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Mullets reigned supreme in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s; computers were a far rarer commodity. Machine languages were bewildering, and their potential seemingly limited. What’s more, this whole sitting-in-front-of-a-keyboard thing was so… isolationistic. Put all this together and you have a medium where only the most ardent enthusiasts and techno-babbling hobbyists dared tread. It was, in effect, a breeding ground for pocket-protector-wearing societal rejects, or nerds. Boring, reclusive nerds at that.
Yet it also was during this time, and with a parade of purportedly antisocial geeks at the helm, that the very gregarious notion of social networking would take its first steps towards becoming the omnipresent cultural phenomenon we know and love in 2014.
BBS, AOL and CompuServe: The Infant Years
“Put all this together and you have a medium where only the most ardent enthusiasts and techno-babbling hobbyists dared tread.”
It started with the BBS. Short for Bulletin Board System, these online meeting places were effectively independently-produced hunks of code that allowed users to communicate with a central system where they could download files or games (many times including pirated software) and post messages to other users. Accessed over telephone lines via a modem, BBSes were often run by hobbyists who carefully nurtured the social aspects and interest-specific nature of their projects – which, more often than not in those early days of computers, was technology-related. Moreover, long distance calling rates usually applied for out-of-towners, so many Bulletin Boards were locals-only affairs that in turn spurred local in-person gatherings. And voila, just like that, suddenly the antisocial had become social.The BBS was no joke. Though the technology of the time restricted the flexibility of these systems, and the end-user’s experience, to text-only exchanges of data that crawled along at glacial speed, BBSes continued to gain popularity throughout the ‘80s and well into the ‘90s, when the Internet truly kicked into gear. Indeed, some services – such as Tom Jennings’ FidoNet – linked numerous BBSes together into worldwide computer networks that managed to survive the Internet revolution.
But there were also other avenues for social interaction long before the Internet exploded onto the mainstream consciousness. One such option was CompuServe, a service that began life in the 1970s as a business-oriented mainframe computer communication solution, but expanded into the public domain in the late 1980s.
CompuServe allowed members to share files and access news and events. But it also offered something few had ever experienced – true interaction. Not only could you send a message to your friend via a newfangled technology dubbed “e-mail” (granted, the concept of e-mail wasn’t exactly newfangled at the time, though widespread public access to it was). You could also join any of CompuServe’s thousands of discussion forums to yap with thousands of other members on virtually any important subject of the day. Those forums proved tremendously popular and paved the way for the modern iterations we know today.
But if there is a true precursor to today’s social networking sites, it was likely spawned under the AOL (America Online) umbrella. In many ways, and for many people, AOL was the Internet before the Internet, and its member-created communities (complete with searchable “Member Profiles,” in which users would list pertinent details about themselves), were arguably the service’s most fascinating, forward-thinking feature.
Yet there was no stopping the real Internet, and by the mid-1990s it was moving full bore. Yahoo had just set up shop, Amazon had just begun selling books, and the race to get a PC in every household was on. And, by 1995, the site that may have been the first to fulfill the modern definition of social networking was born.
The Internet Boom: Social Networking’s Adolescence
Though differing from many current social networking sites in that it asks not “Who can I connect with?” but rather, “Who can I connect with that was once a schoolmate of mine?” Classmates.com proved almost immediately that the idea of a virtual reunion was a good one. Early users could not create profiles, but they could locate long-lost grade school chums, menacing school bullies and maybe even that prom date they just couldn’t forget. It was a hit almost immediately, and even today the service boasts some 57 million registered accounts.
That same level of success can’t be said for SixDegrees.com. Sporting a name based on the theory somehow associated with actor Kevin Bacon that no person is separated by more than six degrees from another, the site sprung up in 1997 and was one of the very first to allow its users to create profiles, invite friends, organize groups, and surf other user profiles. Its founders worked the six degrees angle hard by encouraging members to bring more people into the fold. Unfortunately, this “encouragement” ultimately became a bit too pushy for many, and the site slowly devolved into a loose association of computer users and numerous complaints of spam-filled membership drives. SixDegrees.com folded completely just after the turn of the millennium.
Other sites of the era opted solely for niche, demographic-driven markets. One was AsianAvenue.com, founded in 1997. A product of Community Connect Inc., which itself was founded just one year prior in the New York apartment of former investment banker and the future Community Connect CEO, AsianAvenue.com was followed by BlackPlanet.com in 1999 and by the Hispanic-oriented MiGente.com in 2000. All three still exist today, with BlackPlanet.com in particular still enjoying tremendous success with more than eight million visitors per month.
Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook: The Biz Grows Up
In 2002, social networking hit really its stride with the launch of Friendster. Friendster used a degree of separation concept similar to that of the now-defunct SixDegrees.com, refined it into a routine dubbed the “Circle of Friends,” and promoted the idea that a rich online community can exist only between people who truly have common bonds. And it ensured there were plenty of ways to discover those bonds.
An interface that shared many of the same traits one would find at an online dating site certainly didn’t seem to hurt. Friendster CEO Jonathan Abrams even once referred to his creation as a dating site that isn’t about dating. Within a year after its launch, Friendster boasted more than three million registered users and a ton of investment interest. Unfortunately, the service has since seen more than its fair share of technical difficulties, questionable management decisions, and a resulting drop in its North American fortunes. Although briefly enjoying success in Indonesia and in the Philippines, Friendster has since abandoned social networking and now exists solely as an online gaming site.
Introduced just a year later in 2003, LinkedIn took a decidedly more serious, sober approach to the social networking phenomenon. Rather than being a mere playground for former classmates, teenagers, and cyberspace Don Juans, LinkedIn was, and still is, a networking resource for business people who want to connect with other professionals. In fact, LinkedIn contacts are referred to as “connections.” Today, LinkedIn boasts more than 297 million members.
MySpace also launched in 2003. Though it no longer resides upon the social networking throne in many English-speaking countries – that honor now belongs to Facebook just about everywhere – MySpace was once the perennial favorite. It did so by tempting the key young adult demographic with music, music videos, and a funky, feature-filled environment. It looked and felt hipper than major competitor Friendster right from the start, and it conducted a campaign of sorts in the early days to show alienated Friendster users just what they were missing. Over the years however, the number of casual Myspace users declined, and today the site exists now as a social networking site targeted to bands and musicians.
As expected, the ubiquitous Facebook now leads the global social networking pack. Founded, like many social networking sites, by university students who initially peddled their product to other university students, Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvard-only exercise and remained a campus-oriented site for two full years before finally opening to the general public in 2006. Yet, even by that time, Facebook was considered big business. So much so that, by 2009, Silicon Valley bigwigs such as Paypal co-founder and billionaire Peter Thiel invested tens of millions of dollars just to see it flourish.
The secret of Facebook’s success — the site currently boasts more than 1.3 billion active users — is a subject of much debate. Some point to its ease of use, others to its multitude of easily-accessed features, and still others, to its memorable name. A highly targeted advertising model certainly doesn’t hurt, either, nor did financial injections such as the $60 million from noted Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing in 2007. Regardless, there’s universal agreement on one thing: Facebook promotes both honesty and openness. It seems people really enjoy being themselves, and throwing that openness out there for all to see.
Pulling Ahead: How Facebook and Twitter won the Web
Facebook is king for a reason. It wasn’t just through luck that founder Mark Zuckerberg’s darling came to reign supreme over the social media kingdom. It was, in fact, a series of smart moves and innovative features that set the platform apart from the rest of the social media pack. First and foremost, the 2007 launch of the Facebook Platform was key to site’s success. The open API made it possible for third-party developers to create applications that work within Facebook itself. Almost immediately after being released, the platform gained a massive amount of attention. At one point in time, Facebook had hundreds of thousands of apps built on the platform, so many that Facebook launched the Facebook App Store to organize and display them all. Twitter, meanwhile, created its own API and enjoyed similar success as a result.
The other key to success was Facebook’s ubiquitous ‘Like’ button, which broke free from the bounds of the site and began appearing all over the Internet. Now you can ‘like’ or “tweet’ just about everything even when you’re not on Facebook or Twitter. Realizing the power of social networking, Google decided to launch their own social network (Google+) in 2007. It differed from Facebook and Twitter in that it wasn’t necessarily a full-featured networking site, but rather a social “layer” of the overall Google experience. Initially, Google generated a lot of buzz with the service’s Hangouts feature, which allowed users to enter live video chats with other online friends. At the time of launch, Facebook was scrambling to keep up by integrating a video chat feature of their own.
Within just four weeks, Google+ had garnered 25 million unique visitors, with as much as 540 million active monthly users as of June 2014. Regardless, the service definitely didn’t dethrone Zuckerberg’s behemoth, especially considering more than half of Google+ users have never even visited the service’s official site. It still arguably showed the world that there was still room for innovation and competition in the realm of social networking, though.
