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Social Media is a system of web-based platforms and applications that enable users to create, share, and interact with content, while building and maintaining networks of personal and professional connections. Its systems came to be in 1983, when the Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) was instituted, allowing different kinds of computers on different networks to officially communicate with one other. Thus, the Internet was born. -
After the birth of the internet, much occurred in the online world that paved the way for greater connective possibilities online. We see the first mobile phones ('84) and instant messaging systems available ('88-'97) followed by the first renditions of the world wide web ('93), search engine ('90), and eventually wi-fi ('97). The first text messages were sent in 1992 thanks to developments in mobile phones giving way to smartphones; smartphones have revolutionized our access to online media.
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NCSA Mosaic™
The servers that allowed this and other, later (and more advanced), browsers to exist are an essential building block in the development of social media access and engagement. These foundational pieces of tech paved the way for globalization as we understand it in the current age; we have the privilege of global commerce, communications, and new manners of sharing information, entertainment, and media. Social networking through these browsers also shaped our means of collaboration. -
Six degrees is the first official social media sharing site in which users interact with one another, and is an early precursor to LinkedIn (which many of us currently rely on). Its existence proves to the average person that their computer can connect with someone else's computer, from just about anywhere in the world with internet access. Rather than having connections through just physical others, those connections can also be formed through "hops" across global internet servers. -
In 1995 Match.com was launched, which initiated the first online dating and helped to model similar forums we see today, like Tinder or Bumble. Then came Six Degrees in 1997, the first online social networking site that allowed users to create profiles, post to bulletin boards and message their connections. These sites laid the beginning of expectations for visibility, connection, and innovative features that have become standard in today's social media landscape.
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An early Match.com ad; marketing online at this time was largely banner-style on websites and email marketing was in its infancy. The design plays with the idea of an online interface as something new and exciting, as demonstrated through its collage style and bright colors. This style of marketing is a stepping stone to the targeted, social media algorithmic based advertisements we're accustomed to today. -
Friendster ('02) quickly precedes Six Degrees, and MySpace ('03) follows therein. Both of these platforms deeply affect how people (particularly youth) behave socially, and creates new interfaces for self-expression and community formation. New discussions about internet reliability and privacy rights occur as users shift from one platform to another. Facebook is in its infancy at Harvard ('03). LinkedIn ('03) begins to change how professionals network, hire, and job search: digitally.
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An early Friendster profile that illustrates the openness with which people seem to have always shared about themselves online. This profile curates the specific kind of online persona that has become for current users a kind of supplemental real-life identity, as we are defined more and more by our online presences. This profile also happens to be from the year I was born! -
With the arrivals of Youtube and Reddit in 2005, users enter a world where education and entertainment can be accessed easily online-- a cultural shift away from TV. Sharing and creating content online redefines accessibility barriers and new communities can be formed across expanses of space and time. During the early 2000s, we begin to truly see people utilize the internet as a bridge for interaction. Increased development in online servers allows users global access to one another's content.
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Similarly to the pop culture landscape today, in 2006 Youtube's users were captivated by music videos, animals doing things, early vlogging renditions, and people simply telling it all.
It is interesting to consider the weight that the internet and access to social media has shaped pop culture as we interact with it across time. Web 2.0, as the internet defined by user generated content, is gaining traction. Most internet access took place on bulky, hardware based desktop computers. -
With the creation of Twitter in 2006 and Tumblr following in 2007, online users are able to share events, thoughts, pictures, and other content in real time. Although online companies have been utilizing one another's bases to build upon and develop others since the late '90s, the rapid development and succession of platforms following one another from the 2000s forward sends the message that the only way to succeed in the online landscape is to adapt to what's trending and stay relevant.
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An early example of how hashtags could be used to spread and categorize information online! Of course this example is rather formal, but hashtags have evolved into things we're more acquainted with such as #ilovemydog, #tbt, or #metoo. These have given way to trends and social movements, indicating that online communities built through social media have the power to bring people together in ways early internet users might not have imagined, especially as they have bled into real life, or #irl. -
Between 2007 and 2009, the hashtag is born and gains rapid popularity as early versions of app stores make social media even more accessible for users-- largely thanks to the release of the IPhone in 2007. The hashtag changes the ways information is categorized and located online, and geotags also begin to be of use; this means that users can add metadata like location and time to their online posts. Geo tagging is one step towards the developing definition of a digital footprint.
