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The History of the Internet and Social Media

  • ARPANET is Created

    ARPANET is Created
    In response to the Cold War, the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) began developing the first packet-switching network to link computers across geographical distance in the late 1960's. This network, known as ARPANET, linked computers at four universities together and became the first form of the internet as we know it. Click Here to watch a video on the history of ARPANET
  • First Email is Sent

    First Email is Sent
    Computer Engineer Ray Tomlinson modified existing programs to send messages to people rather than machines. He introduced the "@" sign as a way to distinguish between messages being sent to local machines and those being sent across the ARPANET. This is known as the first e-mail.
  • Bulletin Board System is Created

    Bulletin Board System is Created
    Based on the corkboard in their office, Ward Christensen and Randy Suess developed the first Bulletin Board System (BBS) in Chicago, Illinois. This system created a way for users to connect to a network of phone lines and exchange posts about a variety of topics. This became a hobby for ordinary people rather than just researchers. BBS was the precursor for Dial-Up Internet.
  • Dial-Up Internet Becomes Available

    Dial-Up Internet Becomes Available
    Researchers began working on the system now known as Dial-Up Internet in the 1980's. Sprint was the first company to offer this service commercially, allowing the general public internet connection in their homes for the first time.
  • The World Wide Web Opens Browsing to Everyone

    The World Wide Web Opens Browsing to Everyone
    Researchers began developing websites in 1991; however, the World Wide Web was not initially available to the public. When it eventually did launch to the public, the World Wide Web made accessing the internet easy and opened internet browsing to everyone. The concept of a graphical browser, server, URL, and website were born. Did you know the World Wide Web and the Internet are two different things? Click here to learn more.
  • Amazon is Launched

    Amazon is Launched
    E-commerce giant Amazon was initially launched as a web-based book store by Jeff Bezos. It gradually began to expand its offerings and became known as "The Everything Store." Its expansion led to it becoming one of the largest and most well-known sites to date.
  • Social Media is Born

    Social Media is Born
    Widely regarded as the first social media networking site, Six Degrees was founded by Andrew Weinreich. The website was the first to allow users to create profiles, add school affiliations, and manage friends lists in one place. The website had a large base of registered users; however, internet was still not available in every home.
  • Instant Messaging Debuts

    Instant Messaging Debuts
    ICQ (an abbreviation for the phrase "I Seek You") became one of the first widely adopted instant messaging platforms when it was released. Other popular stand-alone instant messaging programs soon followed between 1996-1998. Programs such as AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo! Messenger, and MSN Messenger created a way for users to send messages, photos, and other files to the friends on their list instantly.
  • Google is Launched

    Google is Launched
    Students Larry Page and Sergey Brin began Google as a research project aiming to improve the way that search engines produced results. It was originally called "BackRub" and launched on Stanford University's private network. Today, Google, as part of the Alphabet company, is the second-largest technology company in the world.
  • MySpace, Facebook, and Modern Day Social Media

    MySpace, Facebook, and Modern Day Social Media
    Popular website MySpace became the first social media platform to gain true, worldwide popularity. Soon after MySpace's debut, social media site Facebook launched as a private network at Harvard University but became public the following year. This began social media as many would recognize it today. Social Media giants YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter soon followed, and by 2010, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat had all debuted. The latest widely popular app, TikTok, became available in 2016.