/shutterstock_293483933-5bfc35c2c9e77c005145d52d.jpg "3 Social Media Networks Before Facebook 1")
Earlier than Fb (FB) turned well-liked, there have been quite a few social networking websites that captured the eye of customers, no less than for a time. Lack of strategic planning, poor timing, or simply plain dangerous luck contributed to the failure of those social media websites to attain endurance. Three, particularly, stay in reminiscence as incredible upstarts that existed earlier than Fb got here alongside and swept all of them away because the dominant participant in social media. On this article, we’ll talk about what made Friendster, Myspace, and Second Life well-liked, and what finally occurred to every web site.
Key Takeaways
- Earlier than Fb turned a dominant social media web site, quite a lot of social networking websites briefly captured the general public’s consideration.
- In 2003, Friendster was a premier social media web site that at one time had three million month-to-month energetic customers.
- Music-oriented social networking web site, Myspace, was acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s Information Corp in 2005 in a deal valued at $580 million, one of many largest purchases of an Web firm on the time.
- In 2008, Fb overtook Myspace in reputation; Information Corp bought Myspace in 2011 to Particular Media Group and Justin Timberlake for $35 million.
Friendster
At one level, Friendster was thought-about the premier social media web site. Inside just some months of its launch, the corporate had greater than three million month-to-month energetic customers. In 2003, Friendster’s founder, Jonathan Abrams, was provided $30 million by Google to buy the location. As a substitute, Abrams selected to tackle enterprise capital funding and attempt to develop the corporate.
The corporate ended up falling aside. It was unable to handle the tempo of latest subscribers. Internet pages routinely did not load on time or in any respect. And a web site redesign did not appear price bothering about.
Friendster just about died in 2006, although with a robust following in a number of the Asian markets it managed to outlive just a few extra years. In 2011, it resurrected as a gaming web site and remained dwell till 2015.
Analysis printed by Cornell College says the primary cause for Friendster’s demise is that although the location had thousands and thousands of customers in 2009, the hyperlinks weren’t resilient sufficient between the networks folks created to maintain their connection.
MySpace
MySpace burst onto the scene in 2003 when co-founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe and their mates—who have been all employed by eUniverse (later Intermix Media, Inc.)—basically copied Friendster’s mannequin however not noted the options they did not like or really feel have been vital. MySpace targeted on sound infrastructure and scalability. It turned a spot for customers to construct a private neighborhood and home private profiles, blogs, teams, pictures, music, and movies.
In 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s Information Corp purchased Intermix Media, which owned MySpace, for $580 million. By that point, the social community had greater than 20 million month-to-month customers. At one level underneath Information Corp, the web site was valued at a whopping $12 billion.
However, post-2007, Myspace skilled a fall from grace within the social media house, shedding thousands and thousands of customers month-to-month to the rising web site Fb. Some causes which were mentioned extensively have been an oversaturation of promoting, sluggish load occasions, and a lack of innovation the place options have been involved.
Information Corp bought MySpace to Particular Media Group for $35 million. Notably, entertainer Justin Timberlake took an possession stake within the firm. The brand new MySpace was targeted on music the place customers may entry thousands and thousands of musical tracks and movies. MySpace nonetheless exists immediately. Time, Inc. purchased it from Viant (previously Particular Media) in 2016.
Second Life
Whereas not a conventional social media networking web site, Second Life was at one level, one of the well-liked methods to satisfy and work together with mates on the Web. The web site launched in 2003 by Linden Lab as a digital world based mostly on 3D modeling. The location aimed to empower customers with the power to work together with different folks nearly, take part in jobs, and interact in different actions on-line by the usage of an avatar.
Whereas the enterprise mannequin was totally different sufficient from Fb that it by no means turned a real direct competitor, Second Life turned so well-liked at one level that individuals started to make respectable livings by their avatars and tapping into the Second Life economic system. Some Second Life customers even felt extra at residence with their digital avatars than they did in the actual world.
By 2013, Second Life had a million common customers. Much like Friendster, Second Life’s fast development in customers brought about the corporate to battle with the steadiness of its infrastructure. As well as, the corporate was compelled to adjust to worldwide legal guidelines that attempted to control the cash and actions that customers have been exchanging by the web site. Safety points arose in addition to a bunch of different issues, together with pornography, mental property disputes, and fraud.
These elements, coupled with the excessive development and person adoption of Fb, brought about Second Life to falter and lose customers month over month. Second Life stays operational by Linden Lab.