The historical past of social media is a protracted and storied one. It’s bursting with pivotal moments just like the launch of Instagram Tales, to that one time Zuck was on trial for Fb privateness points, to…truthfully, let’s simply take a look at all the social media historical past timeline.
So sit again, chill out, and be part of us whereas we glance again at what as soon as was the longer term.
The 33 most essential moments within the historical past of social media
The primary social media web site was born (1997)
On one of many first true social media websites, SixDegrees.com, you would arrange a profile web page, create lists of connections, and ship messages inside networks.
The positioning amassed round a million customers earlier than being purchased out for $125 million, solely to shutter in 2000.
The precise reply to “when was the primary social media web site launched” is debatable. SixDegrees was actually one in all the primary, however you must outline what a social media web site is earlier than you may say which is the primary.
For instance, the PLATO system, developed by the College of Illinois in 1970, had many options of an early social media community however was largely utilized in academia.
So, how previous is social media? It relies upon, however early social media platforms began to pop up within the late 90s to early 2000s, with the know-how budding as early because the 70s.
Sizzling or Not (2000)
Who can overlook AmIHotorNot.com? The positioning invited customers to submit pictures of themselves so others may fee their attractiveness. Sizzling or Not is rumored to have influenced the creators of Fb and YouTube and nurtured hundreds of thousands of insecurities.
After being offered off just a few instances, it’s presently rebranded because the relationship app, Chat & Date.
Friendster (2002)
Launched in 2002, Friendster was initially going to be a relationship web site that will assist arrange folks with pals in widespread. You would create a profile, embrace “standing updates,” and reveal your temper.
Sadly, the location’s spike in recognition in 2003 caught the corporate abruptly. The flood of visitors took a toll on Friendster’s servers, impacting customers, who more and more regarded to attach elsewhere.
Myspace: “A spot for pals” (2003)
Friendster rival Myspace (initially styled as MySpace) shortly turned the go-to web site for hundreds of thousands of hip teenagers.
Its customizable public profiles (which regularly featured music, movies, and badly shot, half-nude selfies) had been seen to anybody, a distinction to Friendster’s non-public profiles.
2005 marked the apex of Myspace. The positioning had 25 million customers and was the fifth hottest web site within the US when it offered to NewsCorp. And that was the beginning of its decline from ultra-trendy to ultra-tacky.
Gaining traction: LinkedIn, YouTube, and WordPress (and extra) arrive (2003-2005)
In 2003, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facemash, described as Harvard College’s reply to Sizzling or Not. “The Fb” adopted in 2004. Registering its one-millionth person that very same yr, the location turned simply “Fb” in 2005.
Across the similar time, a tidal wave of different social media websites swept ashore:
- LinkedIn emerged, concentrating on the enterprise group
- Photosharing websites like Photobucket and Flickr got here into being
- Social bookmarking websites like del.ici.ous popped up
- The now ubiquitous platform WordPress was born
- Websites for teenagers like Nexopia launched, bringing sparkly, customizable profiles with them
- Video-sharing got here onto the scene with YouTube
- Information aggregator/snark manufacturing unit Reddit arrived
Twitter hatches (2006)
Twitter (née twttr) took flight in 2006.
The primary tweet ever, posted by co-founder @Jack Dorsey learn: “simply establishing my twttr.” and actually set the tone for future tweets. Dorsey initially envisioned twttr as a textual content message-based instrument for sending updates between pals.
TechCrunch reported twttr’s first customers had been sending breaking life updates like: “Cleansing my house” and “Hungry.” (My, how instances have(n’t) modified!)
LinkedIn “within the Black” (2006)
In sharp distinction to different networks, LinkedIn was the primary to supply customers paid premium packages. Its Jobs and Subscriptions space, the location’s first premium enterprise line, helped herald income within the early days.
“So far as we’re involved, a yr of profitability is however a ‘style’ of the success we aspire to attain at LinkedIn,” mentioned social media supervisor Mario Sundar in a weblog publish lauding 2006 as LinkedIn’s first yr “within the black.”
YouTube makes companions, the OG influencers (2007)
By way of YouTube’s elephantine beginnings, the excitement grew. Between its beta stage in Might 2005 and the December 2005 launch, the location gathered practically eight million each day views. Forward of its acquisition by Google within the fall of 2006, the location grew to 100 million movies watched by 20 million devoted customers.
In Might 2007, YouTube launched its partnership program. The partnership program made it attainable for YouTubers like Mr. Beast to make hundreds of thousands immediately. This second basically marked the start of social media influencers.
Tumblr and the age of the microblog (2007)
In 2007, the social community described as “Twitter meets YouTube and WordPress” got here a-tumblin’ alongside when 17-year-old David Karp launched Tumblr from his bed room.
Quickly after, the time period micro-blogging turned extensively used to explain each Twitter and Tumblr, noting the trade of ‘small’ quantities of content material.
