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The Telegraph Machine & Morse Code
On May 24, 1844, in a sense social media began. Created by Samuel Morse, the telegraph machine was a series of electronic dots and dashes tapped out by hand on this machine. The first message from Baltimore to Washington was a major statement. This allowed people to send messages throughout the country.
(Libby Saccoccia) -
Invention of the Telephone
The telephone is an extremely influential invention that is important in the history of social media. The telegraph was limited to receiving and sending one message at a time; therefore, Alexander Bell started working on a new device which would be called a telephone. In 1877, the first regular telephone line was complete from Boston to Somerville. Three years later, there were over 49,000 telephones in the United States.
(Libby Saccoccia) -
First Social Media Site Launches
Six Degrees was the first true social networking site launched in 1997, created by Andrew Weinreich. Although it was short lived, it attracted millions of users and enabled online networking. Through this website, members could create profiles for themselves, maintain lists of friends, and contact one another through the site's private messaging system.
(Libby Saccoccia) -
Hot or Not (Picture Rating Site)
Created in 2000 by James Hong and Jim Young, Hot or Not was a site that invited users to submit photos of themselves. When submitting photos, users were able to rate people's attractiveness. Many people agree that Hot or Not created the influence of Facebook and YouTube.
(Libby Saccoccia) -
Friendster
The social media site Friendster was launched in 2002 by Johnathan Abrams. Friendster was an extremely popular site that spiked in popularity in 2003. Thus, the flood of traffic influenced users to connect with people on other sites.
(Libby Saccoccia) -
LinkedIn
LinkedIn was founded in 2002 and officially launched in 2003 as a site for career-driven and business-oriented people to network and connect. LinkedIn was unique right off the bat, as it was the very first social media site to offer paid premium packages that would provide users with more access to the website and tools within. In 2016, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. LinkedIn is still the most used website for job searching and career networking.
(Miranda Burdick) -
Myspace
Myspace as created by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe and launched on August 1, 2003. Myspace became the most visited website on the planet by 2006. After Facebook began rising in popularity, Myspace interactions began to fall around 2008. The company was acquired numerous times, with the initial acquisition in 2005 to News Corporation for $580 million. After multiple moves, it was bought again in 2016 by Time Inc., and the fate of Myspace is still up in the air.
(Miranda Burdick) -
Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University student, launched The Facebook in 2004. It was initially created as a way for people to connect on his university campus, but it went public in 2005. Also in 2005, a new feature was launched that allowed users to share photos with no restrictions on storage. A year later, Facebook released the new feed, allowing users to have constant updates about their Facebook friends' lives. Facebook remains the most popular social media platform today.
(Miranda Burdick) -
Twitter
Twitter was launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone to be used as a text-message based tool so people could share life updates between friends. Twitter created one of the most used features on social media, the hashtag. They also made headway when they enabled ads in 2010, monetizing the platform. In 2013, Twitter went public on the New York Stock Exchange, valued at $31 billion.
(Miranda Burdick) -
Introduction of the Hashtag
Hashtags are words and numbers following the # symbol that track and categorize content on social media. One can add hashtags to social media posts, bios and comments on most major social media platforms. The first hashtag debuted on Twitter in 2007 by product designer Chris Messina. Once a hashtag is published, it becomes a clickable, searchable link. Hashtags also help social marketers create viral campaigns, increase brand awareness, and reach their business goals.
(Maeve Goble) -
Original YouTube Influencers
In May of 2007, YouTube launched a partnership program that allowed influencers to make money off of their videos. In order to qualify for this program, YouTube channels must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours in the last year. This allows YouTube to run ads and have the influencer make money. This program has led average people to become internet celebrities, like Tyler Oakley, Pewdiepie, and Mr. Beast. -
Pinterest
Pinterest was founded in March 2010 by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp, but was made available to the public on August 10th, 2012. Pinterest is a visual search engine for finding food recipes, skincare, design inspirations, and more. Users save items they like and create boards themed to organize interests. It's different from other platforms since most users do not want followers and are saving ideas for themselves and often keep their boards secret for that reason.
(Maeve Goble) -
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing application that was launched on Oct. 6, 2010 by Kevin Systrom. Instagram’s name is from combining the words instant and telegram. Instagram gained 25,000 users in one day, and in one week the app was downloaded 100,000 times. Users can customize their profiles with a profile photo, a bio, and they get to decide whether their profile is public or private. Users can browse other users’ photos and videos by searching for hashtags and locations.
(Maeve Goble) -
Snapchat
Snapchat was founded in 2011 by Reggie Brown, Evan Spiegel, and Bobby Murphy while they were students at Stanford University. Snapchat is a messaging app that allows users to exchange pictures and videos that disappear after they are viewed. Photos and videos sent between users are known as “snaps”. As of January 2020, the social media site had 360 million active monthly users who generated three billion “snaps” every day.
(Maeve Goble) -
Vine
Vine was launched on January 24, 2013, and was founded by Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll. Vine was a platform where users could share 6-second-long video clips. Vine grew in popularity over the following years with over 200 million active users by 2015. In 2013 Instagram became a huge competitor, incorporating a 15-second video sharing option. Unfortunately, on January 17, 2017, vine was shut down due to sponsors moving to other platforms such as Instagram and Youtube.
(Maeve Goble) -
The "Selfie" Becomes Popular
A selfie is a picture of an individual (sometimes with other people) taken using a smartphone or digital camera with the purpose of posting on social media platforms. Although 2014 was not the year selfies were originally created, it was the year they received the most recognition. Millions of people started to take more selfies and post them on social media. Over time, group selfies became even more popular and convenient due to multiple people included in one photograph.
(Kirsten James) -
Instagram Launches Stories
Instagram stories allow users to share everyday moments and grow closer to the people and interests that they care about through photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Stories became a huge part of Instagram in 2016. This was also seen as a way for the platform to gain more social media users using a similar tactic that snap chat used. Facebook also followed the trend a year later after witnessing the success of the other two social media platforms.
(Kirsten James) -
TikTok Is Born
TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to post short-form videos directly from their cell phones. TikTok was originally launched in 2016 by ByteDance. The app was released as a video-sharing app called Douyin, exclusively for users in China. With the success in China, the creators decided to make TikTok international. The platform received attention from its international audience in 2018. TikTok continues to maintain a strong viewership due to the countless videos posted daily. -
BeReal
BeReal is a social media app that was launched in 2020. Although it is not as talked about as other social media platforms, it stands out due to its unique content. Every day, users of the platform receive a notification to share a genuine glimpse into their real life without editing. The platform gained its popularity in 2022. -
Elon Musk Buys Twitter
In 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter for 44 billion dollars. This meant Musk gained control of the platform and most of its regulations. After acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk made quite a few changes within the company, including changing the social media platform's name to X.