregation and concentration of social media companies. The consumers were drawn to other networks and would abandon the newly purchased network. As Lark Vuckerberg described in 2027:
It’s a double wammy
Michael Jasik was the first to realize that both conditions were not true anymore. With the Rise events and the subsequent formation of the Island of California, the regulatory framework was eased and limitations to the size of tech companies were removed. Jasik also realized that consumer behavior was different: users were not paying as much attention as in the ‘30, and activism was declining. Jasik thought that, if the ownership changed quietly and the content restrictions were rolled out slowly, users would not leave these networks[citation needed]