-
The Creation of the First Bulletin Board System (BBS)
Created by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, the Computerized Bulletin Board System (CBBS) was the first bulletin board system, and thus the first abstract concept of social media as users could share created content with each other via a landline connection between computers. -
Release of Usenet (User's Network)
Usenet, or User's Network, was a very early precursor to internet forums. Usenet was developed separately from BBSs as it lacked a central server and hosting provider, which BBSs used, and rather ran locally between peered (connected) computers. -
Adoption of the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol).
-
The Creation of FidoNet
Created by Tom Jennings, FidoNet, an advanced network of BBSs which ran over modems, marked an advancement in early social media as it gained much popularity in the mid 1980s into early 1990s, accumulating a user base of somewhere between 500,000-3 million users during its peak popularity. -
Creation of The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (The WELL)
The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), created by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant, was one of the first major BBS networks, and among the most influential social networks of the era that paved the way for modern forms of social media. Further, it is also one of the oldest virtual communities as it converted over to the World Wide Web in 1992-1993, and is still accessible at well.com. -
Widespread use of 2400 Baud Modems
With the release of 2400 baud modems, which could operate at a speed of 240 bytes per second, it became feasible for BBSs implementing a GUI to become available to the public. -
The Creation of COCONET, the First BBS with a GUI (Graphical User Interface)
Created by Coconut Computing, Inc., COCONET was the first BBS system to operate with a GUI, allowing users to more easily communicate with each other compared to the text-only interfaces supplied with previous BBS systems. Additionally, it allowed users to view uploaded images within the GUI, rather then requiring them to download the file to their system in order to view it. -
Creation of IRC (Interent Relay Chat)
IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, was a new protocol that allowed users to send text-based messages to each other over an internet relay. -
Release of the World Wide Web to the Public
The World Wide Web was released to the public, paving the way for modern day, web-based, social media networks. -
MP3 File Format
The MP3 file format was developed and released in Germany in 1991, paving the way for later use of the files in sharing audio files including music on social media platforms. -
Founding of Classmates.com
Classmates.com, founded by Randy Conrads, was one of the first social networks on the World Wide Web. While it did not encompass a way of chatting with other users, the website allowed high school and alumni to find each other via a directory of alumni email addresses that could be accessed by signing up for their service. -
Introduction of Broadband Internet to Consumers
Broadband internet, operating on DSL and cable rather than dial up technology, provided immense improvements in internet speeds and stability, paving the way for further advances in social media. -
Release of Six Degrees
Six Degrees is generally considered the first social media site to contain features similar to those in modern day social media platforms, such as allowing users to create a user profile and privately message friends through an integrated messaging system. -
Release of the Wi-Fi Protocol
With the release of the Wi-Fi Protocol, users could connect to the internet on their computers without the need of cables or a tethered connection. -
Release of the Apple iMac G3
The Apple iMac G3 was one of the first computers to natively support broadband internet service. -
Release of the iBook G3
The iBook G3 was the first computer to support Wi-Fi. -
Introduction of the COPPA Act (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act)
The COPPA Act implemented guidelines for technology companies, including social media platforms, regarding the collection and protection of user data from children under the age of 13. -
Release of 3G Networks
With the release of 3G mobile networks, users could access the internet, and thus social media platforms, outside their homes and later from almost any place in the world. It was the precursor to 4G and later 5G mobile networks which both provided substantial improvements to connection speeds. -
Release of Friendster
Friendster, founded by Jonathan Abrams, was one of the most popular social media platforms in the early 2000s, marking the first platform that encompassed a mass user base. However, due to its slim feature set, it was later drowned out by Facebook's upbringing which eventually led to its demise. -
Release of LinkedIn
LinkedIn, created by Reid Hoffman and his co-founders, is a social media platform oriented towards business use that gained much popularity by the early 2010s. It was one of the first business-oriented social media platforms. -
Release of MySpace
MySpace, founded by Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, was the first social media network to reach users on an international scale. The site largely focused on music and file sharing, but later expanded to a more diverse social media platform. In recent years, after accepting defeat from Facebook's upbringing, the site has decreased in popularity and is now read-only. -
Release of Facebook
Originally called "TheFacebook," Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg along with his roommates at Harvard University. The site quickly gained popularity by the late 2000s, surpassing that of MySpace in 2007, and is still currently the most widely used social media platform globally. -
Release of Reddit
Founded by roommates at the University of Virginia, Reddit quickly gained popularity in the late 2000s to early 2010s as a collection of communities, coined subreddits, that one could join and participate in. It has grown into a more community-oriented social media platform compared to other platforms -
