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BBS (Bulletin Board System)
A place where people could go to share ideas for their hobbies. Also, people could download games or other files. This lasted from the 1980's to the early 1990's. http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/ -
AOL (America Online)
Started in 1985, AOL became very popular in colleges in the early 1990's. It allowed people to communicate to each other through their own AOL addresses. http://time.com/3857628/aol-1985-history/ -
classmates.com
This website allowed users to find each other from clear across the country. These users couldn't have their own profile, like they can now. http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/ -
sixdegrees.com
This site crashed after just four years, but it paved the way for Myspace and Facebook. It was the first social media with friends, instant messaging, and personal profiles. https://emuprssa.com/2012/05/26/a-forefather-of-social-media-andrew-weinreich-and-sixdegrees-com/ -
Demographic-Driven Markets
Sites like these became popular for certain members of society, and some still exist today. These include asianavenue.com, blackplanet.com, and migente.com (if my nine semesters of Spanish has taught me anything, that means "My People"). http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/
http://www.spanishcentral.com/translate/gente -
Friendster
Very similar to sixdegrees.com, except it had a "circle of friends". Friendster is now an online gaming website. http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/ -
LinkedIn
LinkedIn became the first social media site to focus on a more professional look, and professionals still use it today. https://ourstory.linkedin.com/ -
Myspace
Myspace was the first social media site that I used back in 2007. It grew in popularity until Facebook kicked it out of the game. Myspace tried to return to popularity last year, but it never worked out. http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/ -
Facebook
Started in 2004, but not opened publicly until 2006, Facebook started off slow in the media game but worked it's way to become the most popular site on the internet. http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/ -
Twitter
Twitter became very popular due to its difference from Facebook, in that you only have a small amount of characters for each post, and you can fire them off very quickly. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-twitter-was-founded-2011-4 -
Google +
Google developed Google+ as not only a social media site, but simply a social layer to the almighty Google experience. It would force Facebook to rush into the possibility of adding a video chat. http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/ -
Fourth Screen Technology
Social media such as snapchat and instagram have become popular by way of our cell phones. This lead to almost all sites adding a mobile app for their service. http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/