WINTER GARDEN – Now is not exactly the best time to launch a social networking site.
The Internet is flooded with them, venture capital is scarce and even popular sites are struggling to make money. Despite such a harsh climate, , a new social networking site based in Winter Garden, held a grand opening this morning that was reminiscent of the “dot com†boom. There were balloons, free food, a cake and a ribbon cutting and talk of hiring more staff and expanding to a bigger office in just a few years. The 13-person company plans to offer internships for college students and hire about 20 more employees, including web developers, writers, web designers, project managers and marketing specialists, paying about $35,000 to $55,000 a year. Thoughts.com plans to host a job fair at its offices at 4028 Winter Garden Vineland Road on Sept. 9. For more information about jobs, e-mail . Thoughts.com was started by Ben Ogden (pictured), a 32-year-old who grew up in Merritt Island and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in finance. Ogden describes the site as a place for people to go to discuss important issues such as religion, politics and philanthropy with people they’ve never met. The site actually opened in June 2007 and currently has about 200,000 registered users, Ogden said. “Facebook is a tool that connects you with your friends,†said Ogden, the founder and chief executive officer. “Thoughts is a conversation engine to connect you with like-minded people. Facebook is about being in contact, in short form communication, with people you already know, whereas Thoughts is about getting into engaging discussions with people that you may not know based around the ideas in your head.’’
Some popular discussions topics on the site Wednesday included adultery, weight loss, Jesus and unemployment. Like many social-networking sites, Thoughts.com lets members create profiles, share pictures and videos and take polls.