Social Media Platforms that Are Going (or Have Gone) Obsolete

Social media platforms have become staple features in social and corporate spheres. This is because they are extremely accessible, effective and convenient communication tools. But social media platforms often become defunct over time- especially if they don’t adapt to meet the ever evolving needs and demands of the market. Don’t be among the last to know when a social media platform is losing its flavor.

Google+
At the time of its 2011 launch, Google+ showed a lot of promise as a social media platform.  As Google’s  fourth attempt at creating a super social media platform, Google+ was the descendant of Google Buzz, Google Friend Connect and Orkut. Its popularity soared to 395 million active users in 2016. Unfortunately it couldn’t survive the killer combination of competition from other giants in the industry like Facebook, a major security breach and low usage (the few users who did log in only spent about 5 or less seconds on the page) and ceased its operations in 2019.

Friendster
Facebook’s predecessor, which emerged on the social media scene in 2002 and seemed quite promising in the beginning, has unfortunately met its demise. Friendster started out as a popular social media platform dominating the Chinese market and soon evolved into a gaming site boasting a whopping 115 million users before fizzling out between 2014  to 2017 and then leaving the stage altogether in 2018.

Vine
Many perceive Vine as the social media platform that is most similar to a shooting star. Purchased by Twitter just before its official launch, the platform started out with a bang, dazzled everyone burning brightly and then fizzled out.  Aptly described as an early days TikTok; Vines was primarily focused on short form video content, allowing users to post and view 6 second videos. This was quite revolutionary at the time and the platform is credited with starting a trend towards video content on social media. In 2013 the app shot to the pinnacle of success becoming the most downloaded free app in the US’ IOS App Store. But alas, failure to adapt led to Vines’ demise in 2016.

MySpace
MySpace was among the earliest arrivals on the social media scene, preceding even Facebook. It is quite similar to Friendster and in fact was inspired by that site. Between 2004 and 2005 the site amassed over 20 million users.
Today though, very few digital citizens are aware that MySpace still exists and this alone is testament to the immense decline of the once popular social media platform. The platform suffered its biggest blow in 2010 when roughly half of its user-base simply abandoned their accounts. Experts opine that among the reasons for its demise are; the plethora of ads users are bombarded with, the platform’s facilitation of anonymous usernames, a general lack of innovation frequent redesigns (which occurred as the site changed ownership frequently and the lack of creativity in the interface.
Ownership of the platform was transferred to Time Inc in 2016. The site still gets visitors with over 7 million people visiting daily. But when compared to giants in the industry like Facebook, Myspace is at the bottom of the popularity barrel. Experts are on the fence about its future with some predicting its imminent demise while others think the site could bounce back in the future.
Defunct or dying social media platforms are not worth your time especially if your goal is to promote your brand. You’ll find yourself investing time and effort only to reap minuscule results, or none at all!  Pay close attention to the industry so that you’ll be among the first to know when a platform is declining and heading for closure and in so doing avoid wasting precious time and resources