European minnows bid to challenge social media giants

▤ Summary

European founders are launching a wave of homegrown social networks that aim to lure users away from US and Asian giants. Startups such as Croatia-based eYou, W, Eurosky, Bulle and Monnett have opened or are planning public releases, with eYou recently opening to users and Monnett targeting a July full release. They pitch features like reduced algorithmic curation, stricter human verification and less targeted advertising to address rising user distrust, and some have raised modest funding or built beta user bases. Network effects, huge incumbent audiences and ad-driven revenue models remain steep hurdles to scaling and profitability for the newcomers.

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