-
Sixdegrees.com
Sixdegrees.com is what many consider to be the first social networking site. It was based on the concept of always being “six degrees of separation” from other people. It would allow you to talk to people and find other people in your various “degrees”. The type of approach sixdegrees took to social networking laid the foundation for other companies like Friendster, LinkedIn, and Facebook.- Tyler Hapney -
The launch of Friendster
Friendster starts its servers in March of 2003, five months before MySpace would launch. It would take nearly a year for MySpace to overtake Friendster in 2004. While short lived, Friendster was extremely popular at the time and remained popular in the eastern hemispheres until its dissolution in 2018.- Tyler Hapney -
MySpace was launched
On the 1st of August, 2003, MySpace launched and over the course of two years would eventually manage to overtake all other social networking sites. It would serve as a monolith of social media until being dethroned by Facebook and eventually being sold off and fading to the wayside as Facebook took over.-Tyler Hapney -
The Facebook
Originally titled FaceMash, Mark Zuckerberg officially changed it to TheFacebook during early 2004. Originally used as a social network for Harvard students, its influence eventually grew to other universities before eventually changing to “Facebook” in 2005 and becoming fully public in 2006. From there, the rest is history–Facebook is one of the most popular social media apps today.- Tyler Hapney -
YouTube launched
YouTube launched in February of 2005 and swiftly grew into the primary video sharing website on the internet. YouTube, bought by Google, is the second most visited website on the internet after Google’s own search engine. YouTube has been the birthplace of countless online trends and has sustained multiple creators through its almost eighteen years of activity.- Tyler Hapney -
Twitter was created
Twitter launched publicly in July of 2006, and by 2012 was one of the top ten most regularly visited websites. Twitter stood out because of its required message brevity that would require users to make posts in 140 characters or less. This was eventually doubled in 2017 and as of now stands to be increased again under Twitter’s new ownership.- Tyler Hapney -
Instagram officially launches
The photo and video sharing social media platform Instagram was officially launched. The app allows users to upload personal videos and pictures to a personal profile where they can be viewed by other users. Users can follow each other, like each others posts, and share content with each other.- Sarah Oschman -
Snapchat launches
Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy launch snapchat as the re-launch of their previously failed app Picaboo which focused on the idea of sending a photo and then disappearing.- Baylee Vought -
Yik Yak is released
Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, graduates of Furman University, South Carolina started this project as a hobby. In 2013, they officially released the app that lets you create anonymous threads called “Yaks” where users within five miles could create and react to “Yaks.”- Baylee Vough -
Musical.ly was officially launched
This social media platform allows users to create, share, and discover user-created video-based content. The app provides users with tools to edit videos by cropping clips, adding filters, among others.- Sarah Oschman -
The launch of Instagram live
Instagram launches its Live Video feature which allows users to broadcast live on their profiles for up to one hour. Other Instagram users are able to join these live videos and interact with the user by commenting on the stream.- Sarah Oschman -
Youtube launches Youtube TV
YouTube launches its streaming service to select markets in the US. YouTube TV partnered with broadcast networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox to provide comprehensive national coverage.- Baylee Vought -
TikTok is officially launched
ByteDance Ltd, a chinese technology company, acquires Musical.ly Inc and merges into TikTok. TikTok is a social media app centered around short form videos. Users are able to view a personally curated “For You Page” based on their interactions with posts, and can also create their own videos to share on the app.- Sarah Oschman -
BeReal App released
BeReal app developed by Alexis Barreyat, a previous employee of GoPro, and Kevin Perreau releases.- Baylee Vought -
Creator Fund is launched on TikTok
They launched the Creator Fund of $200 million which was designed as a way to support the growth of creators monetarily.- Sarah Oschman -
Elon Musk owns Twitter
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, completes his acquisition of Twitter after being the largest shareholder with a 9.1% ownership stake. After finalizing ownership, he fired top executives and laid off half of the twitter staff.- Baylee Vought