When was the social internet created?

According to Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship a journal of Computer-Meditated Communication written by Danah M. Boyd and Nicole B. Ellison...

"A site called "SixDegrees" was the first social media site on the internet. It was launched on 1997, and allowed users to create profiles, list their friends and surf the friend's lists.

SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to others. While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become a sustainable business and, in 2000, the service was closed."