It was founded in 2005 by Joe Green, a Harvard graduate and college roommate of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the collegiate social-networking site Facebook.

In May 2006, Essembly opened membership to the public (to anyone with a valid email address), and began to run advertisements on Facebook.

On January 30, 2010 Essembly stopped working after a successful computer activist effort to shut the site down over alleged cyberbullying activity coordinated by several of the Chicago-based members.

Additionally, members have the option of adding a comment that appears with their vote, allowing them to explain their opinion further.

The Chicago splinter group has remained ideologically exclusive and continued for several years to engage in similar behaviours that resulted in the site's dismantling.