Position Paper #4 Wild Card

 Social Media Sites/Apps That Cease To Exist

    For my wild card paper , I want to focus on something that involves social media. Social media is literally like a lifeline and at the forefront of society. Social media allows us to interact and connect with people all over the world. Social media are interactive technologies that allow the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks (Social Media Wiki). This far in our generation, people could not know what life would be like without social media. These days if you do not have a source of social media, you are pretty out of tune with what is going on in society. Social media has influenced or plagued our lives whether good or bad. Social media has become a big part of everyday life, even more so since the pandemic has started. Now you see how social media plays a part in our lives, what with social media is the platforms and apps that are being used. There have been some very popular social media apps that have grace the Internet in these few years. You have apps for every interaction or occasion such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and the biggest one on the planet right now is TikTok. So what about the social media apps that are no longer popular or have lost its spark or have ceased to exist? Well that is what I will be discussing today. Here are several social media apps that have said farewell or have not reached the potential or found grave success with their launch. Some apps you probably have not heard of because they did not reach popularity enough to create buzz. Other apps just failed to keep their platforms afloat and were flushed out by its competitors. 

    First app on the list is Dailybooth. DailyBooth was a photoblogging website designed for users to take a photo of themselves every day with a caption, in order to document and share their life with others, thus the slogan "your life in pictures." It was similar to social-networking websites such as Twitter in that you could follow other users and allow them to follow you in turn and get real-time updates on what other people are doing. The user base was geared towards teens (DailyBooth Wiki). Founded in 2009, DailyBooth was much like how Instagram operates. The popularity of DailyBooth skyrocketed when social media influencers and celebrities started to post on the app. The success was short-lived because within 3 years of its launch, DailyBooth was shut on December 31,2012. There's not really a clear reason why DailyBooth was shut down but there are theories. Theories stem from DailyBooth was no longer in development of the app and was not making any new updates to it. Others say it partly due to the creation of Instagram. Instagram was started a year after DailyBooth launched. Instagram was showcasing growth as DailyBooth buzz had grown scarce. The sign of DailyBooth platform ended before it could actually start. DailyBooth app reign of photoblogging was just a distant memory. I do not know if people today can remember a glimpse of DailyBooth or ever downloaded it. You can say that DailyBooth was the blueprint and lay the groundwork for Instagram. 

    Next social media site that ceases to exist is Meerkat. Now I do not know about you but I never heard of this app ever touching the Internet have you? Meerkat is the first of many that offer a modern-day live-streaming app through your mobile phone. Meerkat was launched not too long ago in 2015.  Once signed up, Meerkat users had the option of connecting their Facebook and Twitter accounts, to stream directly to their followers as soon as they went live (Meerkat Wiki). With its Meerkat's fortune came fierce competition. Twitter was not at all pleased with Meerkat's fame. In March 2015, weeks after the release of Meerkat, Twitter cut off Meerkat's access to its social graph, then announced the acquisition of the competing app Periscope. Twitter publicly launched Periscope on March 26, 2015. Apart from providing the similar functionality of live-streaming to users' Twitter followers, Periscope also gives users an option to let anyone play the stream back (Meerkat Wiki). Twitter led to Meerkat's ultimate demise with the app only being active for 1 year and later in 2016 getting substitute for the app Houseparty. The cause of Meerkat not living as a never forgetting app because its success only lasted a year. We see in a few years if Houseparty is able to withstand the competitors unlike its predecessor. The downfall and the failure of this app is due to controversy and criticism. 

    The app was Yik Yak. After launching in 2014, the anonymous messaging mobile app gained momentum quickly among young adults, raising more than $70 million in venture capital funding but also a hefty load of problems. Its biggest, one of its main features: its anonymity (Search Engine Journal). While the app was anonymous this allowed for despicable comments and threats to emerge on the app. Yik Yak was mostly notable for  contributing to acts of cyberbullying from users. Furthermore, not only cyberbullying but other acts of bad behavior such as bomb or death threats, harassment, and spiteful-fueled violence. Due to its heavy disapproval and backlash, Yik Yak closed down in 2017 at the expense of lack of usage and poor reception. One app  could always remember and go down in history as one of the most influential apps is Vine. 

    Long before Musical.ly and TikTok, there was Vine. Vine was an American social networking short-form video hosting service where users could share six second-long, looping video clips. It was founded in June 2012; American microblogging website Twitter acquired it in October 2012, before its official release on January 24, 2013 (Vine Wiki). Vine immense fame was well deserved from all users that enjoyed its content that it allowed users to share. In 6-second videos, Vine allows users from around the world to capture viewers only a few seconds to obtain fame. Vine produced a lot of influencers, creators, and actors who then went on to furthering their career in other apps such as TikTok other endeavors. TikTok content takes several inspiration from Vine and Musical.ly. Vine was unable to adapt as other rivals (e.g., Snapchat) emerged and adapted. Plus, Twitter’s own business fluttered, which forced Twitter to close Vine in late 2016 (Search Engine Journal). Vine left an impact where apps can not compare to. TikTok is a strong formidable foe that might surpass Vine in a few years or maybe not. Overall, these social media sites and apps could not withstand their immediate success and failed to stay above the curve. A lot of things contribute to defeat for some apps but others could just not be the middle ground and stay relevant.