Take a trip down The Internet Memory Lane as we explore your favorite websites, before they were your favorite websites.
There's nothing quite like the Timehop feature on Facebook to remind you how incredibly awkward you truly used to be. Since the internet has deemed it acceptable to remind us of all our past mistakes (why did I think dying my hair black was cool?), we have taken it upon ourselves to point out that some of the highly refined, A/B tested internet behemoths of today, used to be not so polished in their beginning.
CNN (2000)
The shocking thing about CNN isn't how different the design is, but how similar the headlines are.
Linkedin (2003)
Launched in 2003, it took several ex PayPal, and SocialNet employees six months to build. Today the juggernaut boasts 400 million users! Back then, gaining 20 users per day, Linkedin was a bit more modest.
Reddit (2005)
This is the only example we could find of a website that looked better 10 years ago.
IMDB (1996)
The oldest website on this list, dating back to 1990, this site has come a long way since its inception. This particular screenshot is from 1996.
Facebook (2004)
Ah, the inspiration for this post! It makes me giddy too know that Facebook also had its awkward teenage years.
Craigslist (1995)
No surprises here! Craigslist has waited so long to do a redesign that their brand of vintage is almost endearing.
AirBNB (2008)
A far cry from where it is today, Airbnb isn't new to good, and bad design. Here is the first draft of the now infamous hotel killer.
Youtube (2005)
When looking at the original inception of Youtube it isn't hard to see the influence Google played in the design. A stark white background, logo, and search bar. Everything you need, and nothing you don't. Maybe that's why Google quickly bought Youtube less than two years after the service launched.
Amazon (1998)
Humble beginnings for the worlds largest ecommerce site.
Netflix (2002)
In the early days Netflix had an affinity for terrible stock photos.
That concludes our list of terribly awesome websites. If you'd like to explore the web of yesteryear yourself checkout The Wayback Machine. Likewise, if you'd like to take your own website out of the stone ages we'd love to hear from you.
