Mega-retailer Wal-Mart has shut down “The Hub,” the online site launched in July 2006 to capitalize on the Internet’s social networking craze amongst teens and other desired demographics. As of today, visitors are greeted with a message saying “Sorry, but the School Your Way promotion has ended.”
The site had never exactly been a hit. Hoping to offer an alternative to sites like MySpace, Wal-Mart’s hub was tightly controlled, offered a small set of features, and was often described as sanitized to the point of antiseptic boredom. The site also drew criticism for suspiciously non-ironic posts promoting The Hub and Wal-Mart itself, leading many to suspect Wal-Mart was seeding the site with fake users.
