We tell you the history of social networks, how they originated and their characteristics. In addition, its evolution and the most popular networks.
History of social networks
The history of social networks is the set of events, innovations and technological developments that resulted in the appearance of social networks. Networks are virtual communities that through the Internet allow the exchange of information, data and social contact between their users, or between them and the companies that are advertised in these spaces.
In historical terms, social networks are A very recent tool. They are part of the new trends and possibilities that the Internet made possible, and that go beyond mere entertainment.
Social networks They are powerful advertising and propaganda instrumentsto measure marketing trends, social capital management. On the other hand, they have been accused of serving as an instrument for misinformation and expansion of calls Fake News or conspiracy theories.
See also: Apple
History of social networks
The history of social networks has important precursors, some so vital for the history of the Internet itself as ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Networkthat is, “Network of the Agency for Advanced Research Projects”), which would become the germ where the World Wide Web occurred.
Arpanet was A primitive network of US computerswhich connected certain universities, institutes and military organizations. Its purpose was to defend the country of Soviet attacks during the Cold War, and facilitate the flow of confidential scientific information.
Thanks to her The first email could be sent in 1971 and start the Gubanterg project, the first free online digital library, in 1978. Finally, in 1991, this private exchange network became public and the Internet began as we understood today.
Then, The flow of information and belonging to online communities had beginsbut vertically: there was an official page of a product, company or service, and people could be ascribed to receive notifications, advertising and offers. In some cases, they could provide a certain feedback through statistics, surveys or products evaluations.
The direct antecedent to social networks were GEOCITIES SERVICES, Tripod and Ciudad Futura. These platforms offered the possibility of handling small and simple custom web pages, organized in “neighborhoods” according to their content.
Origin of social networks
One of the first social network projects It was known as 6 Degrees (“6 degrees”). He aspired to put into practice the alleged theory of the 6 degrees of separation, which says that anyone is related to another on the planet in a maximum of six degrees of social bond, that is, counting six intermediate people.
This site It was launched in 1997 and it was a resounding failurepartly because after connecting with the acquaintances, there was nothing to do. However, these first community projects served as a basis for future proposals, such as molente.com, Asianavenue or Match.com, some focused on getting a partner, others in cateo or socialization rooms in real time.
In Latin America the Latin case was famous (2000), and in the world that of Blogspot (1998). The latter allowed the emergence of blogs or online newspapers, called “blogs”, around which communities and relationships were created.
Another important case was that of The debate and discussion forumswhich proposed a slower way of writing in writing around various topics, but that led to a certain idea of belonging, of organized society around their tastes and interests.
The explosion of the new millennium
With the arrival of the 21st century Internet evidenced its success as a socialization tool, since the first generation accustomed to its use of childhood was born. The chats, blogs and pages to make friends like Friendster (2002) or Orkut (2004), allowed a change in the socialization pattern.
In addition, instant messaging services such as MSN Messenger (1999-2005) were added. Together these changes They gave rise to the first long or short distance virtual relationships.
The first commercially successful social network
The first social network that constituted a true commercial phenomenon It was MySpace (2003). It allowed the creation of individualized and personalized profiles, which reflected the tastes and passions of each user, and that also allowed the exchange of opinions and content.
The peak of popularity of this social network was achieved between 2000 and 2008. Then the decline began, although by 2011 he added 33.1 million visitors only in the United States, being in the 91st traffic place throughout the World Wide Web.
MySpace decay began when its competitors based on photographic or images, such as Metroflog, Fotolog or the like began to monopolize the publicoffering a more agile and multimediatic experience. Finally, in 2008, the arrival of Facebook to the world public buried Myspace’s popularity forever.
The Facebook empire
Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. Initially it only involved American university students, since it was an application to be able to keep in touch with the known people in that area, mixing instant communication with personal mini-painting and other similar services.
His success was such that a year after his launch, he already had 2 million users in more than 500 American universities. Its opening to the general public occurred in 2006.
Its popularity reached stratospheric and unsuspected levels, and many companies saw on Facebook the opportunity to measure their audiences, reach new ones or promote themselves comfortably and focused. This led to the social network to be the most used in the world, reached 1,650 million active users in 2016and continue to grow.
With such success, some problems also came, such as The severe accusations of betraying confidentiality From the information of its users, collaborate with third parties for citizen espionage and other claims that were not little controversial and took Zuckerberg himself to trial.
The Twitter Revolution
Another case of utmost importance is represented by Twitter (2006), an innovation of the existing Odeo, owned by Jack DORSEY, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. It emerged as an internal messaging system for journalistic purposes, which allowed users to express themselves with 140 characters quickly, vertiginously and constantly.
Twitter won such popularity that today has More than 500 million users generating 65 million “tweets” dailyand handle more than 800,000 daily searches. Its influence in other media such as radio or television is notorious, functioning as “the Internet SMS”, given its immediacy and transacity.
Incorporation into cell phones
Around 2007 the so -called smartphones or “smartphones” They were the definitive push to social networks. They allowed them to consult at any time through applications downloaded on phones equipped with the ability to navigate on the Internet.
This way, Networks maximized their incorporation into everyday life. At the same time, the telephone became daily and constant consultation tools, to levels that many even accuse of addictive.
Other important social networks
Other cases of social networks of importance are:
- YouTube A social network that consists of video broadcasts, from television, films, animations and amateur material, which allows comments and registering its own channel, with favorite broadcasts and subscriptions.
- Instagram A social network initially thought for photographers and visual artists, which gained popularity among all types of users who share visual content.
- LinkedIn Social network specialized in the labor field, which acts as an intermediary between its users and companies that have job offers, allowing them to make an online CV.
Evolution of social networks
As they join our daily lives, social networks More and more central in various fields have becomewinning in importance, in multimedia resources and in responsibility. Many people use them to inform themselves or to be in contact with distant loved ones.
On the other hand, There are numerous interests involved in its operation. They have an important role in politics, in economics and culture, which is still a matter of debate in the world.
Social networks timeline
- 1997. Launch of 6 Degrees.
- 1998. Blogspot launch and blog popularization.
- 1999. Launch of the MSN Messenger.
- 2000. Latin appears, one of the most popular cateo sites in Latin America.
- 2002. Friendster launch.
- 2003. Launch of HI5 and MySpace.
- 2004. Orkut and Facebook launch.
- 2006. Facebook release for the general public and Twitter launch.
- 2008. Facebook becomes popular throughout the world. Pinterest launch.
- 2010. Instagram appears in the market.
- 2011. Snapchat and Google+ launch.
Continue with:
document.addEventListener(“DOMContentLoaded”, (e) => {
var sliderContainer, slider;
sliderContainer = document.getElementById(‘block_fdbfc648096e56ca01c6bd3980f4db0d’);
if (typeof initSlider !== ‘function’) {
console.log(‘Swiper haven\’t been loaded’);
sliderContainer.className += ‘ fw scroll-snap’;
return;
};
options = {
direction: ‘horizontal’,
speed: 1000,
slidesPerView: ‘auto’,
// slidesPerGroup: 1,
centerInsufficientSlides: true,
// centeredSlides:true,
spaceBetween: 15,
breakpoints: {
720: {
// centeredSlides: false,
// slidesPerGroup: 2,
spaceBetween: 25
},
},
pagination: {
el: ‘.swiper-pagination’,
type: ‘bullets’,
clickable: true
},
}
slider = initSlider(sliderContainer, options);
})
References:
- “The history of social networks” (video) at www.youtube.com/
- “A brief history of social networks” at www.blog.hootsuite.com/
- “Brief history of social networks” at www.antevenio.com/
- “Social Network” at www.britannica.com/
