Development of Social Networking

BBS

Jan 1, 1970

Independently produced code in whcih users could communicate, download files and games, and post messages to other users. This could be accessed over telophone lines via a modem.

CompuServe

Jan 1, 1975

**NEW: Forums. Members were also able to share files, news, and events.

AOL: America Online

Jan 1, 1990

** Featured customizable, detailed, searchable "Member Profiles"

1995 Big Starters: Yahoo and Amazon

Jan 1, 1995

Classmates.com

Jan 1, 1995

***NEW: virtual reunions: graduates could locate past people in their gradutating class.

SixDegrees.com

Jan 1, 1997

Users were able to create profiles, invite friends, organize groups, and surf other user profiles.

3 Main Ethnic Social Networking Sites

Jul 21, 1997

AsianAvenue.com
BlackPlanet.com
MiGente.com

Friendster

Jan 1, 2002

**NEW: "circle of friends" created pathways connecting people.

LinkedIn

May 5, 2003

**NEW: Professional Use, business people could connect to other bussiness people.

MySpace

Aug 1, 2003

Featured-filled environment. Appealed more towards the younger age group with music and music videos customizations.

Facebook

Period: Feb 4, 2004 to Sep 26, 2006

Launced as Harvard students and alumni only. In 2005 expanding to other universities and highschool students.

Facebook Made Public

Sep 6, 2006

Made available to users with a valid email address over the age of 13.

App Developers

Jan 1, 2007

Facebook launched the opportunity for app developers to create apps just for Facebook.

Incorporaton of "Like" button

Period: Jan 1, 2007 to Dec 17, 2012

Facebook's famous "like" button spreads all over the internet to other sites.