Οld internet museum 2009-2012

Old Internet Museum · fan-made educational recreation2000–2012 · before the endless feed

Part I · The social web is born

OLD INTERNET MUSEUM

Walk through the social web before likes, shares, views and algorithmic feeds became the center of everything.

2000–20042005–20082009–2012

2009–2012: the center of gravity began moving away from personal profile pages and toward continuously updated streams. Public metrics such as likes, shares, views and follower counts became increasingly important.

2009201020112012

Facebook

2004–

The Wall, News Feed, Pages and the rapid standardization of social profiles.

The feed gradually became more important than visiting individual profiles.

Twitter

2006–

Short public posts, followers, retweets and real-time conversation.

Public broadcasting became central to social communication.

Tumblr

2007–

Microblogs, reblogs, themes and fandom/community culture.

Still highly personal, but sharing/reblogging became a core mechanic.

Google+

2011–2019

Circles, streams and identity tied to Google's ecosystem.

Tried to organize relationships by social circles.

Path

2010–2018

A deliberately smaller social network designed around a limited circle of close contacts.

One of the clearest attempts to keep social networking intimate.

The Endless Feed

2009–2012 →

Likes, shares, views, follower counts and algorithmic ranking began moving toward the center.

Attention itself increasingly became a visible metric.

Then vs Now — what changed?

OLD SOCIAL WEB

Person → Profile → Friend
Visit someone because you want to see them.

→

MODERN SOCIAL WEB

Content → Algorithm → Attention
Likes · Shares · Views · Followers

The older model was not perfect, but it often created a more direct form of communication. You intentionally visited a friend, read their profile, left a message or scrap, and moved on. Modern platforms make social approval measurable and public through likes, shares, views and follower counts, which can shift attention from who the person is toward how much attention the content receives.

The central difference: on the old social web, you often went online to see a person. On today's social media, you are often shown whatever the system predicts will hold your attention.

← Back to 2005–2008Restart Museum →

Historical fan recreation for education and nostalgia. Brand names belong to their respective owners.

Exhibit