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1980: Compuserve becomes first online chat room
Originally a program created to share the news for local newspaper companies, Compuserve introduced a online chat room called the "CB Simulator" which included 40 different channels of communication. Something that was intended to be a side feature then became one of the most used consumer services on the internet. From news reports, stock updates, weather reports and just general chat rooms, they became one of the main initiators of the social media boom. Link text -
1988: IRC (Internet Relay Chat) takes flight
Internet Relay Chat or IRC, is a chat room service that is still used today by many. Users would connect to a server through a software service to communicate to each other live. Companies still today use this service to connect individuals to a live server to communicate and ask questions live with representatives. This, for the time, was revolutionary and changed the way social media and chatroom's alike interact with people digitally. Link text -
1997: Social Media is born
The first social media site to be created was called "Six Degrees" and is fairly similar to what we see today. It was a site where people could connect with friends and family members, and even state their school affiliation, much like what we see today on some of the most used social media sites. Although this was nothing like the features we see on today's social media sites, it was still a stepping stone for the social media movement. Link text -
2000: The Internet rapidly becomes popular
By the year 2000, the internet boom began as over 100 million people have access to the internet and people interacting over the internet became quite popular and considered normal. More people started utilizing chat rooms, discussions, blog posts and even online dating. Although the internet was becoming a huge movement, the largest portion of the internet boom has yet to come. Link text -
2001: Wikipedia is created
Although most wouldn't consider Wikipedia to be labeled as social media, it very much is so. The creators of Wikipedia wanted to compile the worlds knowledge in to one place, and believed there should not be one central editor to the information produced on their domain. Thus creating Wikipedia, which is still widely used and highly popular today being the 5th most visited website in terms of traffic as of 2018 according to 'Alexa Internet'. Link text -
2003: MySpace kicks-off the social media boom
Created in 2003, MySpace was the widely popular social networking site before Facebook that took the internet by storm. People were able to show off photos, connect with friends, create personal profiles and listen to music all at the same time. From 2005 to 2008, MySpace was the most visited social network site in the world, even surpassing Google. MySpace was even responsible for the kick-start of the musical careers for some of the most known pop artists. Link text -
2004: Facebook takes center stage
Originally created as a online dating/matching site, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg creates what we know today as Facebook. Still widely used and highly popular today, Facebook has a market value of over $500 billion and generates more than 2 billion users per month. Facebook has bloomed into one of the most popular social media sites in the world, connecting friends with videos, pictures and giving users the ability to tell stories and connect virtually. Link text -
2005: Video streaming is introduced with YouTube
After three PayPal employees realized there wasn't one location to share videos, they came together to form what we know today as YouTube. The site launched in 2005 with a Nike ad being the first video to reach a million views. From there, YouTube grew exponentially to include news, music videos, and even live streaming and sporting events. It is predicted that over half of the people under the age of 30 will not pay for TV subscriptions because of YouTube. Link text -
2006: Social media continues to expand with Twitter
Originally created as a side project for a way to keep tabs on friends by posting text-like updates, Twitter was founded on the idea of being a SMS-based communication platform. After getting full attention from those who developed it, Twitter exploded becoming one of the most popular social media sites to date. What makes Twitter unique is limiting members to set amount of characters per tweet, creating a revolutionary form of social media for our generation Link text -
2012: Social media becomes matchmaker
Although this wasn't the first 'hot-or-not' dating app created, Tinder revolutionized the social media world becoming the first of its kind on mobile devices. Tinder revolutionized the 'swipe' that became a way of distinguishing if you simply like something or not. First introduced at elite schools, the app had over 1 million matches in the first two months of launch. Widely popular today, this is what kicked off our generations style of 'speed dating'. Link text -
2012: When we thought social media reached its peak, in came Snapchat
What originally came as an idea after one of the developers sent a scandalous picture he wish he hadn't, in came the idea of a Snapchat. The software that has pictures erase themselves after a short period of time, leaving no trace. This platform took the eyes of Facebooks CEO who wanted to purchase the company knowing it would soon blow up to something big. The gentleman turned down the offer and proved they could compete with the giant of Facebook. [Link text(https://bit.ly/2MtwOOg) -
2013: Videos with a twist; Vine brings competition
Vine was unique in a way that allowed pure creativity over its users. Only enabling individuals with limited features on video clips, Vine came bursting on the scene with its loop-style videos that let owners tell their story in only six seconds. You could filter types of videos which enabled users to watch what they want, whether it be comedy, news, or sports etc. Vine was eventually bought out by Twitter in 2017 but changed the way we watch videos today. Link text
