Bitstrips
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| Fate | Acquired by Snap Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | Jacob Blackstock |
| Defunct | July 8, 2016 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada |
| Website | www |
Bitstrips is a media and technology company based in Toronto, Canada. It develops and operates Bitmoji, a mobile application that allows users to create personalized avatars and use them in messaging applications. As of March 2016, Bitstrips has been operating as a subsidiary of Snap Inc. Bitmoji was integrated into Snapchat in July 2016. Bitstrips Inc. was founded in 2007 by Jacob Blackstock, David Kennedy, Shahan Panth, Dorian Baldwin, and Jesse Brown.
The company's web application, Bitstrips.com, allowed users to create comic strips using personalized avatars, and preset templates and poses. Brown and Blackstock explained that the service was meant to enable self-expression without the need to have artistic skills. Bitstrips was first presented in 2008 at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and the service later piloted and launched a version designed for use as educational software. The service achieved increasing prominence following the launch of versions for Facebook and mobile platforms. In 2014, Bitstrips launched a spin-off app known as Bitmoji, which allows users to create personalized stickers for use in messaging apps.
In July 2016, Snapchat announced that it had acquired the company; the Bitstrips comic service was shut down, but Bitmoji remains operational and was subsequently given greater integration with Snapchat itself.
Bitstrips was co-developed by Toronto-based comic artist Jacob Blackstock and his high school friend, journalist Jesse Brown; the service was originally envisioned as a means to allow anyone to create their own comic strip without needing artistic skills. Brown explained that "it's so difficult and time-consuming to tell a story in comic book form, drawing the same characters again and again in these tiny little panels, and just the amount of craftsmanship required. And even if you can do it well, which I never could, it takes years to make a story." Brown stated that the service would be "groundwork for a whole new way to communicate", and went as far as describing the service as being a "YouTube for comics". Blackstock explained that the concept of Bitstrips was influenced by his own use of comics as a form of socialization; a student, Blackstock and his friends drew comics featuring each other and shared them during classes. He felt that Bitstrips was a "medium for self-expression", stating that "It’s not just about you making the comics, but since you and your friends star in these comics, it’s like you’re the medium. The visual nature of comics just speaks so much louder than text."
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