In the mid-2000s, users could search for friends and acquaintances on the Internet via wer-kennt-wen.de. The platform quickly developed into a mega success. Today, however, she has disappeared into oblivion. But why?
While studying computer visualistics at the University of Koblenz-Landau, the two students Fabian Jager and Patrick Ohler have a problem. The two have a large network of friends and acquaintances. Maintaining contact with everyone is difficult, however. This is the hour of birth of “Who knows whom”.
The platform went online in October 2006, which other people noticed very quickly. First of all everything more or less well known from the surrounding areas of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. After a little over a year, the German social media platform has one million registered members. And that was just the beginning.
At this time, being online means sitting down at a PC and spending time browsing the internet. That mostly happened on its own back then. There are chats and first messengers, but no comparison with the interaction that is possible today. At that time, “meeting” a friend or acquaintance online was only possible by prior arrangement. At that time, a social network like “Who knows whom” opened up completely new opportunities to exchange ideas with one another, even if the communication usually takes place with a time lag.
Due to its simple structure, “Who knows whom” primarily reaches older people in the initial phase. With the growing success, however, younger people are also interested in this new social media. What about Facebook at this point? After all, Mark Zuckerberg has been online with his social network since 2004. Figures from 2009 show that “Who knows whom” had 5.5 million users at the time. Facebook reports just two million registered members in Germany.
Back then, “Who knows whom” offered everything that many people love about social media to this day. Members can create a profile and network with each other based on certain criteria. Popular points of contact are other people, schools, clubs or groups. The integrated search function can also be used to find people with the same interests. There is a group function, an easy way to communicate your own status, there are lots of comments and of course photos can be uploaded and shared with the community.
And every member has a guest book in their profile. A very important function in the early days of the Internet. After all, the world out there should find out who has visited their own site or, in this case, their own profile. Back then, no one had any idea where the smartphone journey would lead.
Meteoric rise
The rise of “who knows whom” has been meteoric for a long time. Fabian Jager and Patrick Ohler, the two founders, have long since outsourced the business to a team. This takes care of the maintenance of the platform and regularly integrates new functions.
In 2009, the number of monthly visits to “Who knows whom” was almost 200 million. Along with StudiVZ, the platform is now one of the most successful social networks in Germany. This success makes people sit up and take notice, more precisely says RTL Interactive, the TV broadcaster’s Internet subsidiary. At the time, RTL already owned 49 percent of the shares in “Who knows whom”. In 2009, the company also took over the remaining 51 percent. The takeover marks a turning point, albeit in a different direction than RTL had hoped.
Also read: SchülerVZ – from giants to insignificance
After the sale, the descent begins
From now on, the numbers will steadily go down. Did the two founding fathers have any idea? In any case, Fabian Jager and Patrick Ohler are leaving the platform and taking care of new projects.
RTL Interactive is trying everything to reverse the trend and get “Who Knows Whom” back on a promising path. But the competition from the USA is now much more attractive. Facebook not only benefits from a better offer, but also from the upcoming smartphone boom. Fewer and fewer users want to check the status of friends on the PC. Exchanging photos and hearts, chatting or pressing the “Like” button directly and constantly with loved ones in a cool app now makes people happier.
“Who knows whom” the users run away. However, the older target group has remained loyal to the German social network for a long time. In 2013, she also noticed the last rescue attempt. Although the question must be allowed: Has the world really been waiting for creating member profiles for pets or cars? At least that’s what RTL Interactive believed at the time.
But the bare numbers point in a completely different direction. RTL quickly recognized this and on June 2, 2014 closed “Who knows whom” forever. As a result, clones of the network still haunt the Internet, but other social media platforms from the USA no longer leave any room for small niche networks.
In retrospect, the two students and founders, Fabian Jager and Patrick Ohler, regret the decline of their platform. However, both have long since started new projects. In 2013 they started the photo cloud service Dawawas and are happy with it to this day.