History of Social Media

Listserv

1986

One of the very first electronic mailing lists that allowed users to contact multiple users in one email. This was revolutionary during this time. This program has transformed to modern technology, and it's website can be found here: http://www.lsoft.com/products/listserv.asp

The Palace

1994

This created a user friendly chat room, allowing users to create an avatar on a specific back drop and converse with others. It is still an active program today. This link will take you there: https://pchat.org/

SixDegrees.com

1997

The first true "Social Media" site created. Users could upload a profile picture and interact with others, create a 'friends' list therefor expanding their social interactions. It was purchased in 2000 for $125 million and later shut down in 2001. Users could make posts to certain friends, groups, ect. Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/2/

Live Journal

1999

The first recognized 'blogging site', as it was becoming a very popular thing to do right around this time. Users were and today are still able to create blog posts relating to differing subject matter.
Link to site: https://www.livejournal.com/

LunarStorm

2000

This lead the pack for commercial advertisement-driven social media platforms. It was directed at teenagers and created in Sweden By 2007, the number of users had risen to 1.2 million. (fun fact: This company was founded on the day I was born)

Friendster

2002

Used as a social media website, as its name obviously points out, it was also known as a dating site or even creating platform.Users did not feel a connection to it and many tired of it. https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/4/

LinkedIn

2003

A commonly used website today, this is a wonderful network and platform for anyone hoping to build their professional identity. https://press.linkedin.com/about-linkedin?trk=uno-reg-guest-home-about

MySpace

2003

The "it" of social media during this time, the ability to completely customize your profile and upload videos and create music playlists, this drew in a young crowd of users. https://mashable.com/category/myspace/

YouTube

2005

Started by PayPal employees whom were looking for a platform to share videos. Google shortly after, recognizing its inevitable rise to the top, acquired the company and it has now grown to be one of the most frequently visited domains on the web. https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/10/the-history-of-youtube/

Reddit

2005

Reddit receives a staggering 1.6 billion page views each month. Started as a site that had to create its own users to supply content, it now has an extremely loyal following and you are able to find 'subreddits' on nearly any subject you can think of. Monitored yet still allowing freedom of speech, this website is one of the highest ranking social media sites of our time. https://thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/10/The-Reddit-Invasion.jpg

Facebook

2006

Now available to those in the general public, and not just a Harvard/Ivy League setting, Facebook quickly made its way to being the top social media website for users of all ages. To this day, are joining and sharing new content on the web. One new feature, is the "check in" option, which becomes available when natural disasters or major crisis occur. This feature allows for users to tell the public and their family/friends whether or not they are checked in as safe.

Instagram

2010

Becoming an instant success, Instagram had 1 million users after just two months of launching. This site allows users to share a profile of photographs, now also allowing short videos and multiple photos in one post. The use of 'tagging' is now in play, as well as creating a 'story', photo of video for your daily timeline. https://wersm.com/the-complete-history-of-instagram/

Snapchat

2011

An application which allows for photos and videos to be seen by the viewer and then disappear from the device. Originally called Pictaboo, this application not only is famous for disappearing messages, but now for timeline stories, ones which come from all around the globe and are updated daily. https://techcrunch.com/gallery/a-brief-history-of-snapchat/