The Multi-platformed Self: The Rise of Mobile
Over the course of the past two years, “Fourth screen” technology — smartphones, tablets, etc.— has changed social networking and the way we communicate with one another entirely. What used to sit on ourdesks now conveniently fits in the palm of our hands, allowing us to effortlessly utilize functionality once reserved for multiple devices wherever we go.
Given the abrupt rise in mobile computing, it’s not surprising the most popularsocial media platforms of the past several years hinge on the capabilities of smartphones. Photo and video-sharing applications such asSnapchat and Instagram, the latter of whichhas now garnered a staggering20 billion images since the app’s initial inception in October 2010, exist almost entirely on mobile. The same goes with platforms such asFoursquare, an application in which users use their smartphones to check in to various locations aroundthe globe, and various matchmaking services. Tinder, for instance, currently boasts more than 10 million daily users, each of which swipes for potential partners based on their approximately in relation to their smartphone.
Mobile-based platforms also approach social networking in an entirely different fashion than their Web-based counterparts. Rather than offering a comprehensive social networking experience like the now-defunct Myspace and the struggling Google+, they instead specialize in a specific kind of interaction service that involves the sharing of public images (Instagram), the private sharing of images sharing (Snapchat), augmented reality (Foursquare), and location-based matchmaking (Tinder). People essentially use the various services in conjunction with other platforms to build a comprehensive, digital identity.
“People now exist on multiple platforms, and instead of fighting against this trend, larger companies are tapping into this new environment.”
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: The Future of Social Networking
In March 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus VR, a company on the cusp of mass producing virtual-reality headsets. Upon sealing the deal, Zuckerberg commented regarding the communication potential for the platform, highlighting the slew of potentialuses for the virtual technology when it comes to academics, viewing live events, and consulting with doctors face-to-face. However, Facebook has taken a hands-off approach in its management of Oculus VR, allowing the company to continuefocusing predominately on gaming applications while other parties — i.e. the Pentagon — quietly look intousing virtual reality headsets for military purposes. Anumber of medical experts have even begun using virtual reality to treat anxiety, combat-induced P.T.S.D., and other pronounced mental illnesses.Adult entertainment, meanwhile, has invested in virtual reality for years.
To simplify my point, it appears a good deal of people havehigh hopes that virtual reality will become the next blockbuster computing platform. The technology already exists, and with the consumer version of the Oculus Rift VR headset slated to go on sale inlate 2014 for under $300, the potential for widespread adoption of virtual reality has never been greater. At the very least, the Rift’s success or failure in the market will shape Facebook’s approach toward incorporating virtual reality. Note that augmented reality differs from virtual reality in that it applies digital interaction to the real world insteadof creatingan audio-visual experience from scratch.In terms of social networking, augmented reality offers a number of possibilities. For instance, people could share their name, interests, relationship status, and mutual friends all within adigital sphere.
Believe it or not, augmented reality already exists in apps like Yelp and Google Ingress.Smartphones are more than capable of delivering augmented reality, and as one might expect, the technology is the entire concept drivingGoogle Glass’ digital integration with the real world.Google’s deliberate decision to sell Glass at an inflated price of $1,500, however,is likelymeant to exclude the general public while the tech giant and a selective group of consumers — aka “explorers” work to hammer out the device’s flaws.The day Google lowers the price of Glass to its estimated production cost of $150 marks the day when widespread adoption of augmented reality, including augmented reality in social networking, becomes a greater possibility. Until then, there’s always Snapchat and the overuse of hashtags in just about everything we do.
The bid for originality: Facebook and Twitter bet big on video and livestreaming
Fueled by the rise of third-party apps, social media giants were forced to take note of the video format by 2012. But not before that same format, in a different guise, had laid waste to any form of originality on their respective services.
A spending spree followed. Within the span of just a couple of years, several major buyouts —and failed acquisition attempts — took place within the sector. In 2012, Twitterpurchased video-looping platform, Vine. Later that same year, Facebook bought Instagram, which would eventually introduce video-sharing into its own appapp to great success. Then in 2013, Facebook made its infamous bid for Snapchat, which was turned down by the makers of the ephemeral messaging app.
Meanwhile, the video-shaped void on Facebook and Twitter had been filled by new media companies that were experts in the art of viral content (i.e. BuzzFeed, 9GAG, Mashable). An earlier source had been YouTube, which had heralded the dawn of the internet celebrity with its homegrown roster of creators. Despite their popularity, however, viral videos posed more complications for social media giants than they did opportunities.
