The History of Social Media (The Stuff You Didn’t Already Know)

A brief history of social media (the stuff you probably didn’t already know)

You might be familiar with David Fincher’s 2010 movie “The Social Network,” which tells the tale of the birth of Facebook. The film details how the website came about in a Harvard University dorm.

It is easy to think that is where the beginnings of social media lay.

Although Facebook has attained the pinnacle and is now the number one social media network, the flame of the social media transformation was ignited much prior to Mark Zuckerburg beginning his higher education.

The start of a revolution

The Pirates Dilemma starts with focus on a quote from punk fanzine with a diagram showing three finger positions on the neck of a guitar with the caption:

“Get out the instruments, one note at a time; create a sound, you’ve formed your own band.”

The punk movement facilitated easier music production, thus inspiring a horde of rule-breakers and artists to take on the endeavor themselves.

It caused a shift in culture, leading to less distinction between broadcasters and people that consume material (something that has only recently come to the surface of our daily lives—everyone is capable of making and distributing material).

Beginning with punk music, this type of self-produced music also moved to disco where disc jockeys in New York City joined together to create their own recordings. Later, hip-hop developed as a result of these past influences. Social media is an organic development of these groups, resulting from people’s basic need to bond and form something.

Dave Allen — the original bassist for post-punk band Gang of Four and digital strategist explains further at Fast Company:

“The punk rock ethos allows anyone to pick up an instrument and pound on it and put themselves out there. We had something to say and we found a way to say it. Today you can have something to say online and that is punk rock, your instrument can be your computer.”

Just as disco and hip-hop have become part of popular culture, so has social media and its impact. The expansion of social media has been incredibly rapid, but it wasn’t an overnight success.

The first ‘social network’

Since the inception of the Internet, social media has advanced. Since 1971 when the first email was introduced, up until 1995 when GeoCities made it possible for users to build their own individual websites, such communication services as Usenet developed in 1979.

It is generally thought that Six Degrees is the initial social networking platform.

According to Wikipedia:

“It was named after the six degrees of separation concept and allowed users to list friends, family members and acquaintances both on the site and externally; external contacts were invited to join the site. Users could send messages and post bulletin board items to people in their first, second, and third degrees, and see their connection to any other user on the site.”

In 1997, Six Degrees was created and developed to include approximately 3,500,000 registered members before being sold to YouthStream Media Networks for $125 million in 1999.

So why aren’t we using Six Degrees today?

At lot of it has to do with timing. In 1997, the infrastructure of the web was not really suitable for social networking and although the site had millions of members, its growth was limited as a result of the small number of people with access to the Internet.

Friendster

Friendster was created in 2002 and achieved a maximum of one hundred million users at its height. With numerous difficulties and attempts to renovate, the doors to Friendster finally shut on June 14, 2015.

The website served as the introduction to the world of online social networking for many people, however, like with many other social networks before and after that, it did not become a part of users’ regular habits and eventually users departed when newer, more attractive social networks emerged.

Myspace

Between 2005 and 2008, Myspace was the most well-known social media website in the world and even outdid Google in June of 2006 in popularity in the U.S.

In May 2008, Facebook surpassed Myspace and since then Myspace has been attempting to revitalize itself and catch up.

In 2006, Twitter was founded by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.

Twitter is a social media network that enables its users to post quick updates, often referred to as “tweets”. Until 2017, the maximum number of characters that could be included in a tweet was 140. Now it’s double – at 280. This character limit is Twitter’s trademark trait.

People love Twitter. Performers, singers, television presenters, public figures, and writers appear to utilize their profiles to the fullest. Interacting with one’s most-loved celebrities in this manner was something that had never happened prior to the introduction of this social media platform. This option is part of what makes Twitter shine. Twitter is also used as an online news platform. Hashtags and the ‘Trending’ page can be employed to observe the the most discussed hash tags all over the globe. Twitter’s hashtags have enabled news to reach people everywhere in a quicker manner than TV and newspapers can. Nowadays, the majority of news networks obtain their information primarily from Twitter and other social media platforms.

Social media has had an impact on news outlets as well.

Speaking of microblogging, we can’t just pass Tumblr.

Tumblr is a combination of a microblogging website and a social media network. David Karp founded it in 2007. This gave people the ability to set up their own blogs and upload photos, videos, and written material. Tumblr has a very blogger-like atmosphere, but its user interface is equivalent to Facebook’s.

This spot rapidly turned into a congregation point for individuals from contrasting fan bases. Groups of individuals on the internet dedicated to certain topics, such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Taylor Swift, and so on, are known as fandoms. Through Tumblr, fans can post artwork, stories, videos, and discuss their opinions and ideas on the topic of their followings.

Among those who post on Tumblr, one will find prominent figures such as Taylor Swift and acclaimed writers like Neil Gaiman. The platform attracts people from all walks of life.

Due to the great deal (and diversity) of sensual material accessible on Tumblr, the site has been forbidden in China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Iran. Quite the record in the history of social media.

Since Verizon Media purchased Tumblr in 2017, they initiated a censoring program, prohibiting sexually explicit photographs and GIFs.

Social media really does offer everything, huh?

Now that we have discussed photos, let’s go through the history of social media networks and talk about Instagram and Snapchat.

