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I think it's fair to say Classmates.com was the "first" social network is any real sense: launched in 1995, it came 2 years before SixDegrees, 4 years before Epinions' Circle of Trust and a full 7 years before Friendster defined the model we know today. When asked, I say that Classmates.com was the first. No doubt others will disagree.
This aging social network isn't dead yet. Today, Classmates.com filed with the SEC for a $125 million IPO. The company, which was acquired by United Online in 2004 for $100 million, is being spun off as Classmates Media, consisting of Classmates.com and the Mypoints.com online loyalty scheme. Its class A shares will appear on the NASDAQ with the ticker "CLAS". At the end of June, the site had 50 million registered users and 2.7 million paid accounts.