The term ‘social networking’ may seem new, but the concept has been around the Internet for a long time. Before it became a buzzword, there were quite a few examples of social networking: IRC (Internet Relay Chat), Instant Messaging, blogs, Webrings, and peer-to-peer software like Napster.
Social networking now generally refers to online networks of people who share interests or activities, and these web-based communities provide a platform for interaction between users and the sharing of information.
Launched in 1997, the now-defunct SixDegrees.com is widely recognised as the first website to integrate many of the different existing networking features like instant messaging, user profiles and ‘friend lists’ into one format.
Over the next few years, many other websites began to emerge; some focused on connecting users through their profiles and shared friends (Friendster, MySpace, LinkedIn) while others provided content-sharing capabilities (Flickr – photo sharing, Last.FM – music listening habits, YouTube – video-sharing). Most sites do not charge a fee for use, but profit from online advertising.
Social networking sites began capturing major mainstream attention in 2004, when Google.com launched its own site, Orkut. And in 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp purchased Intermix Media, the owner of MySpace – then the fifth most-viewed site in the US – for $580 million.
Facebook.com, which launched in 2004 as a networking tool only available to students at Harvard University, is now the seventh most-viewed website in the United States, and is the number one site for viewing photos.
While many sites have a dominant following in America, some networking sites have strongholds in other countries. According to Comscore, a global Internet information provider, 63 percent of Bebo visitors are from Europe, while Orkut is strong in Latin America (49 percent) and Asia-Pacific (43 percent). The majority of Friendster users (89 percent) are also from Asia-Pacific. There are thousands of other sites worldwide that are designed for users in specific countries or regions.
In the second instalment of our series, we’ll explore the recent boom in popularity of social networking sites, as well as the subsequent backlash.
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