Left to operate independently, both Instagram and Vine proved to be solid investments. Their respective owners, however, were still facing the same issue. By 2015, Twitter was being labelled as “inaccessible” due to its flat growth in user numbers. Facebook, on the other hand, saw its users sharing less personal information. Instead of original posts, Facebook news feeds and Twitter timelines became bloated with viral videos, memes, GIFs, and clickbait articles — making them harder to navigate in the process. As in the past, the perceived solution came from an existing product, which ended up paying the ultimate price for its abrupt rise.
Having dominated the conversation at the 2015 SXSW Interactive festival, livestreaming app Meerkat caught the attention of Twitter. Capitalizing on what it viewed as an emerging trend, Twitter bought rival livestreaming app Periscope just a few months later. It has since integrated Periscope streams into its main platform, in an attempt to further popularize the app. Fast forward a few months to the end of 2015, and Facebook inevitably followed suit with thelaunch of Live Video. Overshadowed by its rivals, Meerkat quicklyquickly abandoned livestreaming altogether.
It is easy to see the attraction live broadcasts hold for social networks. Like viral videos, livestreams have the unique benefit of making viewers feel like they are ‘in the moment.’ A popular livestream has a snowball effect and, in turn, can quickly become a trending topic. Like the immediacy offered by Snapchat, the format can transform the mundane into the unmissable. Best of all, it allows social networks to lay claim to something original, which now autoplays on its flagship platform.
The integration of the livestream on Twitter and Facebook has also made the two companies more open to striking broadcast deals with third-parties. In turn, having seen the success that BuzzFeed and its counterparts have had with video, both traditional and new media companies have been quick to embrace Periscope and Facebook Live.
Nowhere is this theory better evidenced than Twitter’srecent deal to livestream NFL games. This compromise on the part of the social media giants comes in the wake of the realization that they can no longer be relegated to the second, third, or fourth screen. They have to be the main attraction by showcasing viral, trending, or popular visual media — whether original or not — in real-time, fueling interaction and reaction in the process.
This article was originally published on August 5, 2014, and updated on May 4, 2016,by Saqib Shahto reflect the widespread adoption of video-sharing platforms and livestreaming.
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FAQs
What is the history of social media? ›
The first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that's still popular today.
What are the trends of social media? ›Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are current social media trends in 2022, as brands try to offer an exciting user experience. Many e-commerce companies have adapted to AR-powered shopping, allowing users to try-on products before purchasing them.
When did the social media became as one of the most important and complex type of new technology? ›During the early 21st century, social media platforms became popular, first with the emergence of Friendster and Myspace, and later with the launch and popularization of Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, among others.
How has social media developed over time? ›In less than a generation, social media has evolved from direct electronic information exchange, to virtual gathering place, to retail platform, to vital 21st-century marketing tool.
Why is social media important? ›It is a valuable communication tool with others locally and worldwide, as well as to share, create, and spread information. Social media can influence consumer's purchase decisions through reviews, marketing tactics and advertising.
What was the main purpose of social media? ›Social media platforms allow users to have conversations, share information and create web content. There are many forms of social media, including blogs, micro-blogs, wikis, social networking sites, photo-sharing sites, instant messaging, video-sharing sites, podcasts, widgets, virtual worlds, and more.
How social media trends affects our society? ›Social Media is relatively a newer technology, hence, it is a little difficult to establish its long-term good and bad consequences. However, multiple researchers have concluded a strong relationship between heavy use of social media platforms with an increase in risk of depression, self-harm, anxiety, and loneliness.
Where can I learn about social media trends? ›One great place to start doing this research could be our HubSpot and Talkwalker's recent Social Media Trends Report. Along with insights and quotes from social media experts, our Social Media Trends Report walks through all the major 2022 trend predictions to know about, and how your brand can keep up.
What is the meaning of social trends? ›The term "social trends" came into use in connection with statistical measurement of trend lines, but it was quickly used to describe movements not statistically measured, as, for instance, the trend in the growth of an institution.
How social media has connected the world? ›Through social media, users can communicate to each other. At the same time, they can communicate with sharing pictures or images or voice messages.
How does social media help spread information? ›
Information appears based on the social media user friends sharing the information; or by who the user chooses to receive information from. Truthful or un-truthful information appears on the social media user news feed with or without consent of the user.
