In the 1970s, social media emerges with computer technology in a very different way than what we see today. According to an article by Digital Trends, social media got its start in that hands of the most antisocial of them all: nerds. At the time there was a bulletin board system or BBS, which was easy to communicate through the use of telephone lines and modems. These “nerds” loved to chat it up from their isolated corners of their homes by posting bulletins in response to others nerds about technical babble which undoubtedly would gain them six figure careers in the near future. Even as online forms of communication picked up, “long distance calling rates usually applied to out- of- towners, so many Bulletin Boards were locals-only affairs that in turn spurred local in- person gatherings.”

Fast forward into the ops when the internet really kicks things into gear and you don’t have top deal with horribly slow speeds of the BBS, but instead exchange it for the blaring connectivity of dial up. Back track just a smidge to the 1980s and you may have ventured the avenue of CompuServe, a “business-oriented mainframe computer communication solution” which allowed its users to share files and access the news and events. With these capabilities it offered something completely different as it allowed for real time interaction. Before you would wait long periods of time, but now the replies were nearly instant. Now, back to the 90s and digital up internet; what so be consider to be the true precursor to today’s social media presence.

The three letters that come to my mind as a 90s baby are AOL, or America Online. Here you could create a profile and add a small bio about yourself as well as send emails and search online. Yahoo! was next, then Amazon came into the picture selling books online. Only one website is really attributed to being the first social media platform however, and that website was known as Classmates.com. According to Digital Trends, it ” proved almost immediately that the idea of a virtual reunion was a good one. ” More notably when was SixDegrees.com created by Andrew Weinreich in 1997. It was based around

“the idea that all living things and everything else in the world is six or fewer steps away from each other so that a chain of a ‘friend of a friend’ statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. “

So it was really based on a web of contacts for social networking and the user could invite friends and family they listed to the site. Unfortunately upon the start of the 21st century, their membershipss disappeared with complaints of spam and failing to engage users in an approachable way. Next, you would see the start ups of Friendster, LinkedIn, Myspace and finally, Facebook. Friendster would grow immensely and then plummet from communication and technical issues from the top down and today is only operating as an online gaming platform. LinkedIn is still today, albeit more polished, online business networking social media platform helping professionals to connect.

When I was 13 years old in 2003, I recall the start up of MySpace in all its customizable glory. Oh yes, backgrounds and page songs would change with every day of the week and if you didn’t have a game to play on your page you were SO yesterday. Now my teenage pastime is used mainly by musicians and bands, although I’m not aware that I am a fan of any. Now I want to go peruse the dusty space room that is MySpace just to find what dust bunnies still hop around. Now, he we are with Facebook as our top global social networking source. There are many reasons for its success such add ease of use, simplicity and excellent marketing strategies. Others note that iconic, literally and figuratively, “like” button as an easy way to respond to posts. Other platforms like Twitter would catch on and use it too.

Within the rise of mobile phones, ease of use and a demand for more content and news social platforms would initiate ed green more variations of social media and networking. Now we have Instagram which grew from its photo centric format and connectivity from the use of hashtags. We also have SnapChat which allows its users to send photos and messages which essentially erase themselves after viewing. IG was purchased by FB and SnapChat was accused of violating user privacy in the wake of a new form of social flirting which uh would later be dubbed as “sexting” and open the door to a whole other bag of worms! Tinder and other thirsty dating apps would erupt and change the world of online dating as we knew it.

Today, people now “exist” on multiple platforms, and instead of fighting against this trend, larger companies are also buying bug in to this new realm of marketing possibilities. On the horizon are integrated software combined with enabling hardware for things like augmented reality and even virtual reality. Already we have Oculus Rift and Google Glass to name a few AG and VR tech in use and undergoing development today. Can’t wait to see what is coming next and to learn about the roles they might play in the context of social networking. Next time!

Sources:

Shah, S. (2018, June 20). The History of Social Media. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/

Ngak, C. (2014, February 4). Then and now: a history of social networking sites. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/2/

McFadden, C. (2019, July 16). A Chronological History of Social Media. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media