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Creation of the PLATO system
The PLATO system was invented in 1960 by the University of Illinois, pioneering what would eventually would become instant messaging. -
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PLATO Invents a Whole New World
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Talkomatic
The Talkomatic was created by Dave Woolley and Douglas Brown at the University of Illinois within the PLATO system. It was the first multi-user chat room app of its kind. -
TERM-Talk
TERM-talk is created as an instant messaging app that would let two people partake in an early version of screen sharing. -
ARPANET
ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) is one of the first networks to have the TCP/IP protocol suite, which is the foundation for what we know as the internet. -
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Early Development of the Internet
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The Bulletin Board System
BBS becomes one of the first forms of social media, allowing those logged in to upload/download data, read news, and message other users through public boards and direct messages. -
FidoNet
FidoNet is created as a network for BBS systems to communicate. This allows emails and forum messages to be exchanged between different BBS systems on the network. -
The First Website
Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 to automate information sharing between scientists around the world. -
The First Social Media Sites
SixDegrees.com, one of the first social media sites, is created. On this site you could set up a profile, create a list of friends, and send others messages. -
America Online Instant Messeger
AOL Instant Messenger was created in 1997, becoming one of the biggest early "modern" message boards, remaining popular until the rise of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. -
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The Golden Age of Social Media Creation
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Messaging Takes Over (MSN and Yahoo!)
Yahoo! and MSN Messenger launch in 1999, showing the meteoric rise in online communication. -
Hot or Not?
AmIHotorNot.com was launched in 2000 by James Hong and Jim Young, allowing people to upload images of themselves to be rated. This website is said to have influenced sites like Facebook and Youtube. -
Linkedin
LinkedIn, a social networking site made for those in business to connect, was launched in 2003. It is still vastly popular today with over 700 million users. -
MySpace
MySpace launches, which will eventually become the most popular social media network in the world. -
Facebook
Facebook launches in 2004, initially starting as a social media app for college students, eventually becoming the biggest social media app in the world. -
Creation of Flickr
Flickr, an image hosting service, is launched in 2004. It is used by many sites and blogs to host and embed videos and images into their site, which was a massive step in the accessibility of site creation. -
MySpace is Acquired by News Corporation
MySpace is acquired by News corporation for $580 million, before becoming the most visited site in the US in 2006. -
Creation of Reddit
Reddit is founded in 2005 as a news aggregation and discussion site. -
Yahoo acquires Flickr
Yahoo acquires Flickr in 2006, in a deal for around $25 million dollars -
Facebook opens to the public.
Facebook opens up to everyone with a valid emal over the age of 13, becoming a social media site for all. -
Twitter launches
Twitter, a social media app with an emphasis on short posts known as "tweets", launches in 2006. -
Launch of Instagram
Instagram is launched in 2010, primarily focusing on the posting and sharing of images. It was acquired by Facebook in 2012. -
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The Modern Era
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Snapchat launches
Snapchat, an instant messaging app with an emphasis on disappearing messages, launches in 2011. Originally focused on 1 on 1 interactions, it innovated the "story", a temporary public post of a video/image that disappears after a certain time. -
Microsoft Acquires Skype
Microsoft acquires Skype for $8.5 billion dollars, which is their second biggest acquisition to date. -
Facebook acquires Instagram
Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion. -
Facebook goes public on the NYSE.
Facebook goes public on the NYSE for $38 a share, which put their total company evaluation at $104 billion, which was the largest valuation for a newly listed public company. -
Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn
Microsoft acquires LinkedIn for $26.2 , the largest acquisition for Microsoft at the time. -
TikTok Launches
TikTok, a short form video-based social media platform, launches in 2017 from ByteDance Ltd. This service was heavily influenced by Vine, which was shut down by Twitter in 2016.