Before there was Facebook, there was MySpace!
Let's go back to the 2000s, a decade when punk was popular and emo bangs were the trend. You probably had a MySpace account, didn’t you? Would you be embarrassed to see your old publications? Is your page still active? For younger users, MySpace was the top of the line social network before the advent of Facebook. For starters, it was cool to blog with a pseudonym. So, account names like crazzcatladi87 and imbatman_luz were in order. We could put a background that we liked (often not respecting any law of design). Then, we entered our moods and a summary of the person. Initially, MySpace, officially launched in 2003, was very popular among well-known and little-known music groups. They could share their music and hope to get recognized. It was therefore easy for the first time to follow your favorite bands!
Why do we not hear about MySpace anymore? There are several reasons. The first is the site was bought by a private company in 2005 which sought to cash in instantly breaking the soul of MySpace. Then, a new player named Facebook made its appearance having unparalleled success. Did you know that MySpace had previously replaced Friendster?
eBay: The first big online shop
eBay, does it still exist? Although nowadays Amazon takes the first position as a seller on the internet, we must not forget that eBay was the first to be successful with the first generation of web users. eBay, like MySpace or Yahoo!, are pioneers in their fields. Before eBay, it was difficult to do transactions or trade directly on the web, which should not be forgotten. The site was launched in 1995 as an auction site, where the person with the highest bid won the lot. Interesting fact, the first item sold on the site was a defective laser pointer. Over time, eBay has expanded its market to single sales between sellers and buyers. How does eBay make money then? The site simply asks for a commission on sales to sellers. In addition, the company also bought PayPal at the turn of the millennium.
Unfortunately, eBay has struggled to keep a good reputation because of numerous scandals and scams on its platform. Keep in mind that Amazon is not perfect either, but frauds appear less frequent on their site. Today, you can find some rare items on eBay!
From dust to gold with Google
Now let's get to the big player. There are only a few websites or technology companies that have distinguished themselves by reaching new heights and staying up to date in the last two decades. Google is one of them. Unless you live under a rock or have never touched the internet in your life, you must know this search engine. Founded in 1998 in the famous Silicon Valley, it is the gateway to the web for the majority of humans, far ahead of its competitors like Yahoo, Bing or Baidu. The founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, decided to create a new search engine using powerful and complex algorithms basing it on value and relevance. Since its launch, "to google something" has become accepted as a verb by some dictionaries.
It is estimated that there are over 3.3 billion searches on Google every day. Will Google be eternal? This is unlikely, however, it is a safe bet that the company and its site will remain at the top of the most popular sites in the world for many years to come.
Facebook: The social media master!
And now the icing on the cake: Facebook! Most likely Mark Zuckerberg had no idea of the giant he was going to create from his university room in 2004. We know you know him, but we still need to take the time to introduce him. Facebook has allowed several people to connect with each other defining what a social network really is. It made the web more accessible somehow, even your grandparents wanted to have a Facebook page. According to some statistics, this Leviathan of the web has more than 2 billion monthly users. Nothing else in the history of humanity has succeeded in bringing together that many men and women in the same place.
But with great powers come great responsibilities. With more and more frequent scandals, people have less and less confidence in Facebook and some have even dared to leave. For now, there is no substitute as strong as Facebook, even if Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) is gaining more and more market share. Will this social network find the solutions to its problems or will it end up like MySpace? Only time will tell. For now, Facebook remains the undisputed social master on the net.
In conclusion, many of the sites we use today that seem so effective and efficient may be obsolete in ten years. In a time where everything is moving so fast, it is not unlikely that our sacred sites like Google, Facebook and Amazon end up going through the same thing as Yahoo!, MySpace and eBay. Will the giants of today know how to avoid the mistakes of their predecessors? Or will they commit their own mistakes that will lead to obsolescence? The cycle of life seems to appeal to all without exception, including large websites.
