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Bulletin board system (BBS) launched in 1978 and was considered one of the earliest forms of online communication amongst normal people on a local and regional scale. Niche groups could talk about their interest and it kind of reminds me of Reddit. -
Usenet allowed for messaging, file sharing, etc. They called this the original social network where it was on a global level, where many computers were communicating at once. -
Founded on May 1996 and launched in 1997. This was the first social media platform which allowed people to have profiles and have friends list which allowed for a personalized web of communication. -
MySpace allowed for people to meet new users online and connect with friends from real life. Content like music could be posted and even love interests could be found, I knew this personally from watching people find each other on the TV show Catfish. -
Facebook was the biggest social networking platforms that I remember, and it got really popular with young people and older people all over the world. The members in my family would use it to communicate with our other family and friends back in Nepal and I just remember it being such a big way for people to talk to one another and share what’s happening in their lives. -
Reddit gave people space to publicly discourse and vote on different topics. Specifically the down votes, up votes, and awards set Reddit apart from other platforms. People are also able to ask questions so others could answer. -
YouTube for me was a big way to see people living their lives and giving tutorials on hair, workout, lifestyle, etc. This began I feel like, along with Facebook and instagram, the constant checking of social media and being online constantly. -
Hashtags made it easier for people to reach a certain topic faster. It categorized different posts similar to a file, one big hashtag was the #metoo movement. -
Twitter focused on short, impactful statements, and conversations in real time. It created hyperlinked hashtags which was adapted by other media platforms. -
Instagram was really popular for posting selfies and images of day-to-day things or things like vacation. It definitely was a more polished appearance compared to Facebook because on Instagram it was like a one image tells all. -
The ice bucket challenge started in the summer of 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS. It left a lasting impact on digital activism, fundraising, and meme culture. -
TikTok to me is linked with the Covid pandemic when everybody was inside and online and it really impacted people on a global scale because of the fast paced content, and the never ending release of it had users on it constantly. TikTok shortened the attention span of users, forever changing the output of social media content. -
Stories became a feature on Facebook and Instagram around 2016 and 2017 which allowed for a more personal view into somebody’s life. It connected the poster to their friends and family and followers at a even more personal level. -
FYP started with TikTok and this changed the social media world forever. The media we began to consume was directly tied to how long we were staying on a video and what we were interacting with it, making it so that our experience online would become even more personalized. -
The January 6 riot where people stormed the capital became something that was very talked about. It was a big controversial topic.