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Bulletin Board Systems were used to share information and messages before the "World Wide Web" as we know today. BBS' were essential to go from local systems to global and expand our network, and fizzled out when the internet advanced. -
American Online was the top internet service provider in 1989, and even had instant messaging shortly after (AIM). They merged in the 2000's with other companies to stay ahead, and AOL now operates under the browser "Yahoo". -
Amazon started off as a book selling website and was the first to do this on a large scale. Over time, Amazon grew to sell more items and products online and is now known as the number 1 website for shopping online. -
MySpace was the trendsetter of having messaging websites on the internet, allowing profiles, blogs, and photo/video sharing. This platform was the stepping stone for later social medias to be created. -
Facebook started off as a social media for college students trying to connect with one another, but quickly evolved to all demographics to use. Facebook is important because it is the best way for local communities to stay informed on what people say and is where lots of "community watches" are made. -
YouTube is a video sharing platform that has become the second most viewed site ever. Users can make and share content between each other, be part of a community, and even keep up with the news and other important aspects of life. -
User Generated Content is a term for anything uploaded onto the internet by a real customer or fan of a brand, and is seen in lots of unsponsored content on YouTube as well as review videos. While this existed before in the 90's, it was not until around 2005 that people outside local communities could see these reviews and posts. -
Reddit is a story and content sharing platform, popularized for the ability to give "karma points" to users who are helpful, interesting, or entertaining. Reddit is where lots of people online get their news and how information spreads. -
Twitter (now X) is a platform used to share news and opinions for others to respond and react to. This social media is different because people can publicly communicate with celebrities and politicians about issues and gather responses. -
Infinite Scrolling was developed as a way to stop from having to turn pages on online websites and aggregators. With the addition of social media, these aggregators have turned into content that people upload onto the apps and websites, and has caused lots of discussion and controversy behind it. -
Instagram is a social media app that revolutionized features such as filters and the discovery page. Instagram now completely changes the way that people catch up with others, sometimes not even needing to talk to the person to know where they are or their current status. -
Snapchat allows users to send messages and pictures to each other, with the feature of "deleting in 24 hours" to signify a sense of privacy and urgency to respond. This shaped the way people online talk to each other and have conversations. -
The Cinnamon Challenge was one of the first large "trends" to hit social medias such as YouTube and even Twitter, in which people would take a spoonful of Cinnamon and try to eat it without other items to help. This challenge showcased how people joined trends by making videos and posts of their own, a practice that is used everyday in today's social media. -
Harambe was a gorilla in the Cincinnati Zoo who dragged a 3-year-old child through the moat, and afterwards was shot and killed. What followed online was public discourse about what should have happened and showed that users on the internet can band together to speak upon issues they have. -
Hashtag Activism was mainly popularized in 2017 with the "MeToo" movement and allowed people to share awareness about sexual violence. Hashtag Activism was once again used in 2020 for the "Black Lives Matter" movement, and is often used to show awareness for issues and serious topics in the world. -
TikTok was the first of many social medias to adopt the "For You Page", which is a recommendation feed of videos the algorithm believes you will interact with. Many other social medias now have it too, in which people feel a personal identity is tied to their FYP. Facebook technically had an algorithm based sorting of information in 2009, but did not operate any similarly to TikTok's FYP.