instela (İTÜ Sözlük)

What did it do?

İTÜ Sözlük was founded by Çağatay Gürtürk on 1 March 2004 as a collaborative "dictionary", a Turkish forum format in which users write entries under topic headings, and was soon opened to all internet users. In January 2015, with the aim of expanding abroad, it was renamed instela and its dictionary format was turned into a social community. At the time of the transition the site was being developed by The Hive Cluster, a company with offices in Istanbul and Barcelona.

Why did it shut down?

The 2015 rebrand came with a plan to take the site into other languages, starting with Spanish; however, there is no data showing that this expansion bore fruit. According to the closure post published by the management in early 2024, the site had not carried advertising or conducted any commercial activity for about five years, and had not accepted new members for a long time. The same post also cited the founders being busy with other work, technical problems and court orders demanding the removal of content. The management further noted that dictionary sites had an ageing user base and, with the transformation of social media, could not reach the new generation. The site closed on 1 March 2024, in the 20th year since its founding.

The story

Founded by Çağatay Gürtürk on 1 March 2004, İTÜ Sözlük was initially a student site accessible only from Istanbul Technical University campuses. In April 2004 it opened to the whole internet and became one of Turkey's first collaborative "dictionaries", the forum format in which users write entries under topic headings. Over the years it grew its own community with add-ons such as image and video support, a radio station, event listings and location-based features.

In January 2015 the site took a radical decision. The name İTÜ Sözlük was dropped in favour of instela, chosen because foreigners could pronounce it easily, and the dictionary format was turned into a social community. According to a Webrazzi report at the time, more than 150,000 users had moved to the new site. The Hive Cluster, which developed the site, had offices in Istanbul and Barcelona; the goal was to expand into other languages, starting with Spain and Latin America. Gürtürk explained that the average user age was approaching 27 and that the site could no longer be considered a university outlet.

The hoped-for global expansion never happened. According to the closure post published by the management in early 2024 and reported by TeknoSeyir, the site had not carried advertising or made any commercial transactions for about five years, and its costs were being covered by another company owned by the team. It had not accepted new members for a long time either. The post listed wearing details such as technical problems and court orders demanding the removal of content. The management described the most important problem as dictionary sites having an increasingly ageing user profile and being unable to reach the new generation as social media transformed.

In the end, the team chose to close the site rather than keep it on life support. instela bid farewell on 1 March 2024, exactly 20 years after it was founded. The site's radio station, instela FM, closed the same day.

instela's story shows the risk of a strong local brand changing its name in pursuit of global scale. Old users never fully warmed to the new identity, while the new generation turned to social media instead of dictionary sites.

Lessons for founders

• A rebrand alone does not bring a new audience; you need a product that wins new users without wearing out the old ones.
• Halting commercial activity and putting a product on hold for years is often the prelude to a quiet closure.
• If your users' average age goes up every year, look early at where the new generation is going.

Sources

1. İTÜ Sözlük, relaunched as instela, aims to expand into other languages (Webrazzi, 2015-02-20)
2. instela (Vikipedi)
3. İnstela, the dictionary formerly known as İTÜ Sözlük, is reportedly closing (TeknoSeyir, 2024-02-20)

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