It’s over after around 17 years: On March 31, 2022, the online network StudiVZ will be shut down for good. Our NEON author paid a visit to what was once Germany’s largest social network some time ago – and even then found himself in what is perhaps the saddest place on the Internet.
2006 in Germany: The “summer fairy tale” World Cup was just around the corner without us knowing that it would soon be called that, Klotz mobile phones from Siemens or Nokia were in our pockets and on the radio they were playing the newly reunited “Take That” or casting stars like Mike Leon Grosch.
Even then, we spent our free time in front of the computer, all too often in front of a red and white page with a blue and red star as a logo: StudiVZ. The website that, for many of us, was the first contact with the social networks we take for granted today. Excluded are the MySpace users from back then, of course, but that’s another story.
So StudiVZ. This was the side that made us networkers and, yes, stalkers at times. Which taught us the strange portmanteau of “greet” and “snuggle”, “snuggle”, and on which we could use the group function to show how casual, desperate or unique we were: “I looked around, we’re the hottest here. “, “You can talk to me! The VZ-Singletreff.”, “Now sleep an hour and then to bed.”
StudiVZ had millions of active users
We procrastinated when looking at the photos from last weekend, we wrote to fellow students and were happy about pinboard entries. We were 17 million and StudiVZ was cool – despite everything.
Because right from the start, smaller and larger problems accompanied our digital social everyday life at StudiVZ. Every now and then the servers couldn’t cope with the onslaught and the site wasn’t accessible. At times, data protection was completely inadequate because users could, with a small detour, see other users’ images that were actually classified as private. There were sexism, Nazi and bullying scandals, which to this extent was still a largely new phenomenon on the internet at the time. There were also disputes with Facebook, which is currently emerging in the USA, because it found striking similarities in function and design between the two networks. In addition, the illustrious founder Ehssan Dariani made headlines because he is said to have designed the invitation to a company party in the style of the NSDAP newspaper “Völkischer Beobachter” or to have photographed women in the toilet.
Apparently the users forgave all this, they continued to gush, write and wasted time. The site was doing well, but competition was already looming on the horizon: Facebook, the original from America. At the latest since Mark Zuckerberg’s network was available in German in 2008, the decline of the student directory could no longer be stopped.
The competition from Facebook was too great
More and more members migrated to the blue competition, more and more goodbye messages arrived in the StudiVZ mailbox (“Hi, I’m going to delete my account here, but you can find me on Facebook.”). The process of cutting cords was sometimes gradual, sometimes abrupt, but one thing was clear: StudiVZ was no longer cool. Facebook was cool now, there were more functions, it was more international. The holiday flirt from Italy or the host parents from the USA exchange – everyone was there. “Like” instead of “sneering” is the new motto. StudiVZ experienced an exodus.
A visit to studivz.net now, a good ten years after the hype, at least shows that the site is still alive. Although “living” might be the wrong term, as it suggests that something is still happening. Let’s just say: the site still exists. The operator recently spoke of around 40,000 visitors a day (Facebook currently has over 20 million German visitors every day). Apparently, my contacts are not among the visitors. An acquaintance last updated her profile in 2012, I see it under “My friends”. After that, none of them touched his side. Preserved self-portrayal.
The tour is sobering
My virtual tour takes me to “My Page”. The profile picture reminds me that I’ve gotten older. StudiVZ, on the other hand, still looks almost the same as on the first day. Oh well.
A look at the pinboard, the platform’s central communication tool, is just as sobering. The last real entry is from 2010. After that, only “VZ moderator” Lea persistently congratulated me on my birthday every year. It’s always the same text: “Happy birthday! Have a great day, let yourself be properly celebrated and good luck, success or whatever-you-wish for in the new year of your life. Greetings, your studiVZ team .” Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.
I keep looking around: The chat, which is called “chatter box” here: empty. My events calendar: empty. My inbox: Well filled. One of the last messages came from “deleted person” in 2010: “We should have a coffee again.” It is no longer possible to reconstruct who this “deleted person” is. Whether a coffee was actually drunk, also not. There are many messages from “deleted people” in the StudiVZ mailbox.
Nothing going on – not even in the groups
Next stop: “My photos”, an album is still online, but where there used to be photos, I only see error graphics. At least there are still a few pictures in my friends’ albums. WG party 2007, vacation on the Baltic Sea in 2008, the festival in 2009. Rough-grained memories, at that time probably laboriously first transferred from a 3.5-megapixel digital camera to the computer and then from there to the StudiVZ. Did the term “cloud” already exist back then?
The groups were also important. Also here: nothing more going on. Last post from 2008 – trying to organize a class reunion. Nothing has come of it to this day, not even with Facebook. There are also apps and games at StudiVZ – I’ve never used them. Starting now would probably be pointless and fun.
Conclusion: StudiVZ has become a digital ghost town. An aging city where nobody is and where nothing happens. just rest No incessant stream of news, no “XY likes this and that”, no “XY commented on this or that”.
What still convinces today: Quiet and simple operation
What still convinces today: The simple operation. You can even end your membership with two or three clicks. Try that on Facebook. Nevertheless: I don’t click on “Delete account”. Visiting StudiVZ is like finding an old souvenir box in the basement. Maybe they’ll bring them out again in a few years.
Will the study directory still exist? Website wannstirbtstudivz.net predicted the site’s eventual death in 2013. But she holds on. It is like the phone booth of the internet. Still in existence but unused.
What’s next with StudiVZ? Does it go on at all? The sale of the company to the “Holtzbrinck Publishing Group” in 2007 made founder Dariani a multi-millionaire. He made the jump in time. The social network became a shunting mass within the group, innovations were announced but never materialised. StudiVZ now belongs to “Poolworks”, a former “Holtzbrinck” subsidiary. the company page reveals exciting things: 300 employees, job offers, hundreds of thousands of users “in the evening hours”. At the bottom of the page the catch on the matter: “Status: November 2011.”
“No connection under this number”
A call to “Poolworks”: Before the question “What are you planning to do with StudiVZ?” can be asked, there is already the answer from the Telekom lady: “No connection under this number.” An email goes unanswered. After all, the operators warned of a spam attack in their blog last month. There are no indications that anything will change again at StudiVZ. The “Innovations” category includes three entries, the youngest of which is three years old.
Meanwhile, Germany is world champion, “Take That” are only three, Mike Leon Grosch enjoys being a father and we have smartphones in our pockets – nothing is happening with the student directory. Almost nothing: Because “Poolworks” was recently taken over by a US company. What will become of StudiVZ? Not clear. So we can hope that in a few years we will be able to visit the digital Friends Museum again. To where time has stood still.
Note: The article appeared on NEON on July 20, 2017, but could be written almost exactly the same again now, in March 2022. At the end of the month, StudiVZ will be switched off for good. On the occasion of the farewell, we republished the article.