It’s an Instagrammable World

Such occurrences are infrequent that the designation of a social media platform becomes part of everyday vocabulary. But Instagram managed to achieve that.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger were the originators of the project which came to fruition in the year 2010. Ever since its popularity has been growing steadily. It is now thought of as an important member of the prestigious trio of social networks, along with Facebook and Twitter.

Even though Facebook acquired it in 2012, nobody views them as a single entity. Besides, they don’t really serve the same purpose.

Instagram’s idea is simple. Users share photos and videos on their personal profiles. Nothing new here so far.

They can, however, can edit content with various filters. People organize photos via locations and hashtags. You can use those hashtags to search for comparable content.

Instagram has also taken care of the basics. Individuals have the ability to express approval of other people’s profiles, leave remarks, and send personal messages. People can subscribe to one another’s accounts so that their posts will appear in the feed of those who follow them. Instagram has a feature analogous to Facebook’s newsfeed, which is known as the “feed”.

Instagram unveiled stories, enabling users to post pictures and videos that expire after one day. This feature was created in response to Instagram’s rival, Snapchat.

Wait, wait.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat could be characterized as a “multi-media messaging application”. In 2011, Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown were responsible for the introduction of the product.

It’s akin to a chat program but simply using photos and videos. They appear for a brief amount of time, before vanishing forever. On Snapchat, there are “Stories” which are available for a full day, unlike other pieces of content.

One of the most popular filters is the one with the puppy ears. It appears to be a widely popular choice amongst users.

Google determined to take action for themselves since there was a huge commotion around social media.

Thus, Google+ was born.

Google+ and Why It Failed

Vic Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz initiated Google+ in 2011. Folks anticipated that it would be the next big trend in social media.

It wasn’t.

Social media has had its ups and downs throughout its history, and this is an example of a setback.

It could be that the issue was that it was too analogous to Facebook. On Google+, one had the ability to assign particular contacts or groups of contacts to specific “circles” and then selectively share information with any of those circles. Pretty much the same as Facebook’s friend lists.

Maybe it was the lack of a mobile app. Apps from both Facebook and Twitter provide a streamlined user experience on mobile devices. Google launched an app for Google+ at one point, however it couldn’t contend with Facebook.

Perhaps it was because no one was utilizing it. Why would anyone switch to a more expensive alternative if they already had access to Facebook for free?

The platform has been closed down due to an infiltration of security. It did not achieve the targets that were outlined by the company.

Well then.

That was quite the journey, wasn’t it? From BBS to Facebook, quite a lot has changed.

The evidence provided by this timeline indicates that social media has definitely become a necessity in our lives.

What kills a social network

It is estimated that there are numerous explanations for why social networks decrease in popularity. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology conducted a study of networks such as Friendster and Myspace in order to determine what factors can lead to the demise of a social network.

As explained over at Wired:

“They found that when the time and effort (the costs) associated with being a member of a social network outweigh the benefits, then a decline in users becomes likely. If one person leaves, their friends become more likely to leave and as more people leave, this can lead to a cascading collapse in membership.”

While Friendster and Myspace boasted millions of users, the connections between them were fairly weak. A large portion of users had not built a lot of relationships and did not feel as connected to the networks.

On the decline of a network, David Garcia, a professor with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology explains:

At first, the people living in the outer cores of the network begin to depart, reducing the advantages that the inner cores offer. This begins a chain reaction towards the core users, leading eventually to the network’s dissolution.

Why Facebook became the #1 social network in the World

Facebook is now the number one platform in the social media industry, boasting approximately 1.49 billion monthly users.

One could produce a comprehensive text detailing the fast development of Facebook into the leading social network of the present, but I will make the attempt to condense it into a couple of sentences.

Being real

Facebook was the first social network that encouraged you to use your real name instead of a nickname or pseudonym as Mike Jones explains:

“MySpace put up barriers to user enjoyment by forcing members to use anonymous pseudonyms in place of their real identities. Facebook, on the other hand, encouraged members to actually use their real names; once this behavior was ingrained in the public, and people saw that it wasn’t the huge risk it was made out to be, Facebook took off and never looked back. This significant difference between the two social networking sites proved to be a huge game changer in the two companies’ experiences.”

Willingness to change

As Facebook gained popularity, they embraced the adage of “act quickly and take chances”. Applying this philosophy is a big factor in why Facebook became so successful compared to its rivals.

Facebook has never been static and they have consistently embraced making daring modifications to their platform.

Some key milestones:

September 2004: The Wall, allows users and their friends to post and share content to each others’ profiles.
September 2006: Newsfeed is introduced — now users can see what their friends are doing on Facebook.
January 2012: The timeline style profile is launched for all users.

Introducing the Newsfeed

The Facebook Newsfeed has been a major contributor to the platform’s achievement. In the early days of social networks (pre-Newsfeed days on Facebook), users had to actively look for content posted by their connections.

Content, updates, and conversations from one’s friends are highlighted on the Newsfeed, giving Facebook a truly social atmosphere.

Nowadays, a world without social media is unimaginable.

They are like diaries anyone can access. Individuals often post on social media about their personal issues, photos of their midday meals, as well as videos of their felines nearly every day. They constantly chat with their friends and families. It’s an excellent way to stay connected and inform others about what is happening in your life.

Social networks have also turned into news channels. Members of the younger demographic, in particular, get the bulk of their news and content from social media outlets.

Many marketers utilize social media as the central focus of their promotional tactics.