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Six Degrees
The first recognizable social media site called six degrees was created. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 2000 it was purchased for $125 million and shut down in 2001.
Source:
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Friendster
This social networking site was used for all the usual things, but also as a dating site and event, band, and hobby discovery service. In 2011 it introduced social gaming, but unfortunately suspended their services in 2015 due to lack of engagement from its users.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
LinkedIn
This is the most popular social media site of choice for job seekers and for human resources managers searching for qualified candidates. By 2020, it had grown to more than 675 million users worldwide.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
MySpace
This networking site was very successful and one of the largest networking sites in the world. It allowed users to completely customize their profile, but also to could embed music and videos.In 2011,it was purchased by Justin Timberlake for $35 million but it has since become a social media afterthought. https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Facebook
Launched in 2004 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg it is one of the most popular social networking sites in the world that allow users to connect and share with family and friends. According to Pew Research, Facebook has nearly 1.7 billion users.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Reddit
Reddit is a news aggregation/social commentary site with over 300 million users. It is a collection of forums where people can share news and content or comments, and its popularity is based on the ability to “up-vote” and “down-vote” user posts.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Twitter
Founded by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and others as a microblogging site that allows users to post and interact with messages known as "tweets". Twitter is also one of the most popular social media platforms in the world and according to a Pew Research, more than 22% of US adults are using the site.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Tumblr
Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking site that allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. It has grown in popularity especially with teens, and to date it has more than 350 million blogs.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Instagram
Founded by Kevin Systrom, it is a photo and video sharing platform site which was purchased by Facebook in 2012. After its release, it quickly became widely popular, acquiring approximately 2 million users within its first few months alone. As of today, it is one of the biggest social media sites in the world.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Pinterest
Pinterest is an image sharing and social media service founded by iPhone app developer Ben Silbermann as a visual “pin board.” Pinterest is very popular as it enables users to save and discover information online. In 2019, it had more than 335 million active monthly users.
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
Snapchat
This multimedia messaging app founded by a trio of Stanford students — Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown, and Bobby Murphy — is a widely used app in the world today. This video-sharing service introduced the concept of “stories,” or serialized short videos, and “filters.”
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media -
TikTok
It was first launched by Douyin for the Chinese market, but was later launched on iOS and Android outside of China. This social network is primarily used for uploading and sharing user-generated videos. As of early 2020, it had more than 800 million users worldwide.
Resources: https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_social_media
