If you had to guess when social media first arrived on the scene, what year would come to mind? The year 2000? Somewhere in the mid 2000’s?
It turns out that the very first interactive social media site was actually created in 1997. The site was SixDegrees.com with the tagline “You’re only Six degrees away from everyone”. This social networking site was similar to today’s sites; it allowed users to upload a personal profile and make friends across a broad network. It wasn’t until 2002 that this kind of online social networking really took off however, with the launch of Friendster. This social platform encouraged a new concept of connected people who had common interests.
Of course, later down the road this concept would be stretched even further into helping develop dating websites. But it was blogging that really boosted the popularity and use of social media sites. No one can forget the true excitement of customizing their own MySpace profiles in the early 2000’s. LinkedIn even quietly gained traction during this time to connect professionals in their fields of work. Photobucket started the trend of sharing photos online and we all know what YouTube brought to the table at the start of 2005. People discovered they could create and share their own videos through the web and so began their transformations from average Joe’s to celebrity status (for the lucky ones that is to say). It wasn’t until a whole year later that Facebook and Twitter became fully ready for use by the public. Now, even ten years later, they are still as popular as ever. Other sites such as Spotify, Pinterest and FourSquare fill in the gaps for other, more specific social media needs.
Knowing how fast social media has evolved within only the last few years, it’s exciting to imagine what will be available and trending in the next decade! Are you staying up to date with the latest social media trends? Follow our blogs for the latest tips!
Source: http://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/
