Thanks to @ethanhays I just watched Ze Frank’s Nerdcore Comedy, and truthfully (minus the cheezy-looking graphics), I can’t believe this was filmed in 2004. I’m posting it to my site, because, well, let’s face it he’s absolutely hilarious. But beyond his witty sarcasm and creative & forward-thinking technerd brain, I do think there is so much we can learn from ZeFrank’s 2004 web/sharing mentality, even today. (P.S. Where has this guy ended up anyway?!)
It’s worth the 20 minutes, but FYI Ze starts talking about “Online Social Spaces” at 14:45. Absolutely fascinating.
The fact that this was filmed in 2004 got me thinking about the timeline and growth of the social media sites that I use everyday to both keep in touch with my friends and market my business. So, after a little Wikipedia magic, here’s a super-brief timeline detailing the launch of some major social sites that are still in heavy use today.
2002 – Friendster was founded by computer programmers Jonathan Abrams and Cris Emmanuel in 2002 in Mountain View, California, to create a safer, more effective environment for meeting new people by browsing user profiles and connecting to friends, friends of friends and so on.
2003 – After the launch of Friendster, several eUniverse employees with accounts saw its potential and decided to mimic the more popular features of the social networking website, in August 2003. Within 10 days, the first version of MySpace was ready for launch.
2003 – Mark Zuckerberg (right) invented Facemash on October 28, 2003 while attending Harvard as a sophomore in an effort to get his mind off a girl who had dumped him. Of course, this was the first generation of today’s online giant, Facebook.
2003 – LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site, mainly used for professional networking. Founder Reid Hoffman, previously CEO of LinkedIn and now executive vice president of PayPal, oversees day-to-day operations and is also Chairman of the Board.
2005 – YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal, after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Chen’s apartment in San Francisco.
Of course there’s been tremendous movement and growth since the 2005 video phenomenon YouTube (*ahem* Google Wave… Twitter… Wordpress… Ning… Pluck… *gulp*), but let’s fast-forward to 2009 for conversation’s sake. (I’m sure I’ll fill in the gaps in some future blog post).
Thinking back to the birth of Facebook boggles my mind, especially considering companies like Skittles now use Facebook as their homepage! If you haven’t seen it, you really need to visit – Launched in March 2009, Skittles.com will take you everyplace from YouTube to Twitter with one relatively seamless experience. Taste the Rainbow, folks.
The Ultimate List of Social Networking Websites
So, let’s have a look at where we are today. I totally pirated this list from Wikipedia, but here’s a list of major active social networking websites and excludes dating websites (see List of online dating websites). For defunct social networking websites see List of defunct social networking websites
Please note the list is not exhaustive, and is limited to some notable, well-known sites.
| Name | Description/Focus | Registered users | Registration | Global Alexa[1] Page ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advogato | Free and open source software developers | 13,575[2] | Open | 128,340[3] |
| Amie Street | Music | Open | 24,784[4] | |
| ANobii | Books | Open | 10,734[5] | |
| aSmallWorld | European jet set and social elite | 270,000[6] | Invite-only | 8,583[7] |
| Athlinks | Running, Swimming | 68,496[8] | Open | 73,295[9] |
| Avatars United | Online games. | Open | 294,575[10] | |
| BabyCenter | Mothers, Parenting, Pregnancy | Open | 1,018[11] | |
| Badoo | General, Popular in Europe | 37,000,000[12] | Open to people 18 and older | 179[13] |
| Bebo | General. | 40,000,000[citation needed] [14][dead link] |
Open to people 13 and older | 341[15] |
| Bigadda | Indian Social Networking Site. | 3,000,000[16] | Open to people 16 and older. | 3,176[17] |
| BigTent | organization and communication portal for groups | Open to people 18 and older (13-18 parental permission encouraged | 34,047[18] | |
