Working in this industry I get notified by friends, google, or a blog about every new social network that hits the streets. In Febuary 14th 2005 the the social software weblog (now retired) put out a Social Networking Services Meta List.

This list now stands at 380 entries. Posted Feb 14th 2005 5:55PM by Alberto Escarlate

It’s now October 2006 and lets just say that list has grown. Yet Another Social Network Service (YASNS) after another. Most of us only here about the gigantic communities when something drastic happens like MySpace power outage or a Facebook revolt.

But what started it all?

Who was the first Social Network Service?

SixDegrees.com was the original social network service website that lasted from 1997 to 2001. Wikipedia entry:SixDegrees.com

What happened to the first Social Network Service?

People who confirmed a relationship with an existing user but did not go on to register with the site continued to receive occasional email updates and solicitations; probably for this reason, SixDegrees acquired a reputation as a spammer.
.....The company was based in New York City. At its height, SixDegrees had around 100 employees, and the site had around 1,000,000 fully-registered members. The site was bought by YouthStream Media Networks in 2000 for US$125 million. Wikipedia entry:SixDegrees.com

Not all social networks make it, the more examples we have in market the more we get to understand what keeps people coming back and engaging in a community.

Cheers to Yet Another