3 ms·

Probably advent of instant messengers made them feel less lonely, culminating around 2006-2008 when modern social networks really took off, but peaking in today

Probably advent of instant messengers made them feel less lonely, culminating around 2006-2008 when modern social networks really took off, but peaking in today's result of every post on fb/twitch/instagram engendering social anxiety and thus 'loneliness'.

bencollier49 8y ago
I reckon you're right. This was peak Yahoo Instant Messenger time, and it launched in 1998, just before the graph starts moving downwards.
- cortesoft 8y ago
  Really? I feel like peak instant messenger time was around 2001 or so... I wonder if it has to do with how old we are?
  - gowld 8y ago
    Peak for you was likely when you were a teen. But overall? In 2001 computers weren't ubiquitous nor portable. Middle-class kids were on IM on their desktops and maybe laptops for max a few hours per day. Now kids have phones for IM all day and night.
    - cortesoft 8y ago
      The grandparent comment was saying that 2006-2008 was peak instant messenger, and people using messengers on phones were certainly not common during those years.
- tdurden 8y ago
  It is a shame YIM is gone now; I lost contact with a lot of people where that was our main form of communication.
Vagantem 8y ago
True - I can still hear that MSN "new message" sound echoing in my head..
niftich 8y ago
This time was indeed marked by the high popularity and increasing interop between classic IM networks, and the rise new networks. Some choice dates: - 2005-09: Meebo launches offering web access to AIM, WLM, Yahoo - 2006-02-07: Google Talk integration inside Gmail goes live - 2006-03: Nielsen/Netratings survey for active users: AIM 53M, WLM 27M, Yahoo 22M - 2006-07-12: seamless interop starts between Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger - 2006-09-26: Facebook opens up to everyone (not just colleges) - 2007-02-14: Gmail opens up to everyone (not just invite-only) - 2008-04-06: Facebook chat goes live - 2008-04-19: Facebook overtakes Myspace in Alexa ranking - 2008-07-11: iOS App Store launches, AIM for iOS released - 2008-08-26: Facebook hits 100 million active users - 2008-09-23: Android 1.0 launches More (and sources) in my earlier posts [1][2]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518

bencollier49 8y ago

I reckon you're right. This was peak Yahoo Instant Messenger time, and it launched in 1998, just before the graph starts moving downwards.

cortesoft 8y ago
Really? I feel like peak instant messenger time was around 2001 or so... I wonder if it has to do with how old we are?
- gowld 8y ago
  Peak for you was likely when you were a teen. But overall? In 2001 computers weren't ubiquitous nor portable. Middle-class kids were on IM on their desktops and maybe laptops for max a few hours per day. Now kids have phones for IM all day and night.
  - cortesoft 8y ago
    The grandparent comment was saying that 2006-2008 was peak instant messenger, and people using messengers on phones were certainly not common during those years.
tdurden 8y ago
It is a shame YIM is gone now; I lost contact with a lot of people where that was our main form of communication.

Vagantem 8y ago

True - I can still hear that MSN "new message" sound echoing in my head..

niftich 8y ago

This time was indeed marked by the high popularity and increasing interop between classic IM networks, and the rise new networks. Some choice dates: - 2005-09: Meebo launches offering web access to AIM, WLM, Yahoo - 2006-02-07: Google Talk integration inside Gmail goes live - 2006-03: Nielsen/Netratings survey for active users: AIM 53M, WLM 27M, Yahoo 22M - 2006-07-12: seamless interop starts between Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger - 2006-09-26: Facebook opens up to everyone (not just colleges) - 2007-02-14: Gmail opens up to everyone (not just invite-only) - 2008-04-06: Facebook chat goes live - 2008-04-19: Facebook overtakes Myspace in Alexa ranking - 2008-07-11: iOS App Store launches, AIM for iOS released - 2008-08-26: Facebook hits 100 million active users - 2008-09-23: Android 1.0 launches More (and sources) in my earlier posts [1][2]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518