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Bulletin Board System (BBS)
The original Pinterest! Functions: uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through email, public message boards, and sometimes via direct chatting. https://youtu.be/d-8PYjqrFFc -
Usenet
The idea of network news was born in 1979 when two graduate students, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, thought of using UUCP to connect machines for the purpose of information exchange among users. They set up a small network of three machines in North Carolina. Function: Posts news to newsgroups similar to a discussion forum. -
Compuserve
First online chat was introduced. Function: In the 80's, people were familiar with citizens band radio (CB radio) but multi-user chat and instant messaging were largely unknown. CompuServe CB used the CB radio paradigm to help users understand the new concept. Like CB radio it had 40 "channels" and commands like "tune", "squelch", and "monitor." https://youtu.be/YfUyR1wlcus -
Prodigy Ccommunications Corporation
Pioneered online portals and online news. Functions: offered its subscribers access to a broad range of networked services, including news, weather, shopping, bulletin boards, games, polls, expert columns, banking, stocks, travel, and a variety of other features. -
Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
File sharing, link sharing, keeping in touch. Functions: group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and data transfer, including file sharing. https://youtu.be/LU-YNU9UawA -
ICQ "I Seek You"
Multi user messaging, multiplayer games, made emoticons and abbreviations like LOL and BRB famous. Function: instant messaging computer program https://www.buzzfeed.com/conzpreti/things-people-who-grew-up-with-icq-will-understand?utm_term=.xtgZX6z4k#.lbnqV0A9O -
Six Degrees
Begins to resemble our modern social media-functions that allow you to create a profile and add friends. Functions: send messages and post bulletin board items to people in their first, second, and third degrees, and see their connection to any other user on the site. https://youtu.be/mMqRhaFNuh8 -
Live Journal
Introduced dynamic content on blogs and forum, allows users to create groups and interact. Functions: journals, blogging, social commentary, etc. https://youtu.be/wq0YmQ4xIeU -
Wikipedia
The online free encyclopedia was launched! Where I looked up much of this information :P -
Friendster
The "grandfather" of social networking. It allowed users to contact other members, maintain those contacts, and share online content and media with those contacts. Functions: dating and discovering new events, bands and hobbies. Users could share videos, photos, messages and comments with other members via profiles and networks https://youtu.be/7mFJdOsjJ0k -
Hi5
One of the major social networking sites (behind Myspace and Facebook) Functions: friend networks, photo sharing, user groups, and status updates. In a 2009 redesign, hi5 added a number of features oriented toward gaming and entertainment https://youtu.be/nUYHF3U_Pgw -
Myspace
Functions: an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos -
The Facebook
Only available to Harvard students. Functions: the site was comparable to Hot or Not and used "photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the 'hotter' person" https://youtu.be/mMza_aZuze8 -
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Reddit
Entertainment and networking platform. Functions: submit content (text posts or direct links) & vote submissions up or down to determine their position on the site's pages. Submissions with the most positive votes appear on the main page or the top of a category. Entries are organized by areas of interest called "subreddits". The topics include news, gaming, movies, music, books, fitness, food, and photosharing, among many others. https://youtu.be/tlI022aUWQQ -
Twitter
Functions: online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them https://youtu.be/lfhS7meOZJw -
Facebook
Open to everyone 13 and up. Functions: users can create a user profile, add other users as "friends", exchange messages, post status updates and photos, share videos, use various apps, and receive notifications when others update their profiles. https://youtu.be/ewlC5p851KE -
Tumblr
Microblogging platform and social networking website. Functions: Users can follow other users' blogs, as well as make their blogs private. https://youtu.be/o3DEtTI2I48 -
WhatsApp
Function: text messages, documents, images, video, user location and audio messages to other users https://youtu.be/mhnFh1MGx4w -
Snapchat
Image messaging and multimedia mobile application. Functions: private messaging and public content, including brand networks, publications, and live events such as sports and music https://youtu.be/dYlqCCl-d8w -
Vine
A short-form video sharing service where users can share six-second-long looping video clips. Bat Dad vines:
https://youtu.be/7JKG7NzNGbI
