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6 Degrees
SixDegrees.com, the first social networking site, was created by Andrew Weinreich. On this website, you were able to create a profile, add friends, and message each other privately. Users could also post on other
people's “bulletin boards”
(Sophie W) -
Hot or Not
James Hong and Jim Young, launched this historic pillar of dysmorphia-inducing dating apps called "Hot or Not". This website allowed users to upload photos of themselves so other users could rate them on a scale of 1-10. We see the DNA of this website today in instant gratification dating apps like Tinder, Grindr, and Bumble.
(Sophie W) -
MySpace
Chris Dewolfe and Tom Anderson founded this uncanny-valley hellscape. MySpace would birth from its wretched womb what we call, "influencers". E-Celebs such as Jeffrey Starr and Tila Tequila rose to fame using this website. Myspace consisted of posting on your wall, uploading photos/music, and chatting. Customizing your wall was key to having the perfect profile. Bonus points if you spent countless hours learning HTML to give your wall the live wallpaper it deserved.
(Sophie W) -
FaceMash
Prolific misogynist Mark Zuckerberg may not be known for his epic pranks, but that is how he described his first website, Facemash. After illegally hacking into Harvard university’s online directories and obtaining I.D photos of female students, users could vote between two students to deem which was hotter. This showcases his first (and certainly not last) scandal regarding privacy and mental health.
(Sophie W) -
The Facebook
After escaping expulsion, or any real consequence, Zuckerberg launched The Facebook. Originally, this site was for Harvard students to connect with each other. This led to Zuckerberg being sued by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss who previously hired him to work on their Harvard-exclusive social media idea, ConnectU. What a totally random coincidence.
(Sophie W) -
Youtube
Before relentlessly targeted ads and sponsored content Youtube was a place for video-sharing, creativity, and poorly aged skits founded by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. Youtube's first-ever video was uploaded and titled, "Me at the Zoo" which was filmed by, Jawed Karim. This website coined the term "Youtuber" giving anyone the possibility to become a celebrity.
(Sophie W) -
Facebook
Actual lizard person Mark Zuckerberg may not be the person who told your great Aunt Debrah Obama was coming to take her guns, but he did launch the website where she read it at! 2006 was the year Facebook dropped "the" from its title and became public for anyone over the age of 13. Users could chat, post on their page, and upload photos/videos.
(Carter H) -
Twitter
Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. Originally proposed as a short message service where users could send small blog-like updates with friends, it has since grown into the most popular social media platform now owned by Elon Musk (who later went on to comb through messages in Twitter’s internal chat platform and make a list of employees who were insubordinate then fired them through email).
(Carter H) -
Tumblr
David Karp founded the microblogging site, hosting text posts, images, GIFs, and videos; users could highly customize their "dashboards" or homepages. Tumblr is most well-known for housing every type of online subculture, and a search page designed to lead you down an internet rabbit hole.
(Carter H) -
Instagram
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched this app with the primary focus to feature photographs. The success of Instagram is highly credited to the fact that it was launched around the same time as the iPhone 4 and the game-changing front camera. Instagram has since been acquired by Facebook, and truly become an influencer factory, generating the term, "Instagram Model".
(Carter H) -
Snapchat
Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown, former students at Stanford University, created an app to send photos that would eventually disappear. This feature makes it easier for teens to engage in bullying, abuse, and other inappropriate behavior. "Snapchat Dysmorphia" is a body-image disorder characterized by the need to heavily edit one's own digital image with Snapchats many face filters. Experts say there is a direct link between social media filters and lower self-esteem.
(Carter H) -
Musical.ly
Musical.ly was the TikTok that never caught on. This app perfectly encapsulates what it was like to be a preteen in 2014, leading the hoard of tone-deaf trends waging war on naive "muser's" self-esteem. Possibly because there were no age requirements to join, Musical.ly's main demographic was elementary-middle schoolers uploading dance routines, lip-syncing videos, and the "don't judge me challenge" (where you judge a stereotypically ugly person before they cut them actually being hot!)
(A.C) -
Dashcon
Before the disaster that was Fyre Fest, Dashcon held the title of the most poorly planned convention ever. The event was meant to be a celebration of various Tumblr fandoms, cosplaying, and even a ball pit (now a sad half-deflated symbol of failure). When attendees arrived they were instead met with canceled panels due to poor organization and wildly overambitious management. Did I mention a 17-year-old was put in charge of DashCon’s social media and “on-site logistics”?
(Carter H) -
TikTok
TikTok hosts user-submitted videos ranging in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. Often referred to as a "less creative Vine", TikTok is also famous for the detrimental tolls it takes on children and teen users. From its addiction-inducing algorithm to alarming privacy concerns, it's no wonder the country it was conceived in banned this ticking time bomb.
(Anthony C) -
Byte Dance acquired Musical.ly
Byte Dance was a social networking organization founded by Zhang Yiming that acquired a lot of smaller organizations such as Musical.ly
(Anthony C) -
BeReal
This French social media app was developed by Alexis Barreyat and Kevin Perreau. Users are notified to capture and share a photo during the same 2-minute period every day. While everyone receives the push notification at the same time, the time of day that notification arrives varies wildly, encouraging it's users to "be real" by taking a photo of exactly what they are doing with their front and back camera at the same time.
(Anthony C) -
Metaverse
Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook's vision to build an alternate virtual existence for individuals by employing augmented reality and virtual reality technology. You may have seen many commercials for this product but no clear idea of what it really is. We don't know either! But we do know it is possibly, maybe, supposed to become a "revolutionary" 3D space.
(Anthony C)
