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Yahoo!
Yahoo! was created as a single place to find useful Web sites and for a way to keep track of personal interests on the Internet. Today, it has evolved into a site that has changed the way people communicate with each other, find, and access information. Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services.
https://history-computer.com/Internet/Conquering/Yahoo.html -
Six Degrees
This website is credited as being the "first social media" site. The reason Six Degrees is considered to be the first of the social networks is because it allowed people to sign up with their email address, make individual profiles, and add friends to their personal network. It was officially launched in 1997, and it lasted until about 2001. It’s number of users peaked at around 3.5 million.
https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/ -
AOL Instant Messenger
AIM quickly became the primary site for digital communication and changed how the internet was being used. AIM provided easy, instant and casual communication. The service attracted millions of regular users, and by the mid-2000s, AIM users comprised 52% of the online instant messaging market. It allowed for custom icons, personalized profiles, chatbots, and aided the rise of "internet speak" such as LOL.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pioneering-aol-instant-messenger-end-180965152/ -
Google
Google has become the premier search engine for finding just about anything on the world wide web. While the software has continued to grow rapidly over the years, it has expanded and created new ventures such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Home (a smart speaker) Google Voice, a web browser called Chrome, and much much more. Google as a search engine would transform the internet forever.
https://www.thoughtco.com/who-invented-google-1991852 -
ThirdVoice and Napster
ThirdVoice & Napster were two software applications created in 1999 that have since been removed from the market. ThirdVoice was a free plug-in that allowed users to post comments on webpages. People argued that comments were often vulgar or slanderous. Napster was a software that allowed peer-to-peer file sharing. Users were allowed to share music files bypassing normal distribution methods which was determined a violation of copyright laws
http://www.minot.com/tom/SocialMedia.pdf -
LinkedIn
LinkedIn was one of the first social media sites in history. Initially, it was a site focused on professional networking, allowing people to connect with business and school contacts, as well as companies. Today, this is still the primary purpose of LinkedIn and it has become a popular site among college students as well as professionals in the business community to find jobs and scout for employees.
https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/ -
Friendster
In 2002, Friendster emerged. It allowed users to sign up with their email, make friends, and save them as part of a personal network. People could also share videos, photos, and messages with other users, and they were also able to leave comments on other people’s profiles. In 2011, Friendster was rebranded as a social gaming site that was focused mainly on the gaming community, but shut down in 2019.
https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/ -
Myspace
Myspace was developed in 2003 as one of the first social networking websites and in 2006, MySpace became the most popular social networking website in the US. A unique feature of MySpace is the ability for users to customize their profile information to give detailed information about themselves and what they are interested in.They could also chat with online users. However, Myspace was overtaken by its competitor, Facebook, in 2008.
http://www.minot.com/tom/SocialMedia.pdf -
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking site that was launched in 2004. At first, it was restricted to only Harvard students, then high school students followed by anyone over the age of 13. Users may create a profile, add other users as friends, exchange messages, and make posts. Users may also join common interest groups organized by workplace, school, college, etc. Facebook is now the most widely used social media platform across the world.
http://www.minot.com/tom/SocialMedia.pdf -
YouTube
YouTube is the world's most popular online video community, where millions of people can discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and
acts as a major distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers, large and small. In November 2006,
within a year of its launch, YouTube was purchased by Google Inc.
http://www.minot.com/tom/SocialMedia.pdf -
Twitter
When Twitter was created, it incorporated aspects of other social networking websites, such as Myspace and Facebook, with instant messaging technologies to create networks of users who can communicate throughout the day with brief messages or tweets. Profiles could follow other users and their posts were limited to 140 characters. Today, it is a popular social media site and is used for entertainment, messaging, communication, and current events.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twitter -
The First iPhone
While the first iPhone was in fact a revelation, it still lacked a lot of the features we have grown to love these days such as an App Store, video camera, maps, etc. However, this sparked a movement for smartphone technology which would then impact social media usage as well. Full websites didn't run on mobile phones, so companies were forced to build weak, mobile versions of their sites. However, the iPhone changed all of that.
https://www.businessinsider.com/first-phone-anniversary-2016-12
