How long has social media been around?

I know I am not the only one that has noticed that there are no new social networks. So is the age of platforms taking over others done? I doubt it.

 

1997 was when the very first social media platform hit the world wide web – Six Degrees. It had roughly one million users that were able to friend each other and personalize a profile for themselves. Unfortunately, most people forget this one because it was not memorable enough to even be around for more than five years.

 

In May of 2003, LinkedIn was officially launched, allowing people to make business connections. Now, almost 16 years later, this is one of the most popular sites, allowing employers to look for new employees and vice versa. It also helps people in the same career field get connected and share their knowledge. It is a great platform for sharing professional ideas and gaining a decent following through video creation.

 

January of 2004 was when the infamous Myspace came around and had everything thinking they were professional web designers. Just a month later, Facebook was launched strictly for Harvard students. Just a year after that, YouTube was brought into the social media world, allowing users to post strictly videos. By 2006, MySpace was the most famous social network in the world and Twitter launched in July.

 

Skip ahead to 2010 – Instagram and Snapchat are dropped into the game. Instagram is a platform allowing people to post strictly photos, which hit 1 million registered users in less than three months. Snapchat is a messaging network that allows users to send pictures and videos to each other. Vine was launched in 2013 to allow people to share 6-second videos, and Twitter purchased the platform for $30 million later that year.

 

Now it is 2019 – where are we? Well, we have live streaming accessibility on Facebook and Instagram. Snapchat allows groups and chat, and they have added on a user-made filter feature. Bitmojis are now an animated version of ourselves we can make to be our profile for Snapchat and insert into messages. Instagram has IGTV which is a vertical version of YouTube. Facebook and Instagram have followed in Snapchat’s footsteps with user stories, which people can post for 24 hours before they disappear. According to Statista, 71% of internet users were social media users. By this year, 2019, there will be an expected 2.77 billion users on social media platforms across the globe.

 

Will Myspace make a comeback? It is doubtful, but they tried. I am anxiously waiting to see who will create the next takeover social media network and what they could possibly come up with. At this point, it seems like every idea has already been thought of, but I’m sure we will be surprised.