| Biip | Norwegian Community. | 13,476[citation needed] | Requires Norwegian phone number. | 27,415[19] |
| BlackPlanet | African-Americans | 20,000,000[20] | Open | 2,350[21] |
| Blogster | Blogging service that lets users “add friends” or establish business connections to their profiles. | 58,344[22] | Open | 47,946[23] |
| Bolt.com | General | Open | 111,069[24] | |
| Broadcaster.com | Video sharing and webcam chat | 322,715[25] | Open | 183,917[26] |
| Buzznet | Music and pop-culture | 10,000,000[27] | Open | 736[28] |
| CafeMom | Mothers | 1,250,000[29] | Open to moms and moms-to-be | 4,333[30] |
| Cake Financial | Investing | Open | 481,922[31] | |
| Care2 | Green living and social activism | 9,961,947[32] | Open | 2,594[33] |
| Classmates.com | School, college, work and the military | 50,000,000[34] | Open to people 18 and older[35] | 799[36] |
| Cloob | General. Popular in Iran. | Open | 712[37] | |
| CollegeBlender | A social media-based online community for college students, faculty, and alumni. | Requires an email address ending in .EDU | 553,453[38] | |
| CouchSurfing | Worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit. | 1,560,459[39] | Open | 3,711[40] |
| DailyBooth | Photo-blogging site where users upload a photo every day | Open | 5,460[41] | |
| DailyStrength | Medical & emotional support community – Physical health, Mental health, Support groups | Open | 22,054[42] | |
| Decayenne | European and American social elite | Invite-only | 154,733[43] | |
| deviantART | Art community | 9,040,962[44] | Open | 97[45] |
| Disaboom | People with disabilities. (Amputee, cerebral palsy, MS, and other disabilities.) | Open | 112,712[46] | |
| Dol2day | Politic community, Social network, Internet radio (German-speaking countries) | 40,200[47] | Open | 554,616[48] |
| DontStayIn | Clubbing (primarily UK) | Open | 19,022[49] | |
| Draugiem.lv | General (primarily LV, LT, HU) | 2,400,000[citation needed] | Invitation only | 2,081[50] |
| Elftown | Community and wiki around Fantasy and sci-fi. | 185,000[51] | Open, approval needed | 17,681[52] |
| Epernicus | For research scientists | Open | 293,955[53] | |
| Eons.com | For baby boomers | Open to people 13 and older | 27,320[54] | |
| Experience Project | Life experiences | Open | 3,452[55] | |
| Exploroo | Travel Social Networking. | Open | 209,868[56] | |
| General. | 350,000,000[57] | Open to people 13 and older | 2[58] | |
| Faceparty | General. Popular UK. | 200,000[59] | Invitation only to people 18 and older. | 28,760[60] |
| Faces.com | British teens | Open to people 13 and older | 120,665[61] | |
| Fetlife | People who are into BDSM | 32,500[62] | Open to people “of [legal] age to see adult content” | 7,833[63] |
| Fillos de Galicia | Galicia and Galician diaspora | 6,772[64] | Open | 1,630,495[65] |
| FilmAffinity | Movies and TV Series | 250,000[66] | Open | 3,916[67] |
| FledgeWing | Entrepreneural community targeted towards worldwide university students. | Open to university students | 1,793,990[68] | |
| Flixster | Movies | 63,000,000[69] | Open to people 13 and older | 1,018[70] |
| Flickr | Photo sharing, commenting, photography related networking, worldwide | 32,000,000[71] | Open to people 13 and older. | 33[72] |
| Fotolog | Photoblogging. Popular in South America and Spain. | 20,000,000[73] | Open | 227[74] |
| Foursquare | Location based mobile social network | 170,000[75] | Open | 4,539[76] |
| Friends Reunited | UK based. School, college, work, sport and streets | 19,000,000[77] | Open to people 13 and older. | 10,231[78] |
| Friendster | General. Popular in Southeast Asia. No longer popular in the western world. | 90,000,000[79] | Open to people 16 and older. No children allowed. | 146[80] |
| Frühstückstreff | General | 14,800[citation needed] | Open | 1,253,155[81] |
| Fubar | dating, an “online bar” for 18 and older | 1,200,000[82] | Open | 9,476[83] |
| Gaia Online | Anime and games | Open to people 13 and older | 1,071[84] | |
| GamerDNA | Computer and video games | 310,000[85] | Open | 22,887[86] |
