- Social media platforms like Youtube primarily serve as a communication channel to share ideas and information, whereas social networking sites focus on creating and maintaining relationships.
- Since social networking sites began in 1995, we’ve seen the rise and fall of countless social networks for varying reasons.
From Yik Yak to Friendster, there have been plenty of short-lived social media sites that were popular one day and gone the next.
Only a handful of social media platforms have dominated our screens in recent years, but a wave of uncertainty and weakening trust in major tech companies have inspired some consumers and creators to seek out new, and even revamp old, networks.Â
Amid the fallout of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, now called X, and desperate pleas for better platforms, we look back on six notable defunct social networking services, which some readers have probably been on and wish never went away (we’re looking at you, Vine).
Here are a few of the most memorable and significant social platforms born in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
New Twitter logo:Elon Musk drops bird for black-and-white ‘X’ as company rebrands
Six Degrees
What was Six Degrees? The social networking website and blogging platform Six Degrees, founded by Andrew Weinreich in 1996, is considered by many to be the first true social networking site, according to CBS News. The website featured some of the social media hallmarks we see today: profiles we can post on, friend lists, school enrollment, the ability to send and receive messages and more.Â
Is Six Degrees still accessible? Six Degrees’ domain is still accessible.Â
How long did Six Degrees last? 1997-2001
Why did Six Degrees shut down? According to CBS News, a lack of good Internet connection limited the website’s ability to grow. According to Britannica, SixDegrees.com claimed to have attracted more than three million users by 2000 but failed to monetize its popularity into revenue and collapsed when the dotcom “
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