Just For Clicks: Popular Websites in 2006

It’s time to face the facts, and quite possibly the music: 2006 was 20 years ago.

That’s right, two whole decades have gone by since “SexyBack (ft. Timbaland)” by Justin Timberlake was dominating the radio waves, the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie was in theaters, and cars still had gigantic antennas with those seemingly indestructible Jack In The Box toppers on them:

You know the ones.

Anyway, back to business (and pleasure)! It’s time to take a prolonged peek through the window of what was hip and happening on the world wide web in 2006:

(Neo)Pets, Penguins, & Plushies

Already a heavyweight champion in the burgeoning world of virtual pet gaming, Neopets took the curiously collectible creature design and beloved battle blueprints of Pokémon and the practical parental premise of Tamagotchis to the next level. In addition to open world exploration users could get lost in games, messaging (direct through Neomail or at large in the discussion boards), catch up on current news, and even spend money at the shops with nifty Neopoints earned online.

Waddle Waddle! This Canadian open world game was truly a site to behold. After expanding rapidly from its origins as a simple snowball fight game Antarctica became the world’s most popular virtual hangout in no time, already boasting millions of users within its first year online. Club Penguin users enjoyed social media in its infancy by chatting with strangers, playing games, and inviting friends to hang out at their igloos (which could be furnished with rare items accessible through paying $5 a month for official Membership status. Snowball fights, parties, friendships and even foes were found and fostered in full on these hallowed cyber grounds.

The premise of Webkinz was simple: a place where your plushie can come to life online and play with others. One could purchase or “adopt” a plushie from various retail establishments in real life and enter a unique code that allowed online registration of their plushie; opening the a digital universe where one could play games and connect with other members. Combining Neopets’ virtual pet premise while incorporating the endless mini games and chat capabilities of Club Penguin made this site an absolute smash hit.

Social Media: The Little Websites That Could

In 2006, Myspace was already a big deal–in fact, it was the most visited website in the United States. The massive appeal was in part due to the highly customizable individual profiles in which favorites could be ranked and broadcast worldwide (from current best friends to music) and unending access to both familiar faces and complete strangers. Features such as Chat Rooms, Games, Music Videos, Movies, and more made for endless entertainment and fostered friendships far and wide through discovery, discussion, and debate.

A star is born: founded in 2006, Twitter took to the social media skies by revolutionizing the concept of a simple social status update. In 140 characters or less (the same restraints the world was beheld to by SMS texting at the time), the site gave anyone the ability to share what they were up to, or whatever was on their mind. Such off the cuff correspondences were then shared to a public live feed that was updated by the second. These short status updates would forevermore be known as “tweets”, a term that has stuck to this day despite the site’s re-naming under nefarious new management.

2006 was a major milestone for this future social media titan. Facebook introduced the News Feed feature–a stream of user led status updates posted in a live feed. Shortly thereafter, after originally restricting the site’s use to only to those with high school or college affiliated email addresses, the site began allowing anyone with a valid email address to join. And just like that, a brave new digital world was born.

Fresh off its 2005 acquisition by an American blogging company called Six Apart, LiveJournal gave its users access to private journaling as well as public blogging which had the capacity to foster community and connections with strangers worldwide. Authors, artists, and amateur social media personalities were able to connect easily with their fanbases on a regular basis through this particularly wordy platform.

AND NOW, A QUICK SNACK BREAK!

Movies, Music, & More

What would grow to become the biggest global media streaming service in the world (and Blockbuster’s personal Grim Reaper) was just picking up steam as a simple on-demand mail order DVD service. Users could visit the site, select which movies they’d like to rent, and have their selections mailed directly to their address for a short rental period. With the return label provided, users were required to mail rented DVDs back to Netflix once the rental period was over. The kicker: no late fees!

The iPod Nano’s 2nd Generation model was released—now featuring Blue, Black, Green, Pink, and Silver color ways and aluminum casing inspired by the iPod mini. The iPod’s bigger screen could now accommodate movies, which could be purchased through iTunes 7. Subsequently, iTunes Gift Cards were among one of the most sought after gift cards of the year.

Beyoncé’s sophomore solo studio album, B’Day, was released on September 1st, 2006. The album featured hits such as “Déjá Vu”, “Ring The Alarm”, “Get Me Bodied”, and “Irreplaceable” would go on to twin the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album the following year.

Following the success of a little song called “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, Panic! At The Disco went home from the 2006 MTV VMA Awards with the top honor: Video of the Year. Only two years previously, the band was a ragtag group of high-school classmates who unknowingly hopped on a rocket ship to fame and fortune when vocalist/guitarists Ryan Ross and Brendan Urie sent a demo to Fall Out Boy’s bassist Pete Wentz via LiveJournal.

Offering a more compact and portable option to its predecessors, Sega Toys released the iDog Mini in Pink, Blue, Black, and White. When connected to an external music source such as an Mp3 Player or iPod, the iDog’s “face” would sync up with each song through various colorful LED lights and dance to the beat through moment of the ears, head, and feet.

What a year! While our wonderful web-trospective ends here, you can keep the spirit of 2006 alive and well with courageously curated pieces from our Y2K Collection: