Social networking pioneer Friends Reunited closing down

The world's first genuine online social network is to shutter after 15 years.

Before Facebook, Myspace, Bebo or Google + came Friends Reunited. A very simple online community that identified and connected people by the school, college or university they attended.

Dreamed up by Julie Pankhurst while on maternity leave as a way of finding out what her old school friends were up to, the site, built by her husband, Steve and business partner Jason Porter, became an overnight success in its native UK when it launched in 2000, and soon spawned dedicated spin off sites around the world, helping people rekindle old relationships, share stories and images and organise reunions.

Unlike the platforms that have followed in its wake, Friends Reunited was financially viable from the onset. While signing up to the site was free, being able to communicate directly with other members required an annual subscription fee.

In 2005, the Pankhursts sold the site for $250 million but in recent months Steve Pankhurst has returned to the venture to see if he could help breathe new life into the property in an age of Instagram and Twitter.

And, despite the fact that it still has a core of regular users, the decision has been made that it's no longer fit for purpose.

"It is clear that the site is no longer really used for the purpose it was built for ... therefore, it is with a heavy heart, that we have decided to close the service down," said Pankurst in a statement.