The current big international social networks are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the newly formedGoogle+, and perhaps Tumblr, if you choose to look at it as a social network. However, go back to around 2004-2005 and these were either not around yet, or just taking their early baby steps. Back then the big ones were Friendster, LiveJournal and MySpace.
And we’re talking in past tense, because oh how the mighty have fallen. Web users are a fickle bunch, and there is probably no market as trend sensitive as social networking.
How bad is it? As you’ll see, they’re all caught in a downward spiral, but they might have peaked later in life than you think.
MySpace
At its peak in 2007-2008, the then News Corp-owned MySpace was valued at $12 billion. In June this year, News Corp. sold MySpace for $35 million and a 5% stake in the new owner, Specific Media.
Worldwide interest in MySpace, 2004 – today:
Worldwide site traffic to Myspace, 2009 – today:
(There’s more information over at Wikipedia, if you want to read up on MySpace’s history.)
Friendster
In May this year, Friendster pretty much committed harakiri – at least as a social network – and was completely redesigned to focus on social gaming.
Worldwide interest in Friendster, 2004 – today:
Worldwide site traffic to Friendster, 2009 – today:
(You can read more about Friendster’s history over at Wikipedia.)
LiveJournal
In 2009, after having been bought by a Russian company (SUP) a couple of years earlier, the operation of LiveJournal was moved from the United States to Russia.
Worldwide interest in LiveJournal, 2004 – today:
Worldwide site traffic to Livejournal, 2009 – today:
(More about LiveJournal’s history over at Wikipedia.)
“Hold on, we’re not dead yet!”
The funny thing is, relatively speaking these social networks are still big. They still have millions of users. They haven’t died, they’ve just fallen from grace, most of their users having left for greener pastures.
It’s like one of those aging Hollywood movie stars of yesteryear, still good, but no longer cast in the best roles and no longer able to pull the crowds to the theaters.
“I used to be famous,” she said with a sigh. “I used to be a star.”
No comments:
Post a Comment