Yahoo announced the shutting down of Yahoo messenger on July 17 and it has made us nostalgic. Before the world got obsessed over Instagram and Snapchat there were other social networking sites, that couldn't get enough popularity and eventually became obsolete. In the early 2000s many social networking sites emerged, each one tried to give the users new experiences but eventually couldn't take off.

Here are four social networking platforms apart from Yahoo Messenger that we used before Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp etc became popular.

Hi5 

Log In page of Hi5 (Photo Credits: Screenshot)

Founder: Ramu Yalamanchi

'The social networking site for meeting new people', reads Hi5 when you visit the site. Launched 14 years ago, Hi5 was really big during 2007-2008. When the social networking sites were first gaining popularity, Hi5 already had a huge following. By 2011, Hi5 was on its way out and Facebook had already started dominating the social media space. Though Hi5 still exists, it has become obsolete and hardly has active users.

My Space 

A screenshot of MySpace.com. (Photo Credits: Screenshot)

Founder: Chris DeWolfe, Tom Anderson, Jon Hart

My Space was the largest social networking site between 2005 to 2009. In fact, it beat Google and Yahoo to become the most visited site. The site allows users to connect and share pictures, videos, music and blogs. Today, it has become a a platform dedicated to sharing news ever since Facebook took over in 2008.

Orkut

Orkut was the most popular networking site of its time. (Photo Credits: Screenshot)

Founder: Orkut Büyükkökten

One of the most popular social networking websites of its time, Orkut shut down completely in  September 2014. Before Facebook took over, Orkut was the coolest social networking site and people got a platform to connect online like never before. Orkut, in a first, allowed users to connect with all the feature combined in one - text chat, posts, videos and pictures.

Google Buzz 

Before Google Plus, google launched Google Buzz. (Photo Credits: Screenshot)

Founder: Google

Google in an attempt to provide a unique social networking platform, launched Google Buzz. The site was integrated with Gmail and users were enabled to connect and share photos, videos, messages and comments. In 2015, Google announced its closure and launched Google Plus.

The shutting down of Yahoo messenger is yet another reminder that social networking sites and messengers all have a shelf life. With the introduction of apps with newer technology, the older ones die a natural death. Who knows, may be Instagram and Facebook may already be on their way out.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2018 08:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).