Early Forms of UGC

UGC has been a staple of the peer-to-peer experience since the dawn of the digital age. The earliest forms arrived in 1980 with Usenet, a global discussion network that allowed users to share comments and experiences of a given topic. Early versions of Prodigy, a computer network launched in 1988, also facilitated user discussions and comments, as did early versions of AOL. The late 1990s saw the rise of “ratings sites,” which allowed users to rate subjects based on any number of criteria, from physical appearance (ratemyface.com and hotornot.com) to professional competence (ratemyprofessors.com).

These spread quickly across the Internet, and brought with them controversy over the impact they could have on the lives of private people often unwittingly exposed to public scrutiny. Such controversies have increased as UGC sites have become more common and influential.

Another early form of UGC are forums; areas within content websites that allow readers to communicate with each other around topics related to the content. Even in this era dominated by social media sites, forums continue to be robust, controlled areas of user content. For example, CondeNet sites incorporated forums as early as 1995, and they are still excellent areas for marketers to research opinions and general trends.