A Mashup of Old and New Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites-they're born, they evolve and some even, sadly, come to an end. Whether you started out on Myspace and ended up on Facebook (or on some other lesser known social network situated in a dusty corner of the web), social networking sites are here to stay.

Bebo was once similar to Facebook in which users could create profiles for themselves, publish blogs, polls, add pictures, etc. Sadly, in July 2013, Bebo filed for bankruptcy. In July 2017, Bebo transition from a social media network to a multi-feature streaming software (similar to Open Broadcaster Software) for use with Twitch but this didn't last long. In 2019, Bebo was purchased by Amazon for $25 million and it's users were merged onto the Twitch platform.

Web: http://www.bebo.com

A blogging community where users share written blogs (as well as video blogs) and receive feedback from other users.

Web: http://www.blogster.com/

Classmates.com was one of the very first social networking communities (est. 1995) for old and new Classmates to reconnect. A basic profile is free, but a Premium membership is needed to take full advantage of the site.

Web: http://www.classmates.com/

An online community for artists to gather and share their artwork.

Web: http://www.deviantart.com/

Established in 2004, Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites today with over 1 billion active users worldwide. Users can share pictures, websites, chat, post status updates, etc.

Web: http://www.facebook.com/

Faith Freaks (faithfreaks.com) was a site for Christians to unite and start discussions, upload photos, write blogs, ask for prayer, etc. (Author's Note: Since first publishing this article, the site's domain name is now for sale and I have not been able to find any further info regarding when the site was closed.)

A site for users to rate movies, discover new movies, and chat about movie interests with others. In February of 2016, Fandango acquired Flixster and started to migrate its users to FandangoNow.

Web: http://www.flixster.com/

Folkdirect is a social networking site similar to Facebook; however, content on the site is monitored more closely by site admins. Users can share pictures, post status updates, share links, chat, etc. Folkdirect also provides the site free of ads.

Web: http://www.folkdirect.com/

Miss the old Myspace? Remember when Tom was your first friend? Well, get a dose of nostalgia by joining Friend Project. They use the old Myspace code with a few added extras to bring back the old Myspace style. Now get back to customizing those colorful and crazy profile pages!

Web: http://www.friendproject.net

A place where users can mingle with others and chat in a virtual 2D environment using an "avatar" to represent one's self.

Web: http://www.gaiaonline.com/

Google+ was Google's 4th attempt to launch a popular social network after Google Wave and Google Buzz failed to take off, and Orkut only gained momentum in India and Brazil. Google+ operated similar to Facebook in which users could post status updates, share pictures, chat, etc.

Due to low usage and software flaws, Google decided to shut down the social network. It officially closed on April 2nd, 2019.

Web: http://plus.google.com/

A site dedicated to social networking for business professionals and companies.

Web: http://www.linkedin.com/

Mixi is limited to Japanese only residents. Users can share blogs (known as Diary's), send email, join communities, etc. As of May 2008, Mixi remains the #1 social networking site in Japan. As of July 2010, there are more than 30 million users registered with the site.

Web: http://mixi.jp/

One of the earliest and largest social networking sites created after Classmates.com and before Facebook; Myspace was opened for business in August 2003. Users can post status updates, post pictures, chat, make music playlists, etc. In 2012, singer, Justin Timberlake, and Specific Media Group purchased Myspace and revamped it. In 2015, it was reported that Myspace was receiving 50.6 million unique hits to their site every month. In February 2016, Myspace was purchased by Time Inc.

Web: http://www.myspace.com/

Orkut (orkut.com) was created by a programmer at Google named, Orkut Büyükkökten. The site was very popular in India and Brazil. Users could post and share videos, chat, create polls, share files, etc. Google decided to close the site in September of 2014.

In 2016, Orkut Büyükkökten, announced that he had created a new social network to replace Orkut called, Hello. Hello is accessible via mobile app.

A virtual 3D community where users create an "avatar" to represent themselves while "in-world". Second Life differs from other avatar based sites, whereas Second Life (otherwise referred to as SL) is a completely 3D immersed site-meaning that there is ground, sky, water, environments (like rain, snow, etc.), and users move throughout a world (also known as a grid) to communicate, explore, and interact with other users. Users can remain completely anonymous to who they are or they can share as much personal info that they want in their profile. A basic account is free, while a Premium account is needed to take full advantage of the site.

Web: http://secondlife.com/

Snapchat (previously known as Picaboo) is a cell phone app developed by Snap Inc (formerly Snapchat Inc). It was first available for download in July of 2011.

Snapchat allows users to take photos (known as "Snaps") and record short videos to share with other users.

In the first quarter of 2020, Snapchat had around 229 million users who visited the site daily.

Web: https://www.snapchat.com/

A site dedicated to micro-blogging where users can share status updates, web links, and "follow" other users. Twitter is mostly popular for the large number of celebrities and politicians that use it on a daily basis to share information with the public and their fans.

Web: http://twitter.com/

VampireFreaks opened in 1999 as a social network dedicated to users that were fans of Vampire and Gothic culture. A basic profile was free, but a Premium membership was needed to take full advantage of the site.

In 2001, VampireFreaks added a clothing section to it's site.

In February 2020, VampireFreaks decided to focus strictly on selling clothes and closed the social networking part of the site.

Web: http://vampirefreaks.com/