The story and history of Social Media
The history of social media is an important milestone for business and websites. Social networking may seem like a fairly new marvel on the Internet with Twitter and Facebook being the two most popular, but in reality, social is not and never was just devised of these two platforms. In fact, Facebook and Twitter were rolled out nearly thirty years after social started on the Internet. It’s true that it was not until 2004 and 2006 when Facebook and Twitter kicked off that social media started to change the world and the way that people communicate online, but the truth is that social media started with email, usenet, the world wide web, blogs and AOL instant messenger. The history of the Internet is the history of social networking.
Social Media History
The phenomena of social networking blossomed in 1994 with the creation of Geocities, which allowed its users to setup websites modeled after certain urban areas. At that time, more than 1,500 web servers were online in 1994 and people were referring to the Internet as the Information Superhighway.
- In 1971, a government organization called ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) sent the first email.
- In 1980, Usenet worldwide distributed Internet discussion system was launched and with it, thousands flocked to the message boards to discuss music, science, literature and sports.
These two events signal the dawn of social networking.
What do people do with social media?
- Posting and sharing
- Reading and viewing
- Linking and commenting
- Interacting with brands
- Interacting with fan pages
- Playing games
- Chatting and messaging
What is social?
- It’s huge. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populated in the world, behind only China and India.
- The amount of video uploaded to YouTube every minute is more than 24 hours (double from the year prior).
- The number of YouTube videos viewed per day is over 2 billion (double from the year prior).
- The number of images hosted on Flickr is over 4 billion (that is 13 times more than the Library of Congress).
- The number of companies using LinkedIn to find and attract employees is 95%.
- The number of marriages last year between people who met through social media is 1 in 6, which is twice as many people who met in bars, clubs and other social events.
- The average number of tweets per day on Twitter is over 27 million (that is 8 time more than the year prior)..
Who is social?
More than half of the human race is under the age of 30. So if you want to a sense of where the world’s media habits are headed, it makes sense to watch what kids are doing.
Reaching customers
Social media is the best way to reach your most influential customers, and the only way to reach your most cynical ones. Social media is the crack cocaine of the Internet. We want it, we need it, and we go through withdraw when we don’t have it.
The future of business and social
Social media is a way of thinking. It’s not about sales or ads or click-through rates. It’s about pursuing relationships and fostering communities of consumers. Businesses that wish to grow need to rethink their entire business marketing process. Social requires businesses to make plans because with social, customers are in the center and they are in control.
Level the playing field
Social media is dramatically leveling the playing field and connecting us like never before. So, forget your brand. You don’t own it. You can spend all sorts of time and money trying to manufacture public opinion, but ultimately it’s up to the public.
Social media is redefining everything.
- How we work
- How we play
- How we learn
- How we share
- How we discover
- How we create
- How we complain
- How we celebrate
- How we mourn
- How we applaud
- How we influence
- How we collaborate
- How we investigate
- How we evaluate
The rules of social media are basically the same as media.
- Listen
- Engage
- Be real
- Be respectful
- Have fun
Home on the Internet
Social media is the ongoing conversation of the planet. It’s the source of news, and more often that not, social is the home on the Internet. It’s the home page and the place where most people spend time on the Internet. Social media is the mainstream. It moves the media mouthpiece and constantly distributes to the hands of the public.
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