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Instagram came out in 2010, and with it came a shift towards photos and visually appealing ("aesthetic") content that users could curate to portray the highlights of their lives or brands. The filters feature allowed users a new kind of in-app creativity. Compared to the Friendster profile from 7+ years prior, there has clearly been a shift in how online users portray themselves and in the expanded features that new social media applications present to their users to boost interactions. -
In 2011 Snapchat hits the young people on social media with a boom, and becomes remarkably popular for the disappearing messages and stories features, which give users different ways to share their statuses in real time; this is a development from early profile statuses on platforms like MySpace. With each new social application development, there are new trends and new social expectations, like streaks on snapchat, which allow users to keep track of how many days in a row they've communicated. -
Pinterest hits the public in 2012, and allows users to create online bulletin boards of their interests: recipes, fashion, memes, pop culture, etc. all thrive. The more applications are available, the more social media users gravitate their interests from in person to online. We also see overlap between sites, such as this picture, which is a collage of images from Tumblr on Pinterest's interface. Social media is THE place to share interests, tastes, and grow a personal aesthetic. -
A precursor to Musical.ly and TikTok, Vine was a platform allowing users to create up to six second videos that could be shared across communities. Internet personalities like Drew Gooden rose to fame and were able to carry massive followings across platforms all the way from Musical.ly to YouTube, where he now boasts several million followers. Vine helped set the stage for short form content to become not just the norm, but the expectation, but became defunct in 2017. Influencers are born! -
This famous Oscars selfie is just one example of how the development from flip-phones to smartphones and the addition of a greater online audience is transforming the way we record moments in history, particularly those of ourselves and within pop culture. Social media (particularly Twitter at this time) becomes a place to monitor, interact with, and formulate pop culture, particularly a fascination with celebrities in a different way than TV allowed. Mobile access changes everything, again. -
2014 brings to life Musical.ly- which became TikTok in 2018. The app allowed users to create and upload short videos. Editing features involved a variety of sound bytes, playback speeds, filters, and backgrounds. Launched the same year as Vine, it gained popularity among millions of users who favored slightly longer short form content. Its creators later created live.ly, which was an app designed for streaming live videos. Vlogging (video blogging) is an important part of social lives online. -
In 2015, social media users experience rises in streaming video content online, as well as an increase in short form video content on applications like Facebook, Meerkat, Periscope, and Twitter. This spike in short form content is a telling precursor to TikTok, which will appear the following year. Notably, Instagram steals the stories feature from Snapchat, another indication of a rapidly changing and cut-throat industry. The smartphone continues to be a key element of social media engagement. -
In 2016, TikTok is released and gives Musical.ly a true competitor. Their fame effectively begins to push Vine, another competitor, into a downward spiral. Just as Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, the trend of large social media tech companies buying one another out continues.
The internet has also changed greatly from its bulkier ancestors due to advancements in mobile network technology and faster data transmission on different kinds of devices like smartphones and laptops. -
As predicted, TikTok purchases Musical.ly, and the two apps are eventually merged. Two years later in 2020, Instagram and Snapchat will add TikTok style short form content video features into their applications, with Facebook and YouTube following close behind in 2021. TikTok's aggressive algorithmic algorithmic strategy created an industry standard that has effectively changed the online landscape. For example, Google search results often result in recommended short videos discussing the topic. -
TikTok completely changes what navigating the social media landscape means; it democratizes content creation more effectively than could YouTube because of the limited timespan of videos. It also gives way to discussion of "the algorithm," or the set of instructions the app uses to learn what users like and to recommend them content according to their interests. I would argue that this shift also forced many companies to learn to market in different ways online as users' attention spans changed.
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With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, most people stay inside and rely on their online connections to meet social needs; developments in networks like 4-5G made this possible. Users share sympathy, opinion, and misinformation about current events and are not afraid to be outspoken about racial and political injustice. The online disinhibition effect defines much of social media interaction this year, meaning users are inclined to behave very differently online and in person. -
By 2021 a social media playing field has become part of the daily routine. According to Pew Research in 2021, roughly 7 in 10 Americans used social media daily- and that is just Americans. During that time, Facebook and Youtube were used more by adults over 30, and Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok reigned supreme among the youth. The average American is actively involved on social media, and gets a great deal of their news, pop culture, entertainment, music, and social interaction online. -
Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, renamed it X, and much changed. The platform shifted much of its content moderation to be AI driven, following industry application of AI technology across social media platforms (both good and bad implications). We cannot discuss social media after these years without AI, as it has transformed the online landscape and provoked discussions of how to moderate speech, content, privacy, misinformation, and how social media is changing at a rapid pace. -
Between 2023 and the current, we witnessed how influential social media has become; it even dictated much of the recent presidential election! AI has continued to streamline and monitor user experiences online. TikTok shop proved a remarkably effective way to give social media users a way to market and sell products with well developed brand images. The attempted ban on TikTok is an example of the issues of censorship, ethical AI, business, and self expression that social media users face now.
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When users become alienated on one platform, they move to another-- it is just the way of the internet. Thus, after Twitter became X and many users were dissatisfied by the decline in culture, a new microblogging application became their home: BlueSky. Essentially a Twitter clone but with greater user customization in timeline and server control, the migration raised even more questions about a shift in online cultural expectations: how much free speech is too much free speech on social media? -
As we wait in the dark of the presidential transition to see if TikTok will be sold to an American company or if it will be banned altogether, an alternative arises. Rednote, an app similar to TikTok in its features and wide creator network is a quiet symbol of the fact that social media's incredible influence on our lives is not going anywhere- even if the applications change. Just as Friendster was overtaken by MySpace and then Tumblr and Facebook, the online world remains, and will remain. -
Technology has come a long way, and it will continue to do so, driving social and institutional change. As the internet has developed, servers have gained wider reach, lawsuits have occurred, apps have been developed and bought out by bigger companies (capitalism), trends have come and gone, bans have been attempted, but the internet's gift of social media has become a core part of what human interaction looks like. It is not going anywhere, all we can do is continue to learn as it changes.