Microsoft is shuttering its social network Socl, and yes, Microsoft actually had a social network

Another social media site says goodbye
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Microsoft took one last, loving look at Socl—their old social network you forgot about, that's been sitting in the corner, curled up on top of an old Zune blanket—and decided it was time to accept fate, just be happy for the time they had together, and set Socl free, letting it go quietly and peacefully.

Yes, Socl is going the way of Ello, Peach, Yo, and so many other attempts to get you to get you on the platform, as it were, according to a post on Microsoft's FUSE Lab blog (via FastCo). Per the post, on March 15, the site will take off for the really nice farm of social media sites upstate, where it can run and play all day with the other defaulted social media networks.

In its heyday, Socl, which began life as a research tool primarily aimed at students and social searches, also allowed users to create collages and memes and create "mood boards" like Pinterest, but could never find the traction it needed to stay alive.

But it never achieved the height of fame known by its competitors like Tumblr and Facebook, nor did it even earn the attention of being a "WTF is this?" flash-in-the-pan anomaly that entertained a certain portion of people in their 30s for half a day like Peach.

No, Socl, at least in its final incarnation, wasn't able to distinguish itself from all of the other social media networks, both the ones that landed on the scrap heap or the ones that still live on.

And, so, farewell, Socl. Anyone who knew what you were will miss you. Maybe.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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