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Friendster Launched
Founded in 2002 by Jonathan Abrams, Friendster was originally designed to be a dating site. This social network quickly changed into a gaming site and is currently closed. -
MySpace Launched
Starting and current CEO, Tim Vanderhook, founded MySpace with Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe. The hope was to reach a global audience and influence pop culture. -
Facebook Launched
Mark Zuckerberg is the founding and current CEO of Facebook. The original goal of Facebook was to be a directory of information for college students. -
LinkedIn Launched
Founded by five men, based out of Sunnyvale, California, the LinkedIn Corporation was the first social network to offer paid premiums to their users. The mission of this company was, and still is, to "connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful". -
Twitter Launched
Founded by four men in San Francisco, California, Twitter was created for posting quick updates. Twitter was, and still is, an informal and relational network. -
Tumblr Launched
A social networking site that focused on edited, aesthetically pleasing photos. This site would later be overrun by the site VSCO. -
Instagram Launched
Owned by Meta Platforms, Instagram was launched in late 2010 by co-founder Keven Systrom. The main reason for this app's creation was to share photos and videos on a social platform. -
VSCO Launched
A photo and video editing app was launched to nurture user's creativity. This app slowly gained popularity and gathered many of Tumblr's followers. -
Snap Inc. Launched
Founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel, launched Snap Inc. in 2011. Under the Snap Inc. name, we have Snapchat, Spectacles, as well as Bitmoji. -
Facebook Acquires Instagram
Two years after Instagram's launch, Facebook (Zuckerberg) acquired Instagram for $1 Billion. Later, users would come to see many similarities between these two social networks. -
Tinder Launched
A popular dating app where users are asked to swipe right or left on people, launches in 2012. This dating service gained popularity immediately upon launching. -
Slack Launched
Founded in Mid 2013 by Stewart Butterfield and Cal Henderson, Slack became a network similar to that of LinkedIn. Slack stands for "Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge". -
Vine Launched
Shortly after the launch of Snapchat, another video sharing services launches after being bought by Twitter for $30 million. -
Yik Yak Launched
Launched in 2013, this community discussion app did not gain popularity until almost a decade later. This app encouraged communication on campuses. -
MySpace Relaunched
Previously launched in 2003, MySpace relaunches ten years later with a redesigned website as well as a mobile app. -
Instagram Launched Stories
Following Snapchat, Instagram introduced "Stories". Users could post videos and pictures that disappear after 24 hours. Along with Snapchat, they included filters, stickers, polls, and hashtags. -
Vine Defunction
Three short years after the initial launch, Twitter decided to discontinue the Vine mobile app. Musical.ly took over Vine's popularity. -
Twitter Character Limit
In 2017, Twitter doubled its character limit for their tweets. This allowed users to write more lengthy tweets and reply to others more extensively. -
TikTok Launched
While this app was originally released in China in 2016, ByteDance changed to TikTok and came to the U.S. in 2017. Allowing for short clips or more lengthy videos, this video network allows for personal expression. -
Yik Yak Shut Down
Four years after the initial launch, Yik Yak is shut down for a decline in users as well as bullying accusations. Later to be relaunched, this app is still banned from some schools. -
Facebook Trial
In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg allowed a researcher to collect and use data from 50 million users without their knowledge or consent. Zuckerberg's trial went all the way up to the U.S. Congress. -
Musical.ly Defunction
Musical.ly works to shift its users to Tik Tok, while this video posting app shuts down. Both apps are structured in the same way. -
BeReal Launched
Originally released in 2020, this social networking app gained popularity in 2022. It is a French social media app that gives a daily notification to post one, unfiltered front-facing and forward facing picture in the moment. -
Facebook and Instagram Shops
With the global pandemic changing the way we view shopping, many places offered online shopping and delivery. Facebook and Instagram introduced "Shops" for users to easily make in-app purchases. -
Musk Purchases Twitter
For $44 billion, Elon Musk buys Twitter. Following this event, the social networking site underwent a series of updates and changes that altered how the app was seen. -
Yik Yak Relaunch
An anonymous posting app relaunches on the App Store. Popular with college students, Yik Yak allows for people to upload similar to Twitter.