What are the positive impacts of social media? ›Building Relationships and Staying Connected
Social media can make it easy to find groups of like-minded people or make new friends. Finding a close-knit community can help us feel valued and accepted. Social media is also an easy way to nurture existing relationships with family and friends who have moved away.
| Platform | Life Span |
|---|---|
| 6 hours | |
| 24 hours | |
| 48 hours | |
| YouTube | About 20 days |
Social media networks allow us the opportunity to share opinions with a far wider audience. Another big change that has occurred is that there is now no filter on the way we speak. In the past, unless you spoke to people directly, you had no way to get your message across regardless of your freedom of speech.
How many people use social media today? ›...
Social Media Statistics Details.
| Network | Active users (MM) |
|---|---|
| 2853 | |
| YouTube | 2291 |
| 2000 | |
| 1386 |
It has made its importance in our lives in a very short period. It has become necessary daily activity for people. Social media enables its users to stay in contact by making communication easier. Sharing pictures, videos, expressing thoughts, ideas, and documents are just one click away.
How social media affects our life essay? ›If the use of social media is not monitored, it can lead to grave consequences. It is harmful because it invades your privacy like never before. The oversharing happening on social media makes children a target for predators and hackers. It also leads to cyberbullying which affects any person significantly.
Why social media is important in our life essay? ›Social media allows the social growth of society and also helps many businesses. It provides tools like social media marketing to reach millions of potential clients. We can easily access information and get news through social media. Social media is an excellent tool for creating awareness about any social cause.
What is social media in simple words? ›What is Social Media? Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. The Office of Communications and Marketing manages the main Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts.
Is social media helpful or harmful? ›Although there are important benefits, social media can also provide platforms for bullying and exclusion, unrealistic expectations about body image and sources of popularity, normalization of risk-taking behaviors, and can be detrimental to mental health.
What can you say about social media? ›
Social media allows individuals to keep in touch with friends and extended family. Some people will use various social media applications to network and find career opportunities, connect with people across the globe with like-minded interests, and share their own thoughts, feelings, and insights online.
What is the impact of media in our daily life? ›They Determine Our Place in the World
The media greatly influences society. They inform people about what is happening. It permeates people's lives by creating their own criteria and opinions. In this way the media moves the masses, creating different social movements.
Social media has taken its position into the real world and has interfered with the lives of many. As users log on to their social media profiles, they are being removed away from the real world and placed into the virtual dimension.
What are the positive and negative effects of social media on students? ›- Encourage Online Learning:
- Enhances Academic Performance:
- Enhances Creative Element:
- Causes Distraction:
- Impact on Health:
- Reduces learning and research capability:
Relationships. The most obvious impact social trends have is the way they change how companies build relationships. This is obvious because you can see it frequently in the marketing campaigns of larger companies. Nike, Pepsi, and Gillette have all released adverts focusing on modern social issues in recent years.
What trends should we watch in the development of social media applications to new products? ›- Live streaming. ...
- Short video & Instagram Reels. ...
- Microinfluencers and their effectiveness. ...
- Social commerce on the rise. ...
- Social networks for customer service. ...
- Personalized ads on social media. ...
- Social listening & brand involvement. ...
- Tight-knit communities.
The definition of a trend is a general direction or something popular. An example of trend is a northern moving coastline. An example of trend is the style of bell bottom jeans. A general tendency or course of events.
What are the types of trends? ›The three main types of trends are uptrends, downtrends and horizontal trends.
What do you understand by trend? ›A trend is what's hip or popular at a certain point in time. While a trend usually refers to a certain style in fashion or entertainment, there could be a trend toward warmer temperatures (if people are following trends associated with global warming).
What is the impact of social media on economy? ›The author found that social media has increased opportunities for long-distance business and may increase domestic GDP levels. Social media opens up a new way of living and doing business, and it will continue to develop in the future.
How does social media transform our new generation today? ›
They can even make new friends from diverse countries and cultures, increasing their cultural awareness. Social media even has a role to play in networking and career enhancement, with sites like LinkedIn helping young people to find employment opportunities and ways of making money.
What is the effect of social media on self confidence? ›While social media is sometimes touted to combat loneliness, a significant body of research suggests it may have the opposite effect. By triggering comparison with others, it can raise doubts about self-worth, potentially leading to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
What kind of impact do digital media have on you? ›Research indicates that when humans excessively use digital media it can negatively influence their cognitive and behavioural development and even their mental and physical health.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media? ›| Pros of Social Media | Cons of Social Media |
|---|---|
| Social Media Can Reach Large Audiences | Social Media Causes Sleep Issues |
| Government Benefits from Social Media | Social Media Cause Depression and Loneliness |
| Entertainment with Social Media | Social Media Causes Distraction |
With nearly 3 billion monthly users, Facebook is inarguably the largest and most popular social media platform in the world.
