I&#x27;d argue that there were social-networking platforms that were <i>better</i> than Facebook years before it came out.  LiveJournal, for instance, was one of the few online places where you <i>actually make new friends</i> instead of just collating the ones you already had.  I just hung out this Thanksgiving with a couple who I met on LJ over a decade ago; they also met doing LJ support, and at their wedding 7 years ago, about 3&#x2F;4 of the guests were friends from LiveJournal, many of whom had never met in person before.  A lot of the features that Google+ has &quot;innovated&quot; with (Circles&#x2F;friends-groups, Communities) or that have Facebook has recently added (mood icons, threaded commenting) were things that LJ had a decade ago.<p>Facebook won because the killer feature that distinguishes a social network is who&#x27;s on it.  They started out at the most high-status house on the most high-status college in the most high-status country, and then spread like wildfire from there.  By contrast, LJ was popular with fandom and with Russians, neither of which are groups that ordinary, affluent, socially-connected Americans would much like to hang out with.