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Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is invented.
It is the most widely used data compression technique and algorithm on social media. (Ex. JPEG, MP3, Dolby Digital)
Submitted by Kaitlynd Hinkle -
Circa 1980’s- Bulletin Board System (BBS) is created
It was one of the earliest forms of social media and remained popular amongst people until the last 1990’s. It was used to share or exchange messages and files on networks. People used it similar to an actual office bulletin board.
Submitted by Kaitlynd Hinkle -
Classmates.com was launched
Created as a list of school affiliations, but later it was used to help classmates, old and new, find and get a hold of one another. Ultimately used to reconnect classmates via a social networking site. Submitted by Kaitlynd Hinkle -
SixDegree.com was created.
It was a social networking site named after the six degrees of separation concept. People used this site to list their friends, relatives, and acquaintances and then used it to send messages to these people as well as post bulletin board updates to see connections. Submitted by Kaitlynd Hinkle -
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was released
AIM was one of the most popular messaging applications until the early 2010’s. It allowed uses to be able to communicate with each other in real time, like text messaging today.
Submitted by Kaitlynd Hinkle -
Yahoo Instant Messenger was launched.
It allowed users to communicate back and forth with one another in real time. They could send text, images, and videos.
Submitted by Kaitlynd Hinkle -
Hot or Not is launched
A platform where users were able to submit photos of themselves and have them rated by strangers. The idea of posting about yourself and receiving instant feedback was born.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy -
Windows Messenger
A direct messaging feature that was part of windows XP.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy -
Friendster is created
Frienster was a dating website that helps you find people through mutual friends. As you created a circle of people and built a profile you could find friends of friends of friends. Unfortunately, the site could not support its own popularity and shut down only a year after its creation.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy -
MySpace is created
Myspace is one of the most popular social media platforms of all time. Users of the now dead friendster flocked to this new platform. It was a popular site for teens at the time as you were able to create your own public profile and with pictures, videos, and textposts.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy -
LinkedIn is launched
A site geared towards businesses allowed users to create a professional online presence for networking purposes.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy -
FaceBook is created
The most popular social media platform to this day. Users have public or private profiles where they can connect with friends through posts and private messaging.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy -
twitter is established
Submitted by Rachel Kleiner -
YouTube is created
Headquartered in San Bruno, California,YouTube is an online video-sharing platform created by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim.
Submitted by Katie Martin -
Google buys YouTube
Google bought YouTube for US$1.65 billion; YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries.
Submitted by Katie Martin -
Tumblr is created
Tumblr is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. Users can follow other users' blogs. Bloggers can also make their blogs private.
Submitted by Katie Martin -
Instagram launches
Submitted by Rachel Kleiner -
Snapchat launches
Used for video sharing, allowing users to share 10 second videos.
Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Pinterest launches
A digital cork board, allowing users to pin content to categories. Submitted by Rachel Kleiner -
Tinder launches
a widely popular dating-oriented social networking service. Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Facebook goes public
valuing the company for $104B, making it the highest valuation of a newly public company.
Submitted by Rachel Kleiner -
Facebook acquires Instagram
Submitted by Rachel Kleiner -
Vine launches
Submitted by Rachel Kleiner -
Myspace re-launches
coming out with a re- designed website, and a mobile app.
Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Musical.ly is created
Created as a lip syncing app. Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Periscope is launched
Submitted by Dorothy Fleming -
Instagram launches “Stories”
Created to compete with SnapChat. Submitted by Dorothy Fleming -
Twitter doubles the character limit from 140 to 280 characters
A feature thousands of users had been asking for.
Submitted by Dorothy Fleming -
Vine is shutdown
Submitted by Dorothy Fleming -
TikTok launches
Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Yahoo! Messenger shuts down
Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Musical.ly shuts down
Submitted by Lauren Kujath -
Google+ shuts down
due to low user engagement
Submitted by Dorothy Fleming