What do you mean by digital advertising? ›Digital advertising refers to marketing through online channels, such as websites, streaming content, and more. Digital ads span media formats, including text, image, audio, and video.
Which media has long life? ›TV advertising has a longer life.
How social media affects our social skills? ›Non-verbal aspects of a conversation are how the person speaking indicates his/her emotion about what he/she is talking about. Using social media too much makes it harder for people to identify the emotion being expressed by the people with whom they are talking. This makes it harder to respond appropriately.
Does social media improve people's communication skills? ›Social media is invaluable for connecting and communicating with people across the globe, building professional and personal relationships, and allowing us to capture the present moment and make it last.
Has social media improved human interaction? ›However, at the individual level, more social media use was positively associated with more in-person social interaction. The study also found that adolescents who spent the most time on social media and the least time in face-to-face social interactions reported the most loneliness.
Why is social media important? ›
It is a valuable communication tool with others locally and worldwide, as well as to share, create, and spread information. Social media can influence consumer's purchase decisions through reviews, marketing tactics and advertising.
Did you know facts about social media? ›One of the mind-blowing facts about social media is that; there are nearly 3.5billion active social media users, and every 6.4 seconds a new account has been created. Every user has an average of 7.6 social media accounts. They spend around 142 minutes on social media every single day.
How popular is social media marketing? ›What percentage of marketing is social media? A whopping 93% of marketers worldwide are using social media business. In 2022, almost 92% of marketers who work for companies with more than 100 employees in the United States are expected to start using social media for marketing.
What was the first social media? ›May 1997: Six Degrees
Six Degrees is widely considered to be the very first social networking site. Founded by Andrew Weinreich in May 1996, the site launched the following year and combined popular features such as profiles, friends lists and school affiliations in one service.
There were of course earlier, much smaller predecessors of social networking website. Probably the first recognizable social media site, in the format we know today, was Six Degrees – a platform created in 1997 that enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users.
Who is founder of social media? ›What if we told you it dates much further back than Facebook or even Myspace? Yes, and even past the first recognized social media site “Six Degrees”, founded in 1997 by Andrew Weinreich.
What is the introduction of social media? ›Introduction to Social Media
Social media is a web‐based technology to facilitate social interaction between a large group of people through some type of network. In common widely used network is the Internet. But social media platforms are also for local networks as well.
One of the mind-blowing facts about social media is that; there are nearly 3.5billion active social media users, and every 6.4 seconds a new account has been created. Every user has an average of 7.6 social media accounts. They spend around 142 minutes on social media every single day.
Is social media good for history? ›At its best, social media is a remarkable mechanism for exchanging ideas, book recommendations and contacts, all of which makes the life of the historian a great deal easier.
How is social media impacting society? ›Social Media is relatively a newer technology, hence, it is a little difficult to establish its long-term good and bad consequences. However, multiple researchers have concluded a strong relationship between heavy use of social media platforms with an increase in risk of depression, self-harm, anxiety, and loneliness.
How popular is social media? ›
How many people use social media? Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2021, over 4.26 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost six billion in 2027.
What is the most used social media? ›Facebook
With nearly 3 billion monthly users, Facebook is inarguably the largest and most popular social media platform in the world.
Social media is a collective term for websites and applications that focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. People use social media to stay in touch and interact with friends, family and various communities.
How many social media are there in the world? ›Analysis from Kepios shows that there are 4.74 billion social media users around the world in October 2022, equating to 59.3 percent of the total global population.
What is the impact of social media to students? ›It is easy to become addicted, and research shows that students who spend too much time on social media can suffer from poor sleep, eye fatigue, negative body image, depression, anxiety, cyberbullying, and more.
What is the conclusion of using social media? ›Social media has taken its position into the real world and has interfered with the lives of many. As users log on to their social media profiles, they are being removed away from the real world and placed into the virtual dimension.
What can you say about social media? ›"Social media platforms allow us to share information and education to individuals in a great capacity and on a grand scale. However, when used for negative, social media can be extremely detrimental to our mental health and has been the trigger for increased anxiety and social problems in our world."