2005
January: Husband-and-wife team Michael and Xochi Birch launch Bebo.
April: Facebook, having expanded its reach to hundreds of colleges and universities, secures $12.7 million in venture capital from Accel Partners.
July: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. buys MySpace parent company Intermix Media for $580 million.
September: Facebook adds high-school networks.
October: Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini launch Ning (left), a customizable social-networking platform.