The History of Social Media

Six Degrees

1997

Named after the "Six Degrees of Separation" theory which says that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else by no more than six degrees of separation. It allowed people to make individual profiles and add people to their personal networks. It launched in 1997 and lasted until 2001. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

LiveJournal

1999

One of the first blogging sites to come about. Launched in 1999. I had a LiveJournal at some point in time, but wouldn't really remember using it much. (https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media)

Xanga

Apr 4, 1999

I wanted to give this one a mention, because I used this a lot in 2003/2004 to blog my traveling adventures. I added a lot of my friends to my Xanga blog, who also used it. A lot of my friends went off to college before I did, so this was a way that we kept in touch and updated on each other. This site launched on April 4, 1999. It was basically the same concept of LiveJournal. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanga)

Friendster

2002

Launched in 2002. Users could create individual profiles and add people to their personal networks, but they could also share videos and pictures and send messages to other users as long as they were in their network. In 2011, it was made into a social gaming site that focused mainly on the gaming community. In 2015, it stopped operations and as of the first of this year, 2019, it closed completely. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

Napster

Sep 2, 2002

Launched on September 2, 2002, Napster was a popular audio sharing social network. It allowed users to share MP3 downloads. Napster ran into legal trouble due to copyright infringement and had to close. It was reopened later when it was acquired by Roxio and made into a music store. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster)

LinkedIn

Dec 28, 2002

Launched December 28, 2002. This site allows individuals to connect with professionals, schools, and businesses. It is still ranked as one of the most visited sites. I currently have a LinkedIn profile, but need to make better use of it.

MySpace

Aug 1, 2003

Launched on August 1, 2003, MySpace became the largest social media site in the world. It was first used for file storage, but then was used for social networking. It's declined in use since 2006, but is still operating today. I remember using it on my dial-up internet and having to pick that perfect profile song and ruining friendships with the "Top Friends" list. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

Facebook

Feb 4, 2004

Launched on February 4, 2004, Facebook started out as a college student only networking site. It allowed students to connect with people from their school and other schools. This was back when you would "write on your friend's wall." After 2006, it was available to anyone older than 13. In 2008, it surpassed MySpace in popularity and to this day, it is the most used form of social media. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

Twitter

Mar 21, 2006

Launched on March 21, 2006, Twitter was popular for being a microblogging site that only allowed users to "tweet" 140 character messages.This rule was amended in 2017 allowing 280 characters. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

Tumblr

2007

Launched in 2007, Tumblr was launched as a social blogging site. I pretty much would say it is similar to Twitter, but on a bigger scale. (https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media)

Foursquare

2009

Launched in 2009. This allowed mainly Facebook users to "check-in" to places they were at. If you were the person who checked in the most at any location, you were then the "mayor" of said location. Some businesses took advantage of foursquare and gave coupons for checking in. (https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media)

Instagram

Oct 6, 2010

Launched on October 6, 2010, Instagram stood out from competition because it only focused on photos and videos, allowing photos to only be square. This was changed in 2015. It is the 12th most used form of social media as of today. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

Snapchat

2011

Launched in September 2011, Snapchat allows users to send each other pictures, videos, or messages that disappear shortly after they are opened. It also allows users to post a "story" that lasts 24 hours allowing that amount of time to save the content of the story. This is a very popular form of social media among young people. (https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/)

Google+

2011

In 2011, Google launched its own social networking platform. I think Google+ would have been pretty cool if people weren't already on Facebook and used to it. Google+ has been discontinued. (https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media)