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On February 4, 2004, Facebook was launched for public use. Facebook is widely considered one of the pioneers of social media, completely dominating the social media market for years. Facebook has allowed its users to stay more connected than ever through posts, messenger, event pages and more. It has allowed people to stay up to date in one another's lives with much more ease. It also has helped many users raise money for struggling families/charities. Pictured: Mark Zuckerberg -
On March 21, 2006 the social media platform Twitter was launched. Similar to Facebook, its users could post on its homepage with "tweets". However, while Facebook was primarily used to stay up to date with friends, Twitter became a major platform for news reporting. Many news accounts post tweets with links to articles that can be easily shared by anyone on the platform. In today's age, Twitter is often one of the first places major news stories are reported and discussed.
Pictured: Jack Dorsey -
In January 2007, the movie company Netflix began to offer streaming for its subscribers. Up until this point, Netflix was a subscription-based company where users could order a movie to be shipped to them, watch it and send it back. This was the first time people were able to watch a large selection of movies without needing to go rent, ship or buy one, in a matter of seconds. Today, Netflix continues to be one of the top streaming sites, with many original shows/movies. Pictured: Reed Hastings -
The first iPhone, by accredited inventor Steve Jobs, was released to the US market on June 29, 2007. While relatively niche at the time, today iPhones dominate the US smartphone market at a staggering 57.8% of people using iPhones and 27.7% globally (as of 2023). iPhones, along with all smartphones, have helped people be more connected than ever, along with providing access to the entire internet at your fingertips. -
On November 15, 2002, Microsoft launched it's online gaming platform known as "Xbox live". Subscribed users could play select games online with friends, as well as chat in parties and send messages with one another. This was the first time players could play with each other without being on the same xbox. Today, Xbox continues to offer live, with millions of users around the globe. Pictured: Bill Gates