| Gather.com | Article, picture, and video sharing, as well as group discussions | 465,000[87] | Open | 3,974[88] |
| Gays.com | Social network for LGBT community, Guide for LGBT bars, restaurants, clubs, shopping | 100,000[89] | Open. Global | 74,664[90] |
| Geni.com | Families, genealogy | 15,000,000[91] | Open | 5,815[92] |
| Gogoyoko | Fair play in Music – Social networking site for musicians and music lovers | Invite only while in beta | 119,272[93] | |
| Goodreads | Library cataloging, book lovers | Open | 2,543[94] | |
| Gossipreport.com | Anonymous gossip | Open to people 16 and older | 1,245,494[95] | |
| Grono.net | Poland | 2,000,000[citation needed] | Open | 2,958[96] |
| Habbo | General for teens. Over 31 communities worldwide. Chat Room and user profiles. | 117,000,000[97][98][99] | Open to people 13 and older | 6,545[100] |
| hi5 | General. Popular in India,Portugal, Mongolia, Thailand, Romania, Jamaica, Central Africa and Latin America. Not popular in the USA. | 80,000,000[101] | Open to people 13 and older. No children allowed. | 51[102] |
| Hospitality Club | Hospitality | 328,629[103] | Open | 38,258[104] |
| Hyves | General, Most popular in the Netherlands. | 9,000,000[105] | Open | 225[106] |
| Ibibo | Talent based social networking site that allows to promote one’s self and also discover new talent. Most popular in India. | 3,500,000[107] | Open | 695[108] |
| imeem | Music, Video, Photos, Blogs | 24,000,000[109] | Open | 407[110] |
| Indaba Music | Online collaboration for musicians, remix contests, and networking. | 350,000[111] | Open and Global | 55,062[112] |
| IRC-Galleria | Finland | 505,000[113] | Open to Finnish speaking people 12 and older | 3,302[114] |
| italki.com | Language learning social network. 100+ languages. | 450,000[citation needed] | Open. Global. | 14,610[115] |
| InterNations | International community | Invite-only | 26,688[116] | |
| Itsmy | Mobile community worldwide, blogging, friends, personal TV-shows | 2,500,000[117] | 206,437[118] | |
| iWiW | Hungary | 4,000,000[119] | Invite-only | 532[120] |
| Jaiku | General. Owned by Google. | Open to people 13 and older. | 15,661[121] | |
| JammerDirect.com | Creative resource website | Open to the General Public | 930,958[122] | |
| kaioo | General, nonprofit | 30,000[123] | 386,200[124] | |
| Kaixin001 | General. In Simplified Chinese; caters for mainland China users | Open to the General Public | 61[125] | |
| Kiwibox | General. For the users, by the users, a social network that is more than a community. | 2,400,000[126] | Open to people 13 and older. | 104,563[127] |
| Last.fm | Music | 30,000,000[128] | Open to any age or gender | 310[129] |
| LibraryThing | Book lovers | 400,000[130] | Open to people 13 and older | 4,529[131] |
| lifeknot | Shared interests, hobbies | Open to people 18 and older. | 602,117[132] | |
| General but mainly business | 53,000,000[133] | Open to people 18 and older. | 42[134] | |
| Listography | Lists. Autobiography. | Open | 197,009[135] | |
| LiveJournal | Blogging | 17,564,977[136] | Open (OpenID) | 81[137] |
| Livemocha | Online language learning – dynamic online courses in 22 languages – world’s largest community of native language speakers. | 3,000,000[138] | Open | 4,079[139] |
| LunarStorm | Sweden | 1,200,000[140] | Open | 65,874[141] |
| MEETin | General | Open | 173,717[142] | |
| Meetup.com | General. Used to plan offline meetings for people interested in various activities. | Open to people 18 and older. | 739[143] | |
| Meettheboss | Business and Finance community, worldwide. | Open | 107,180[144] | |
| Mixi | Japan | 24,323,160[145] | Invite-only | 85[146] |
| mobikade | mobile community, UK only | Open to people 18 and older | 1,851,728[147] | |
| MocoSpace | mobile community, worldwide | 3,000,000[148] | Open to people 14 and older | 3,685[149] |
| MOG | Music | Open to people 14 and older | 4,221[150] | |
| MouthShut.com | Social Network, social media, consumer reviews | Open | 2,545[151] | |
| Multiply | “Real world” relationships. Popular in Asia. Not popular in the western world. | 10,000,000[152] | Open to people 13 and older. No children allowed. | 246[153] |
