Do You Remember The First Social Media Platform?
In 1997, the first true social media platform — Sixdegrees.com — was created. Founded by Andrew Weinreich, Sixdegrees.com allowed users to create profiles online, connect with those who shared common interests, send messages to friends, create “friend” lists and be able to view school affiliations all in one place. Sounds a lot like today’s social media platforms, right?
The name, six degrees, originated from the idea that any person on this earth is distantly connected to another person by no more than six people. In lament terms, if you were to meet another random person, there are only up to six people within a chain of acquaintances. So then, maybe I do know someone that knows someone that knows someone that knows Justin Bieber after all? I better start asking around.
Combining this hypothetical concept with the idea of creating an online site to enhance this type of connection was way ahead of its time back in 1997. The social site had millions of users at that time, which I find extremely impressive considering that the internet was not as widely accessible in 1997 as it is today.
It was ultimately this lack of accessibility to the Internet during this time period that contributed to the demise of the social platform. With limited networks, it wouldn’t be until a few years later that the Internet’s infrastructure could keep up with the concept of social media and connecting people to one another across the globe.
While six degrees only lasted for about three years, it set the standard for all existing social media platforms that are based on the “social-circles network model.” For example, the concept of “friending” people on Facebook or “following” people on Instagram is nothing original as six degrees started with the very same notion.
The first social media app also started the idea of connecting people with similar interests, and this has propelled forward into today’s apps. It progressed more with Facebook, which allows its users to list out their interests on their profiles — favorite movies/TV shows, hobbies, where they went to school, where they live, etc. As the years continued onward, social media apps developed algorithms to pair up people with similar interests. In my own personal experience, when I moved to Chicago a few months ago I started liking TikTok content about Chicago restaurants and mini vlogs that captured people’s day in the city. Since then, I’ve come across a lot of content on TikTok in that realm and have even made friends in Chicago based on our mutual interests in the city.
Overall, I’d say a big difference over the years is the ease of accessibility and use of each social platform, as well as the continuously changing algorithms. Each new social platform that comes out tries hard to have a differentiating feature that sets it apart from the others, but at the end of the day, the core concept of each one is the same. Thanks, six degrees for being the first one to start the social media empire!
Laily. (2015, January 3). The small-world phenomenon: Six degrees of separation explained. Van Moriel. https://vanmorielevenstar.wordpress.com/tag/six-degrees-of-separation/
McFadden, C. (2020, July 2). A chronological history of social media. Interesting Engineering. https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
Ngak, C. (2011, July 6). Then and now: A history of social networking sites. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/2/
Wan, B. (n.d.). 1997: The first recognizable social media site — Six degrees. Kimon Hosting NYU. https://kimon.hosting.nyu.edu/physical-electrical-digital/items/show/1519
