I guess we're talking WWW or Web 2.0 or HTTP(S) or whatever (ie. bloat). Cu2 was a Dutch predecessor of Hyves which were both a very popular social network in The Netherlands before the existence of MySpace and Facebook. Eventually, "everyone" went to Facebook though.

Both were colorful (think: IRC on DALnet, or MySpace). It was awful.

The thing is, social networks existed before the term was ever coined. They were just called your "network". Getting to know people was called "networking". And most people get a job through their "network". It is nothing new. Something like Usenet or IRC or a MUD just as well fits.