| Muxlim | Muslim portal site | 50,000[154] | Open to people 13 and older | 59,099[155] |
| MyAnimeList | Anime themed social community | 160,000[156] | Open to people 13 and older | 6,096[157] |
| MyChurch | Christian Churches | 144,295[158] | Open | 94,510[159] |
| MyHeritage | family-oriented social network service | 30,000,000 [160] | Open | 2,953[161] |
| MyLife | Locating friends and family, keeping in touch (formerly Reunion.com) | 51,000,000[162] | Open | 1,481[163] |
| MyLOL | General. Popular in the United States, Europe and Australia. | 32,000[164] | Open to ages 13 and up. | 152,787[165] |
| My Opera | Blogging, mobile blogging, sharing photos, connecting with friends. Global. | 3,000,000[166] | Open | 658[167] (Alexa only records data for second-level domains) |
| MySpace | General. Losing ground to Facebook in recent years. | 130,000,000[168] | Open to ages 13 and up. | 11[169] |
| myYearbook | General | 5,100,000[170] | Open to age 13 and up & Grades 9 and up | 851[171] |
| Nasza-klasa.pl | School, college and friends. Popular in Poland. | 11,000,000[172] | Open | 110[173] |
| Netlog | General. Popular in Europe, Turkey, the Arab World and Canada’s Québec province. Formerly known as Facebox and Redbox.[174] | 59,000,000[175] | Open to people 13 and older | 130[176] |
| Nettby | Norwegian Community. | Open | 2,719[177] | |
| Nexopia | Canada | 1,400,000[178] | Open to people 13 and older [179] | 24,071[180] |
| NGO Post | Non-Profit news sharing and networking, mainly in India | 15,000[181] | Open | 70,134[182] |
| Ning | Users create their own social websites and social networks | Open to people 13 and older | 132[183] | |
| Odnoklassniki | General. Popular in Russia and former Soviet republics | 45,000,000[184] | Open | 92[185] |
| OkCupid | Social networking and dating | Open to people 18 and older | 1,261[186] | |
| OneClimate | Not for Profit Social networking and Climate Change | Open to People of all ages and locations | 307,773[187] | |
| OneWorldTV | Not for Profit Video sharing and social networking aimed at people interested in social issues, development, environment, etc. | Open | 27,434,227[188] | |
| Open Diary | First online blogging community, founded in 1998. | 5,000,000[189] | Open to people 13 and older | 39,290[190] |
| Orkut | General. Owned by Google Inc. Popular in Brazil and India.[191] | 100,000,000[192] | Open to people 18 and older, (Google login) | 79[193] |
| PartnerUp | Social networking site for entrepreneurs and small business owners | 150,000[citation needed] | Open and Free | 29,221[194] |
| Passportstamp | Travel | Open | 366,598[195] | |
| Pingsta | Collaborative platform for the world’s Internetwork Experts | Invite-only, only Internet Experts | 1,668,955[196] | |
| Piczo | An online photo website builder and community, which is for generation of free advertising-supported websites. | |||
| Plaxo | Aggregator | 15,000,000[197] | Open | 1,533[198] |
| Playahead | Swedish, Danish,Norwegian teenagers | Open | 63,081[199] | |
| Playboy U | Online college community | Open to college students with .edu e-mail address | 433,970[200] | |
| Plurk | Micro-blogging, RSS, updates. Very popular in Taiwan. | Open | 1,072[201] | |
| Present.ly | Enterprise social networking and micro-blogging | Open | 4,893,711[202] | |
| Qapacity | A a business-oriented social networking site and a business directory | Open to people 16 and older | 96,847[203] | |
| quarterlife | A social network for artists, filmmakers, musicians, and creative people | Open to people 14 and older | 88,516[204] | |
| Qzone | General. In Simplified Chinese; caters for mainland China users | 200,000,000[205] | Open to the General Public | 12[206] (Alexa only records data for second-level domains) |
| Ravelry | Knitting and crochet | 331,000[207] | Invite-only while in beta | 7,811[208] |
| Renren | Significant site in China. Was known as 校内 (Xiaonei) until August 2009. | 15,000,000[209] | Open | 103[210] |
| ResearchGATE | Social network for scientific researchers | 140,000[citation needed] | Open | 51,885[211] |
| ReverbNation.com | Social network for musician and bands | 25,000[citation needed] | Open to people 16 and older | 6,187[212] |
