Six Degrees Launches as First Social Network
SixDegrees.com launched as the first recognizable social networking site, allowing users to create profiles and list friends.
In 1997, Andrew Weinreich launched SixDegrees.com, widely considered the first social networking website. Named after the "six degrees of separation" concept, the site allowed users to create profiles, list friends, and browse friends-of-friends lists. At its peak, it attracted 3.5 million registered users. Though it shut down in 2001 — ahead of its time in an era of dial-up internet — SixDegrees established the template that every subsequent social network would follow: the profile page, the friend list, and the network graph. It demonstrated that people would willingly share personal information online to connect with others, a behavioral insight that would underpin a trillion-dollar industry.
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