Hyves has been sold to Telegraaf Media Groep.

UK and international package delivery firms operating in the Netherlands could find the social media landscape in the country changing dramatically as local network Hyves is bought up by Telegraaf Media Groep.

The sale could be an indication of the growing strength of Facebook, as the Dutch site's ten million or so subscribers are dwarfed by the 500 million on Facebook.

TechCrunch website certainly thinks so, arguing that the developers behind Hyves, which began life around the same time as its American bigger brother, are "cashing in their chips" while the going is good.

However, Hyves chief executive officer Marc de Vries is keen to point out that the acquisition simply allows faster growth and innovation for the social site to keep up with Facebook.

He explained to the Wall Street Journal that Hyves' success lies in it being a local network.

"We do think that there is a place next to Hyves for Facebook — it is not head-on competing with us, they have elements that we could not copy, and we have elements that they can never do," he said.

Posted by Laura Rathbone

Article Added: 02/11/2010 09:30:32