The hashtag arrives (2007)
The strict 140-character restrict for tweets set Twitter aside from rivals, together with Fb and Tumblr. However Twitter’s significance was actually outlined by the hashtag, an emblem that’s helped political organizers and common residents mobilize, promote, and create consciousness.
Hashtags have additionally helped plant the seeds that sprouted actions reminiscent of #Occupy, #BlackLivesMatter, and #MeToo. Additionally, timesucks like #SundayFunday and #Susanalbumparty.
As the story goes, Twitter early adopter Chris Messina, proposed the hashtag for organizing tweets. It wasn’t till a few months later, that the #SanDiegoFire hashtag was sparked to mixture tweets and updates in regards to the California wildfires. In 2009, Twitter capitalized on the hashtag by including hyperlink capabilities.
Welcome Weibo (2009)
China’s Sina Weibo, or just Weibo, is basically a Fb and Twitter hybrid that launched in 2009, the identical yr Fb and Twitter had been banned within the nation.
Together with WeChat and Douyin, Weibo stays one in all the preferred social networks in China.
FourSquare “test in” drops (2009)
Location-based app Foursquare was one of many first that allowed customers to “test in,” whereas sharing suggestions all about their favourite neighborhoods and cities. They earned digital mayorships whereas they had been at it.
Chances are you’ll not bear in mind Foursquare (or weren’t but born throughout its heyday), however likelihood is, you’ve used the corporate’s tech. Foursquare’s geolocation API was used for geofilters and placement tagging in apps like Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram.
Grindr revolutionizes the hookup (2009)
Grindr, on the scene in 2009, was the primary geosocial networking app for relationship geared in direction of homosexual and bisexual males, serving to them meet different males close by. It revolutionized hookup tradition and paved the best way for a lot of different geolocation relationship apps (like Tinder) for straight and queer folks alike.
Introducing Instagram (2010)
On July 16, 2010, one in all the primary Instagram pictures to be revealed by co-founder Mike Krieger (@mikeyk) was an uncaptioned, closely filtered shot of a marina.
Instagram posts have change into fairly a bit extra subtle, largely because of the platform’s success, and Instagram’s now essentially the most downloaded app globally.
Pinterest has us pining to pin (2010)
Pinterest went stay in closed beta in 2010, launching in 2011. Pinning shortly turned a favourite new interest (and verb) for home gods and goddesses.
As of 2022, Pinterest had 445 million month-to-month lively customers, proving simply how widespread the location stays.
Snapchat’s disappearing act (2011)
Nearly precisely a yr after Instagram, soon-to-be rival “Picaboo” launched, shortly rebranding to Snapchat following a lawsuit by a equally named firm.
The app’s early success tapped into the ephemeral nature of life’s moments, permitting customers to publish content material that will vanish after 24 hours. (To not point out giving us all the power to puke rainbows.)
The disappearing snaps appealed to the teenager demographic the app first attracted. Snapchat was additionally the proper various for teenagers to seek out their pals and flee their households on Fb.
Google Plus needs in on the occasion (2011)
2011 was additionally the yr Google tried to roll out one other reply to Fb and Twitter, following earlier failed makes an attempt. Google Plus’ invitation-only system dropped in 2011, giving new customers entry to 150 invites they might ship out earlier than the official opening. Demand was so excessive that Google ultimately needed to droop them.
Sadly, the social community’s launch was no match for social juggernauts like Fb and Twitter. Google Plus struggled to accrue its opponents’ staggering utilization numbers, and it will definitely fizzled.
Twitch launches (2011)
Twitch, the massively widespread online game live-streaming web site, was initially launched as a subsidiary of Justin.television, a basic curiosity streaming web site that launched in 2007.
Apparently, A LOT of individuals (like 45 million distinctive viewers by 2013) love watching live-streamed video video games. Amazon noticed the spike and shortly scooped Twitch up.
Fb celebrates one billion and acquires Instagram (2012)
Eight years after its launch (from Zuck’s Harvard dorm room), Fb introduced its person base had reached one billion customers.
“When you’re studying this: thanks for giving me and my little staff the dignity of serving you. Serving to a billion folks join is wonderful, humbling and by far the factor I’m most happy with in my life,” Zuckerberg mentioned.
This was additionally the yr Fb acquired Instagram for a billion {dollars}, a notable second within the timeline of social networks.
Vine reshapes the best way we view video (2013)
Vine launched in 2013, however not earlier than Twitter purchased the video-sharing app for $30 billion. The premise was pretty easy—movies shared on Vine may solely be as much as 6 seconds lengthy—however shortly spawned a definite style of humor that also resonates immediately.
Regardless of the speedy success, the app had a reasonably fast demise on account of apps like Snapchat and Instagram following with their very own video-sharing capabilities.
Slack (2013)
Slack dropped the identical yr as Google Hangouts and introduced social media to the company world in a means LinkedIn didn’t.
Slack affords employees a spot to socialize on-line inside firms and trade professionals a spot to socialize with others in related Slack teams.
