What was the first social network?
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:57 am
SixDegrees
But what was going on back then? Despite all these advances, there was still no element, tool or application that allowed users to socialize with each other, beyond the exchange of emails or online chat programs, such as IRC.
This changed in 1997 , when SixDegrees was created , the world's first social network ; a network that allowed users to locate other members of the network and create lists of friends, and which was based on the theory of six degrees of separation, which states that it is possible to connect with any other person in the world in just 6 steps.
As creator Andrew Weinreich explained on launch day: “The challenge is to build a community, the challenge is to light a flame. This is a service that you can use to make your life more efficient. But, like buying an address book, if you don’t add names to it, it’s useless.”
The app, basically a network that connected acquaintances afghanistan number data with “acquaintances of acquaintances,” may be considered a failed network in commercial terms, but it is undeniable that it laid the foundations for what we know today as Social Networks. The app closed in 2001 .
The arrival of Friendster, MySpace and LinkedIn (2002/2003)
In 2001, as we said, SixDegrees disappeared, but it only took a few more months for the then fortunate digital users to start enjoying new social networks, such as Friendster , which was created in 2002 as a social network for video game lovers, or MySpace and LinkedIn , which appeared in 2003, considered much more professional and business-oriented networks. Old social networks , many of which disappeared... although not all.
LinkedIn in particular , whose impact on the business world was immediate, reaching more than 25 million registered users in 2008, extending to companies in 150 different sectors. Today, it has more than 900 million registered users .
But what was going on back then? Despite all these advances, there was still no element, tool or application that allowed users to socialize with each other, beyond the exchange of emails or online chat programs, such as IRC.
This changed in 1997 , when SixDegrees was created , the world's first social network ; a network that allowed users to locate other members of the network and create lists of friends, and which was based on the theory of six degrees of separation, which states that it is possible to connect with any other person in the world in just 6 steps.
As creator Andrew Weinreich explained on launch day: “The challenge is to build a community, the challenge is to light a flame. This is a service that you can use to make your life more efficient. But, like buying an address book, if you don’t add names to it, it’s useless.”
The app, basically a network that connected acquaintances afghanistan number data with “acquaintances of acquaintances,” may be considered a failed network in commercial terms, but it is undeniable that it laid the foundations for what we know today as Social Networks. The app closed in 2001 .
The arrival of Friendster, MySpace and LinkedIn (2002/2003)
In 2001, as we said, SixDegrees disappeared, but it only took a few more months for the then fortunate digital users to start enjoying new social networks, such as Friendster , which was created in 2002 as a social network for video game lovers, or MySpace and LinkedIn , which appeared in 2003, considered much more professional and business-oriented networks. Old social networks , many of which disappeared... although not all.
LinkedIn in particular , whose impact on the business world was immediate, reaching more than 25 million registered users in 2008, extending to companies in 150 different sectors. Today, it has more than 900 million registered users .