A Chinese entry into the social media industry, today, it is one of the world’s most popular social media apps. Its devotion to social media for business has enabled its steady growth into one of the world’s most popular social media sites. This Malaysian-built platform, now defunct, was initially used as a social networking website. It was used for all the usual things but also as a dating site and event, band, and hobby discovery service.
Based on this analysis, the status of the first social media platform is credited to Six Degrees. What seems clear from this point is that humans will continue to devise various forms of social media to share and create content. We would definitely have more social media terms to learn in the future. By 2005, YouTube became a hot trend, setting a new pace for how people created content, distributed it, and communicated with their followers. The platform focuses on video content, which has an effective way of shaping content consumption. Rana Irfan is a skilled SEO content writer, whose journey of freelance content writing and SEO expertise started in 2020.
People essentially use the various services in conjunction with other platforms to build a comprehensive, digital identity. The history of social media is a testament to the power of technology to connect people and shape how we communicate. From the early days of bulletin board systems to the current era of social networking sites, social media has evolved rapidly, transforming how we interact. Yet another essential step in the evolution of social media platforms was the launch of Instagram in 2010.
Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives, but have you ever wondered how old is the first social media? The concept of social networking dates back to the late 1990s, with platforms like Six Degrees and Friendster paving the way for what we know today as social media.
The Birth of Social Networking
Now, the only things that have changed are the platforms and the ease at which we can connect and create. Jack Dorsey was one of the creators of Twitter and this global platform grew from day one. Tweets were limited to 140 characters at that time and the platform quickly grew and in 2022, Elon Musk paid an astonishing $44 billion for the company.
In 1997, Six Degrees emerged as the first modern social networking site. Users could create profiles, add friends, and send messages – much like how we interact on platforms like Facebook today. However, Six Degrees eventually shut down in 2001 due to a lack of financial success.
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media services thrived in the mobile app environment. Using our definition of social media above, the first two social media platforms were Six Degrees and Friendster, both of which are no longer around, despite playing an influential role in starting what has become a social media revolution. It depends, but early social media platforms started to pop up in the late 90s to early 2000s, with the technology budding as early as the 70s.
Friendster and the Rise of Social Media
Following the footsteps of Six Degrees, Friendster was launched in 2002 and quickly gained popularity among internet users. It allowed users to connect with friends, share photos, and play games. Friendster laid the foundation for the explosion of social media platforms that followed in the coming years.
As we look back at the origins of social media, it’s clear that the concept has been around for over two decades. From humble beginnings with Six Degrees to the global phenomenon of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, social media has come a long way since its inception. It will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve in the future.