Patreon (2013)
Whereas early social media influencers constructed followings on locations like YouTube and Twitch, the monetization of their followers leveled up with Patreon.
It was created by developer Sam Yam and musician Jack Conte, who needed to create an earnings stream from his YouTube movies. The platform permits patrons to subscribe to month-to-month or unique creator content material.
12 months of the Selfie (2014)
Twitter proclaimed 2014 because the “12 months of the Selfie” following Ellen DeGeneres’s Oscar photograph. That selfie has been retweeted greater than three million instances, setting a Twitter report and successful Twitter’s award for “Golden tweet” of the yr.
If solely Bradley’s arm was longer. Greatest photograph ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) March 3, 2014
The live-streaming wars start (2015)
Meerkat was the primary app to begin the live-streaming craze (RIP). Then, Twitter developed Periscope and gained the streaming wars (for some time).
Periscope turned the go-to app for streaming and watching stay occasions. Taking a shower with hearts anytime you hit the report button was all the motivation anybody wanted. It was so widespread that Apple awarded the app the iOS app of the yr in 2015.
Now, live-streaming is a normal characteristic in main apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Fb. RIP to Periscope, 2015-2021.
Instagram launches Tales (2016)
Taking a web page from Snapchat, Instagram launched “Tales,” permitting customers to publish photograph and video sequences that disappear inside 24 hours (though they will now be saved and archived).
Filters, stickers, polls, hashtags, and highlights to reinforce Tales have made the app much more addictive.
In 2023, Instagram introduced “Stay Story Replay,” a characteristic that means that you can replay your stay movies in your Instagram Tales.
The U.S. election and social media’s pretend information disaster (2016)
You would argue that 2016 was a no-good, very unhealthy yr for social media and, by extension, democracy.
It was the yr subtle data warfare was waged utilizing “troll factories” on social media used to unfold disinformation, together with false claims and conspiracy theories, through the U.S. presidential election.
Fb has since revealed that 126 million People had been uncovered to content material by Russian brokers through the election. In 2018, Fb, Twitter, and Google representatives appeared earlier than the U.S. Congress to testify as a part of ongoing investigations into Russia’s makes an attempt to affect the elections.
A star (TikTok) is born (2017)
Douyin, an app by ByteDance, was launched outdoors of China below the identify TikTok. TikTok’s recognition burns via Asian nations. It turned extensively popularized in North America in 2019, at about the identical time Lil Nas X launched Previous City Street on the platform, which shortly went viral.
@pmckey0
Twitter doubles the character restrict (2017)
Twitter doubled its signature character restrict from 140 to 280 characters.
The main change, together with the introduction of Twitter threads (aka Twitterstorms), now means tweets that can make you go WTF are more and more unavoidable as everybody makes essentially the most of their 280 characters.
Rick Ross Funniest Moments
A Thread 🧵: pic.twitter.com/UgiWaWI4vW
— PleaseDontTouchMyRaf (@0piumThug) February 22, 2023
Fb goes on trial for knowledge privateness (2018)
In early 2018, it was revealed that Fb allowed a researcher from Cambridge Analytica (one who labored on Donald Trump’s presidential marketing campaign) to reap knowledge from 50 million customers with out their consent.
Dealing with mounting stress to deal with knowledge privateness, Zuckerberg participated in 5 days of hearings earlier than the U.S. Congress.
Instagram’s foray into video (2018 – 2021)
In 2018, Instagram elevated its one-minute video restrict to at least one hour and launched a brand new app, IGTV, devoted to long-form video. Additionally they debuted Reels, an Instagram video characteristic, in 2019.
In 2021, Instagram merged IGTV and Feed movies right into a single format: Instagram Video. This created 4 several types of video codecs on the app: Reels, Video, Tales, and Lives.
Social commerce emerges with Fb and Instagram Retailers (2020)
The worldwide pandemic shifted the best way folks seen ecommerce, dashing up adoption charges astronomically.
Fb and Instagram introduce Retailers, a means for customers to buy in-app and companies on the platforms to simply promote. This characteristic marks a shift within the rise of social commerce.
Supply: Mattress.threads on Instagram
New platforms like Clubhouse and BeReal proceed to interrupt floor (2020-2022)
As we entered a brand new decade, social media platforms continued to pop up throughout the digital panorama.
Clubhouse, a social audio platform, turned extraordinarily widespread through the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Nevertheless, it struggled to stay related as pandemic restrictions eased.
BeReal, a photo-sharing app that prompts customers to publish one unfiltered photograph per day, made a giant splash in 2022. Although it was at one level the preferred social networking app within the App Retailer, it nonetheless stays to be seen if BeReal is the following TikTok.
Supply: BeReal
Elon Musk buys Twitter, app updates comply with (2022)
In 2022, billionaire Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion. The possession change is adopted by a sequence of app updates, together with paid verification, seen view counts on tweets, and an unprecedented look into the advice algorithm.
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