For centuries, humans have interacted through handwritten letters, later through radios, & telephones. Even the postal service started in 550 B.C., much later followed by a pneumatic tube system that transmitted mail through underground pressurized air tubes. After that, telephones & radios revolutionized the way humankind communicated with each other. Although both are still in use, their modified versions are much more advanced & popular today.
From electronic information to virtual reality, the world is continuing to move forward with the dynamic emergence of Social Media. Now, users can convey important messages directly via social media networks & interact with anyone from any part of the globe. In short, social media has become a personal oasis for marketers, business owners, & many social media users.
But when was social media introduced, and how it all happened? Let’s dive into the details to learn more.
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The Emergence of Social Media
Before learning about how long has social media been around? Let’s learn about the pre-internet roots first. It all started with the invention of the Telegraph machine in 1884. Later, the ARPANET digital network, established in 1969, was the first to allow scientists to connect & share anything within their office premises.
If you are wondering when did social media start in America? Well, social media continued to progress with the launch of a more efficient network named NSFNET by NSF in 1979. Almost a decade later, Andrew Weinreich launched Six Degrees -the first social networking site. With the emergence of reliable internet, services like CompuServe, America Online, & Prodigy introduced an email & bulletin-board messaging service. The uprising of social media platforms enabled millions of users to create their email accounts for online chat sessions.
After emailing system, in 1999, the booming era of blogging started when an active user published a ‘LiveJournal’ on a site. With this, more blogging platforms came into existence, such as the ‘Blogger’ by Pyra Labs, which Google later purchased.
Further, in 2002, LinkedIn became the first social media platform for career-oriented individuals. LinkedIn has more than 800 million active users worldwide based on its global reach. Followed by this, Myspace also became the most visited social platform ever in 2006. Later on, Facebook grabbed more attention than Myspace, while Google joined the social media landscape in 2012 with the launch of Google+. By now, social media has become the talk of the town, offering multiple benefits to every social media user.
Social Media History
If you want to know which social media is the oldest or how many social media platforms are there in the past? We’ve compiled some of your most pivotal social media moments from history.
Let’s dive into the list right away!
Six Degrees – First Social Media Website
In 1997, the first social media website, Six Degrees, came into existence which included setting up a profile page while making connections & sending messages to them. The social media platform reached over a million users & defunct in 2000. But it made a comeback & is still a thing.
Hot or not?
In 2000, one of the social media sites, AmIHotorNot.com, influenced the users to submit their photos so other social media users could rate them based on attractiveness. Later, it was revived as a ‘game’ in 2014.
Friendster
Friendster was a dating site that helped users set up their profiles & meet their potential matches. The social media site gained more popularity in 2003. But, unfortunately, the era of Friendster ended right after its fame spiked its limits.
Myspace
After Friendster, in 2003, Myspace became millions of people’s go-to social networking site. The site gained instant popularity but only survived shortly after 2005.
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook,’ which registered thousands of people. The social platform dropped the ‘The’ & transformed into ‘Facebook’ in 2005.
In 2006, the social networking site Twitter caught the attention of many global users as Jack Dorsey made the first tweet, “Just setting up my twttr.” From Twttr to Twitter, the text message-based tool became a revolutionary social networking service.
The same year as Twitter’s arrival, LinkedIn became the first to launch its premium packages with job offerings & a subscriptions area. The social networking site was launched worldwide in 2003.
YouTube
Officially launched in 2005, YouTube’s buzz grew with time & in 2006, the social media platform gained almost 20 million users.
Tumblr
In 2007, Tumblr introduced ‘Tumblelog’ for users to publish short blog posts while customizing texts, videos, & pictures the way they want.
Instagram & Pinterest
In 2010, co-founder Mike Krieger posted his first filtered shot on Instagram, gaining a lot of attention around the globe. The following year, Pinterest became the center of attention as a social bookmarking site featuring various interests & categories.
Snapchat
In 2011, a photobook social media application called Snapchat eventually tapped into the market & amazed users with its snap-disappearing feature.
Development of Instagram
Instagram is the world’s most renowned photo & video-sharing social media platform. The application gained millions of fans quickly after its launch. Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger were the ones who came out with the idea to develop Instagram. They initially created a prototype called Burbn, which was renamed Instagram after making many thoughtful considerations. In 2010, Insta became the top photography app, with 100,000 users within a week.
Development of Facebook
It all started when a Harvard sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg, launched ‘Facebook, ‘ a social media site connecting Harvard students. The platform was quickly touted as one of the most reputed social media companies and was renamed ‘Facebook’. When social media was created, no one could imagine that an app like Facebook would have more than 2 billion users from all over the world. Previously, Mark had developed ‘FaceMash, ‘ a short-lived social network website. Later, he realized the value of creating a widespread social platform & introduced Facebook by the end of the year.
Development of Twitter
Jack Dorsey came up with allowing users to share short messages with others in 2006. However, he named it ‘Twttr,’ which was limited to his coworkers at Odeo. Later, the social media platform ‘Twitter’ was introduced to the public. The website received more than 20,000 tweets a day while the number grew rapidly & soon, more social media interactions started happening. Now, it has more than 328 million users worldwide.
How Long Will Social Media Last?
With time, social media has become an evident tool for sharing vital information locally & worldwide. It has shaped many businesses & the ways we interact with other people. Moreover, social media platforms have transformed world politics, careers, education, & more with innovation & cutting-edge technologies. It continues to impact the globe with information sharing & ability to connect anywhere & everywhere.
