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An online petition to “bring back Polyvore,” a collaging and style discovery website and app that was unceremoniously shut down last Thursday, quickly cleared its target of 5,000 signatures. The goal was extended: 15,000 signatures. As of this morning, more than 13,300 people had added their names to the appeal.
But despite the loud outcry from longtime Polyvore fans, the service is not coming back. Polyvore’s shutdown happened in conjunction with the announcement that the Canadian fashion retailer Ssense had acquired it from Oath, the parent company of Yahoo, the Huffington Post, and Tumblr. In a statement sent to Racked and posted on Ssense’s Instagram yesterday, the company said that it won’t be able to resurrect Polyvore. It didn’t give a reason why.
Here it is in full.
We deeply regret the distress our actions have caused the Polyvore community over the past few days. While it was not our decision to shut down Polyvore, we handled things badly. We have not currently received any user data previously entrusted to Polyvore. All users have been offered the option to opt out of any data transfer before May 15, 2018. Following this date, should users choose not to opt out, we will only receive their Polyvore username, email address, and email preferences. We will not receive any other data or any content associated with any Polyvore account.
Unfortunately we do not have the ability to bring the website or its functionalities back. We regret that some users have experienced technical difficulties downloading their content. The parent company of Polyvore is responsible for managing the content and data transfers, and we are working with them to make it easier for users to retrieve their content. We respect the privacy of our users and endeavour to be transparent about our privacy practices at all times.
We acknowledge the passion and creativity of the Polyvore community and we’re sincerely sorry.
If you were an avid Polyvore user, I want to hear which platforms you’re planning to use instead. Drop me a line at eliza@racked.com.
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