Release of YouTube
YouTube, founded by three former PayPal employees, was the first mass social media platform for the sharing of videos between users. It is currently still the most widely used social media platform for the sharing and viewing of user created videos. -
Release of Twitter
Twitter, created by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, quickly gained popularity through its simplistic design and quick posting feature, coined as tweeting. -
Google Buys YouTube
Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. -
Release of the First iPhone
The first generation of the iPhone, coined as the iPhone 2G, was the first smartphone to use a touchscreen, rather than a keyboard, and encompass many functions only previously implemented in full fledged PCs. It combined the features of the iPod, a phone, and an internet enabled device. -
Facebook Introduces Communitiy Standards and Content Moderation
-
Release of the First Android Smartphone
The release of the first Android phone, the HTC Dream, was the first competitor to the iPhone, implementing many of the same features as the original iPhone, with the addition of a physical flip-out keyboard. -
Period: to
AI is Slowly Integrated into Social Media Platforms
Over the course of the last 15 years, AI has slowly been integrated into various social media platforms. This started with Facebook's adoption of AI in the early 2010s with features like Facebook's DeepFace system. Since then, many social media platforms have also deeply integrated their platforms with AI. -
Release of Pinterest
Founded by Ben Silbermann, Evan Sharp, and Paul Sciarra, Pinterest is a social media platform encompassing an endless virtual bulletin board of user-created content mainly revolving around photos. -
Release of GoFundMe
Originally named "CreateAFund," GoFundMe was one of the first social media platforms that was centralized around fundraising. -
Release of Instagram
Instagram, first released on the Apple App Store and created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, was one of the first social media platforms to popularize mobile photography and the sharing of it over social media. -
Release of Messenger
Released as a separate app from Facebook, Messenger was created by Mark Zuckerberg as an instant messaging service. -
Release of Snapchat
Snapchat, created by students at Stanford University, is a mobile-first social media platform that gained popularity in the mid 2010s. -
Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion
-
The word "Hashtag" is Added to the Dictionary
Due to the widespread use of "hashtags" on social media, the term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as a recognized word. -
Social Media Trend in AR Filters
Starting with the platform Snapchat, the use of AR (Augmented Reality) filters and stickers became a widely used feature in many social media platforms. -
Social Media Influencers Started Gaining Popularity
The act of being a social media influencer started gaining popularity in the mid-2010s primarily due to the rise in popularity of Instagram. -
Release of TikTok
Created by Zhang Yiming, TikTok is a social media platform where users create and share short-form videos. The platform gained immense popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and was a major contributor to the popularity of short-form content -
Facebook Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal
Facebook faced significant legal trouble in 2018 due to the findings of a political consultancy firm obtaining personal data from Facebook users without their consent. This lead to much controversy over Facebook's personal data handling practices and a $5 billion fine given to Facebook by the FTC. -
Introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Act
The GDPR act, enforced for all companies operating in Europe, introduced a set of rules on the acquisition, storage, use, and access of personal data. This directly effected all social media companies operating in Europe by requiring them to implement transparency policies and requiring explicit user consent prior to collecting personal data. -
Enforcement of the CCP Act (California Consumer Privacy Act)
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) granted California residents the rights to know what data was collected from them, along with the use of this data and its deletion. All social media platforms had to change their data collection policies during this time to comply with this act. -
TikTok Ban in U.S.
As it was seen as a security threat to the U.S. for being potentially in affiliation with the Chinese government, President Donald Trump proposed a ban of the social media platform in the U.S. The ban was later passed with the exception of if TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, would sell the platform to an investor in the U.S by January 19th of 2025. President Donald Trump later extended this deadline. -
Instagram Releases "Reels"
Instagram Reels, a collection of user-created short-form videos, was released to compete with TikTok. -
YouTube Releases Shorts
YouTube released "Youtube Shorts," an implementation of short-form video content. It was mainly created to compete with TikTok. -
Trend in Sharing and Creation of AI-Generated Content on Social Media
The sharing of AI-Generated content on social media became quite popular nearing the end of 2022. This has somewhat contributed to the issue of fake content on social media platforms, as content such as deepfakes could be created and shared with minimal effort. -
Facebook Releases "Reels" Feature
Facebook Reels was released as a feature within the Facebook platform that encompasses a collection of short-form videos, primarily created to rival TikTok. -
Facebook's Parent Company Rebrands to Meta
-
Elon Musk Buys Twitter for $44 Billion
-
Release of Threads
Created by Meta, Facebook's parent company, Threads is a social media platform that shares many similarities to Twitter, now called X. It was created mainly to compete with X. -
Rebranding of Twitter to X
