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Breakthrough Apps for Plato
In 1973, 3 different apps were created for the University of Illinois' PLATO system. The first one, Talkomatic was created as a multi-user chat room application. Also, TERM-Talk was created as an instant-messaging application enabling any two users on the PLATO system to conduct a live, character-by-character typed conversation.
Finally, PLATO Notes was created as a conferencing and bulletin board forum system for communicating with the user community. -
DCT Compression Technique Invented
The discrete cosine transform (DCT) compression technique is proposed by Nasir Ahmed. It has since become the most widely used data compression algorithm on social media, enabling the practical transmission and streaming of digital media. It is the basis for most media compression standards, including digital image formats such as JPEG , video coding formats such as H.26x and MPEG, and audio compression standards such as Dolby Digital and MP3. -
The Internet
ARPANET evolved into the Internet following the publication of the first Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) specification, RFC 675 (Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program), written by Vint Cerf, Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine. -
Bulletin Board System
Bulletin Board System (BBS) emerges as one of the earliest known forms of social media, and remains popular and under development until the late 1990s. -
LunarStorm- The first Social Media on the Internet
The Swedish social networking website LunarStorm, originally called Stajlplejs, is launched in 1996. The site, founded by Rickard Eriksson, was renamed LunarStorm in 2000 and has been described as "the world's first social media on the Internet" by the founder. -
SixDegrees
SixDegrees was one of the first social media sites popular in the US and had over 1 million users. -
Hot or Not
Hot or Not was a site that invited users to submit photos of themselves so others could rate their attractiveness. The site is rumored to have influenced the creators of Facebook and YouTube. -
Friendster
A dating app that allowed people to connect with friends of friends and post how they were feeling. -
Myspace
Myspace was probably the most popular social media before Facebook. It allowed users to have public profiles. -
Facemash
This precursor to Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University. -
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the major business orientated social networking site. -
Facebook
Facebook, originally "The Facebook", has gone on to be perhaps the most prolithic social media site of all. -
Youtube
Youtube is unique in that it focuses solely on videos, generally of substantial length, as opposed to social media like TikTok and Vine that featured much shorter videos. It also allows Youtubers to partner with them and earn money. -
Reddit
Reddit is a site that allows users to join niche communities and share and discuss news related to that topic. -
Twitter
Created by Jack Dorsey, Twitter is now synonymous with people like Donald Trump, who use it to tweet out official statements, as well as get in arguments. -
The Hashtag
The hashtag on Twitter was launched in 2007 and has been very helpful in spreading mass movements such as the #metoo movement, and many more. -
Tumblr
Fairly similar to Twitter, Tumblr allows for micro-blogging. It was created by David Karp at 17 years old. -
Weibo
Weibo is one of the most popular sites in China, and was created as a replacement the year that Twitter and Facebook were banned in the country. -
Grindr
The first geosocial networking app for dating geared towards gay and bisexual men, helping them meet other men nearby. -
Instagram
The app that mainstreamed filters. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012. -
Pinterest
Pinterest allows users to save or "pin" items, crafts, recipes, etc for later. It also connects to shops. -
Snapchat
Snapchat users send pictures and short videos that disappear after 24 hours. Users can also use it for messaging. -
Tinder
Tinder is the most popular dating app. It has had a huge impact on dating as a whole. -
Discord
Discord is social media for gamers. Many games now feature online play, and so Discord allows gamers to find eachother. -
TikTok
Tik Tok is one of the newest social media, and was almost banned by the US in 2020, just like how Facebook and Twitter were banned in China.