From Myspace to Bebo and Vine, there are loads of defunct social media sites, but did you know Apple once launched one?
The technology giant created a music-orientated social network which failed miserably, and many don’t know it even existed.
Apple once launched a social media site
Thousands were made aware of the site, called Ping, for the first time this week after a man made a TikTok video about it.
“One of my favorite pieces of tech history is Apple’s silently biggest failure ever and the fact that it only now exists in one of my favorite movies of all time,” he said.
He then showed a clip from the American musical comedy Pitch Perfect, which follows an all-girls a cappella singing group.
In the film, a character goes to play a song on iTunes during a party and you see the Ping logo pop up at the side for a second.
Ping was a music-themed social networking system developed by Apple that launched on September 1, 2010 with 1 million members in 23 countries.
However, just two years later, on September 30, 2012, Apple officially closed the service and it was replaced with Facebook and Twitter integration in iTunes.
More about Apple’s social network Ping
“It is sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes,” Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said. “It is not Facebook. It is not Twitter. It is something else we’ve come up with. It’s all about music.”
The site was accessible via iTunes on the iPhone and iPod Touch and allowed users to follow artists and see short postings from both friends and musicians.
You could also see what music your friends were purchasing and reviewing and receive a personalized “charts” list showing what people with a similar music taste were listening to.
On top of that, users were told what concerts their friends were attending and able to purchase tickets to events.
Its official announcement was endorsed by Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, who closed the event by performing his songs Viva La Vida, Yellow and unreleased song Wedding Bells.
Ping was introduced by Lady Gaga, who recorded a video message that was played as part of the practical demo of the social network.
Apple never gave a reason for the site’s closure, but it was likely down to unpopularity as it failed to gain traction with users.
Now, it only exists in Pitch Perfect.