| Ryze | Business | 500,000[213] | Open | 19,839[214] |
| ScienceStage | Science-oriented multimedia platform and network for scientists | Open | 37,310[215] | |
| Scispace.net | Collaborative network site for scientists | By invitation, but can request an invitation | 1,231,795[216] | |
| ShareTheMusic | Music Community. Sharing and listening to music for free and legally. | Open | 471,712[217] | |
| Shelfari | Books | Open | 19,681[218] | |
| Skyrock | Social Network in French-speaking world | 22,000,000[219] | Open | 111[220] |
| SocialVibe | Social Network for Charity | 435,000[citation needed] | Open | 41,927[221] |
| Sonico.com | General. Popular in Latin America and Spanish and Portuguese speaking regions. | 17,000,000[222][223] | Open to people 13 and older. | 507[224] |
| Soundpedia | Music | Open | 848,757[225] | |
| Stickam | Live video streaming and chat. | 2,000,000[226] | Open | 2,742[227] |
| StudiVZ | University students, mostly in the German-speaking countries. School students and those out of education sign up via its partner sites schülerVZ and meinVZ. | 15,000,000[228] | Open | 195[229] |
| StumbleUpon | Stumble through websites that match your selected intrests. | 8,822,921[citation needed] | Open | 255[230] |
| Tagged | General. Subject to quite some controversy about its e-mail marketing and privacy policy. | 70,000,000[231] | Open | 117[232] |
| TalentTrove | Online Talent Network | Open | 21,177[233] | |
| Talkbiznow | Business networking | Open | 283,770[234] | |
| Taltopia | Online artistic community | Open | 52,759[235] | |
| Taringa! | General. | 350,000[236] | Open to people 13 and older | 126[237] |
| TravBuddy.com | Travel | 1,588,000[238] | Open to people 18 and older | 11,789[239] |
| Travellerspoint | Travel | Open | 13,731[240] | |
| tribe.net | General | Open | 5,706[241] | |
| Trombi.com | French subsidiary of Classmates.com | 4,400,000[242] | 7,283[243] | |
| Tuenti | Spanish-based university and High School social network. Very Popular in Spain | 4,500,000[citation needed] | Invite-only | 291[244] |
| Tumblr | General. Micro-blogging, RSS | Open | 245[245] | |
| General. Micro-blogging, RSS, updates | 44,500,000[246] | Open | 14[247] | |
| Vkontakte | Russian social network. | 58,025,000[248] | Open | 182[249] |
| Vampirefreaks.com | Gothic and industrial subculture | 1,931,049[250] | Open to users 13 and over | 7,577[251] |
| Viadeo | European Social Networking and Campus Networking in Seven Languages | 6,000,000[252] | Open | 1,724[253] |
| Vox | Blogging | Open | 1,319[254] | |
| Wakoopa | For computer fans that want to discover new software and games. | 100,000[citation needed] | Open | 9,420[255] |
| Wasabi | General | Open | 95,188[256] | |
| WAYN | Travel and lifestyle | 10,000,000[257] | Open to people 18 and older | 2,974[258] |
| WebBiographies | Genealogy and biography | Open | 734,214[259] | |
| WeOurFamily | General with emphasis on privacy and security | Open, subscription-based | 685,337[260] | |
| Windows Live Spaces | Blogging (formerly MSN Spaces) | 120,000,000[261] | Open | 5[262] (Alexa only records data for second-level domains) |
| WiserEarth | Online community space for the social justice and environmental movement[263] | 34,240[264] | Open to people 16 and older | 77,143[265] |
| Xanga | Blogs and “metro” areas | 27,000,000[266] | Open | 768[267] |
| Business (primarily Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and China) | 8,000,000[268] | Open | 269[269] | |
| Xt3 | Catholic social networking, created after World Youth Day 2008 | Open | 459,914[270] | |
| Yahoo! 360°plus Vietnam | Owned by Yahoo!. General & blogging. Popular in Vietnam. | 1,500,000 | Open (Yahoo! login) | 3[271] (Alexa only records data for second-level domains) |
| Yammer | Social networking for office colleagues | Must have company email | 32,993[272] | |
| Yelp, Inc. | Local Business Review and Talk | Open | 343[273] | |
| Youmeo | UK Social Network (focus on data portability) | Open | 1,680,191[274] | |
| Zoo.gr | Greek Web Meeting point | 890,000[275] | Open | 8,057[276] |
