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Talktomatic was introduced as the first multi user platform where people could communicate. Talktomatic was produced by Doug Brown at the University of Illinois. -
Bulletin Board System (BBS) was a computer server that allowed users to upload and download new data, read the news, read new bulletins and direct chat. -
LunarStorm was created in 1996 and was deemed "The world's first social media on the internet" by the founder Rickard Eriksson. -
Yahoo Messenger, an instant messaging platform is launched for the public. Yahoo Messenger was a no fee, downloadable platform which was easily accessible using a "Yahoo ID". -
MSN Messenger is a cross platform instant messaging tool originated by Microsoft. Due to its cross-platform ability, it would have been a very useful tool for different reasons such as no restrictions on which device one can be spoken to, and it led to many other items being made cross-platform that we see today (i.e., PlayStation and Xbox are cross platform). -
Face to face video call Platform, Skype, was established in 2003. Originally developed in Estonia, it was then bought by The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and then later on bought out by Microsoft. -
LinkedIn was launched in the spring of May 2003. LinkedIn has changed many aspects in the workforce. The platform allows employers and employees to connect online and showcase their brand and work history to their peers. -
In 2004, Facebook was released. Facebook caught attention due to the fact that one could add their friends, post pictures, and follow their favorite celebrities. Facebook is now tied with Instagram being the social media platform that is worth the most. -
Flickr was released to the public in 2005. Flickr was a groundbreaking platform as it allowed people to express their freedom and likeness towards certain topics through photography. Whether it was nature, sports, or home decor, everyone could share what interested them. -
YouTube was a revolutionary platform when it was released. YouTube allowed for people to post videos of whatever they pleased. Some vlogged, some posted sports video, and other posted political opinions. When YouTube was released, many people loved it as it was a platform in which one could connect with new people worldwide. -
In 2005, new social media platform, Reddit, was established. Reddit was, and is still known for its wide variety of content on the app. One can access the news, and on the other hand one can view people posting about their lawn. -
Shortly after Facebook's release, they revealed the photo feature. This meant that users could share what they were doing with their friends that they had on Facebook. This was a turning point for social media and what it could become in the future. -
Twitter, now known as X, is an American social media platform. Twitter has everything one would ever need in a social media app. The platform has text messaging abilities, the ability to ‘Tweet’ or otherwise known as post and follow trending threads while watching your favourite sporting event. -
Tumblr, a blogging website was released in 2007. Tumblr was a platform where users could blog about topics they wanted to speak about. There were topics of all sorts such as finance, home life, school, and food. -
In 2010, Instagram was released. Instagram is a social media platform where one can post pictures, videos, and/or stories of whatever they please. Many people post about sports, books, the news and much more. Instagram is tied with Facebook in terms of being the wealthiest social media platform. -
In 2010, American developers introduced Pinterest. Pinterest is a photo sharing app where people can post photos based on what interests them and also view other people’s creativity. Many people today use Pinterest for daily inspiration such as outfits, tattoos, and even motivational quotes. -
Snapchat was a groundbreaking launch in 2011. Snapchat introduced a new wave to social media as the "Snap" feature was never seen before. Friends could send photos of each other, with the feature of only being able to open it one time, and then it was never to be seen again. This was intriguing for young kids. Today, Snapchat has calling, video call, chat, and snap features. -
In 2011 Google launched Google+. Google+ was a social networking platform that strived to be a societal stage for people to connect. Google+ was a useful resource and helped Google products improve such as Gmail. -
In 2011, the establishment of streaming platform Twitch developed. Twitch is a streaming platform that is most commonly used for gaming. While watching streams, viewers have the ability to donate to the streamer, essentially paying them money for streaming. Twitch has seen many celebrities on different streams, and many people's lives were changed due to Twitch. -
Vine was an app where people could post funny videos to the public. Vine took off as many people enjoyed the funny videos and the content within the app. This was a way for users to come together and relate over finding the same videos comical. -
Telegram is a messenger and social media platform all packed into one. It's a cloud-based platform which allowed for anyone and everyone to use it without the fear of interference because of different branded devices. -
Musical.ly was an app where people could post videos of them lip syncing to different songs. Musical.ly was very popular for young teens because of the trends that were on it, and it was seen as a way of expressing oneself. -
Discord is a platform where people can connect based on what interests them the most. For example, there are discord servers for people who like to game as well as for people who like nature. There are endless possibilities on what can be found on Discord. -
With the abandonment of Musical.ly, it was then turned into TikTok. It was established in 2017 but aggressively took off in the beginning stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. TikTok is similar to Musical.ly and to this day, anything can be found on TikTok including videos of people dancing, people filming their full day schedules, and professional athletes connecting with their fans. -
In 2020, the launch of BeReal took over the teenage world. It was an app where users would receive a daily notification to submit their BeReal. After receiving this notification, you had two minutes to take your picture. The thing that made people gravitate to this app is that both the front and back camera would take photos at the same time. -
In 2022, Elon Musk bought out Twitter for $44 billion dollars. After he had bought it, he changed the name of Twitter, to what we now know it as, X, while all functions within the app remained relatively the same.