Social networking has changed so much over a short period of time. The first social networking site launched in 1997, meaning over the last 25 years, it has expanded quickly to now having over 200 social networking sites in 2022.
We will look at how social networking started and how it has expanded to what it has become today.
1996
Six Degrees was considered the first social networking site. Andrew Weinreich created the software in 1996. However, Six Degrees came out in 1997. The key feature of Six Degrees was that it allowed you to have your own online profile that enabled you to have ‘friends’ on the site you were able to contact. Now, this sounds remotely similar to a vast number of social networking sites we have today, a difference being that we now have the internet to support the demand.
The downside to the site was that in 1997 it wasn’t easy to have internet access. Instead of having internet everywhere like we do today, it was only in a few spots meaning it was hard for people to access the site regularly. Although the population was excited about the concept of social media, they would have to wait a few years for the internet connection to get better. Once the connection got better social networking sites could use this demand effectively.
2003
LinkedIn became live in May 2003; Reid Hoffman, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Konstantin, Guericke, Allen Blue and Eric Ly were the people behind the first version. This site was a major hit, with over 4,500 members in just a month. The primary purpose of LinkedIn was for people to upload and post their resumes online for employers to see. This ideal expanded over the years to allow you to upload your resume and get recruited by employers within the site. LinkedIn is one of the biggest sites known to businesses today.
2003 continues
In 2003 another social networking site to launch was Myspace. Myspace was the most popular social networking site from 2005-2008. Unlike the other sites, Myspace has web profiles, allowing you to video call, post pictures and discuss your interests. On the site, you can connect with friends you already know and those you don’t. It was a great site to meet and connect with new people who can turn into friends. Obviously, this can be very dangerous, especially to children. Therefore they made strict rules for anyone 13-16 years old no one above 18 would be able to view their profile. Myspace put this rule in place to limit the possibility of children being misused or tricked.
2004
In 2004 probably the best well-known social networking site was launched. Facebook was the first site to have over a billion users.
When Facebook started, you could connect with friends and family near and far through the site. Public profiles allowed you to post/update your ‘friends’ on what you were up to. Facebook has expanded and allows you to sell online and promote different businesses.
Facebook has been able to modernise alongside the population. The older generation is still able to use it, while it also has reached out and made new features to capture the younger generation too.
2010
On the 6th of October 2010, Instagram was created. Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom were the men behind the creation of Instagram. The vision for the app began with Facebook. They wanted to expand on that idea and create a Social networking site that would enable you to post images and be able to edit the pictures you post. Those edit features are what we know as filters. Although it was similar to Facebook, it was a huge surprise just how successful Instagram was straight away. On the first day, it had 25,000 users, which increased to 100,000 by the end of the week. Instagram has evolved over the years, and it is now possible to post pictures and go live with all your followers. Going live means they can talk in real-time, and people can watch.
2011
2011 brought along Snapchat. Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown were all students at Stanford University, and they are the creators of Snapchat. The idea behind Snapchat was to allow people to post videos and photos that would disappear a few moments later. It was a chance for people to be real in the moment without everything being permanent. Snapchat is estimated to produce over three billion snaps every day. Today you can post stories for everyone to see; message privately using text, pictures, and videos; and start streaks where you can track how many days you consecutively talk to someone. Snapchat even allows you to call and video call your contacts. Overall, Snapchat is a great messaging app that will enable you to get real-life updates from your friends and speak your mind, with it disappearing a few moments later.
2016
Tiktok was released in 2016 and has been the most recent social networking site to blow up. It was the most downloaded site in 2020; many say it helped them through the multiple lockdowns. TikTok was the first to put a modernised spin on social networking, using videos to communicate on the site. To this day, it is still evolving. New features are released every year. What started as an app where you could post 30-second videos has now expanded to 10-minute videos, going live and communicating through the comments with videos as well. TikTok is doing well at reaching a large audience. What started as a teen dancing app has become a platform for all generations to show their life, express their views and maybe dance a little.
Overview
There have been so many social networking sites over the years. Six Degrees, LinkedIn, Facebook and TikTok, have been the ones to make the most impact/difference in social networking. These improvements and sites have popped up in the last 25 years. I am excited to see which sites pop up and how the sites evolve over the next 25 years.
