A great deal has happened in the history of social media, with platforms, fads and technologies coming and going, as well as impressive milestones being passed. It can be very hard to keep track!
So here we present a brief timeline of the history of social media, to help make sense of it all.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1844 | Samual Morse sends the first electronic message from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. |
| 1974 | The Internet is developed from ARPANET following the publication of the first Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) specification |
| circa 1980 | Bulletin Board System (BBS) emerges as one of the earliest known forms of social media |
| 1988 | Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is developed |
| 1997 | Social networking website SixDegrees.com is launched |
| 1997 | AOL Instant Messenger is released |
| 1998 | Open Diary is launched, providing the first social blogging network included concepts such as reader comments and friends-only content |
| 1999 | Yahoo! And MSN Messenger services are launched |
| 1999 | LiveJournal, an early blogging platform, is launched |
| 2000 | Habbo, a game-based social networking site, is launched |
| 2001 | SixDegrees.com shuts down |
| 2002 | Social networking site Friendster is launched |
| 2003 | Business-oriented social networking service LinkedIn is launched |
| 2003 | Myspace is launched |
| 2003 | Skype, an instant messaging and video/voice calling service (VoIP), is launched |
| 2004 | Facebook is launched |
| 2004 | Flickr, an image and video hosting website, is launched |
| 2004 | Orkut, a social networking website owned by Google, is launched |
| 2005 | Bebo, a social networking website, is launched |
| 2005 | Myspace is acquired by News Corporation for $580 million |
| 2005 | Qzone, a Chinese social networking website, is launched |
| 2005 | Reddit is launched |
| 2005 | Renren, another Chinese social networking website, is launched |
| 2005 | Yahoo! acquires Flickr |
| 2005 | Facebook launches its photos feature with no restrictions on storage (but without the ability to tag friends) |
| 2006 | Twitter is launched |
| 2006 | Facebook launches News Feed |
| 2007 | Tumblr is launched |
| 2008 | AOL buys Bebo for $850 million |
| 2009 | Sina Weibo is launched |
| 2010 | Pinterest is launched |
| 2010 | Bebo is sold by AOL to Criterion Capital Partners |
| 2010 | Instagram is launched |
| 2010 | Quora is launched |
| 2011 | Snapchat is launched |
| 2011 | Microsoft acquires Skype for $8.5 billion |
| 2011 | Google+ is launched |
| 2011 | Myspace is sold to Specific Media by News Corp. for $35 million |
| 2011 | Twitch is launched |
| 2012 | Facebook goes public, negotiating a share price of $38 apiece, valuing the company at $104 billion, the largest valuation to date for a newly listed public company |
| 2012 | Snapchat launches video sharing, allowing users to share 10 second videos |
| 2012 | Tinder is launched |
| 2012 | Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion |
| 2013 | Vine is launched |
| 2013 | Instagram launches video sharing |
| 2013 | Bebo is purchased from Criterion Capitol Partners for $1 million by Bebo's founders |
| 2013 | Google Hangouts is launched |
| 2013 | Myspace is re-launched |
| 2014 | Musical.ly, a lip-syncing app, is launched |
| 2014 | Amazon acquires Twitch for $970 million |
| 2014 | Orkut is shut down by Google |
| 2015 | Friendster shuts down |
| 2015 | Bebo is re-launched as a messaging app for iOS and Android |
| 2015 | Discord is launched |
| 2016 | Time Inc. buys Myspace |
| 2016 | Vine announced that Twitter would be discontinuing the Vine mobile app, later renamed to "Vine Camera" |
| 2017 | ByteDance acquires Musical.ly for $1 billion |
| 2017 | TikTok is launched |
| 2018 | Yahoo! Messenger shuts down |
| 2018 | Musical.ly shuts down and migrates its users to TikTok |
| 2019 | Google+ shuts down |
Rackpoint Ltd,
Created in 2009.
Company No: GB07052315
VAT No: 306 6052 30
Buckland Way, Worcester Park England, KT4 8NT
Hallmoor Road, Darley Dale England, DE4 2HF
Interested in working with us?
enquire@rackpoint.co.uk
Ph: +44 (0) 3333 03 42 93
We understand that sometimes features or functions may seem a little illusive or out of reach.
We are always ready to help. Use the button below to get in touch.
All prices exclude VAT
Acceptable Use Policy | Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy
Refund Policy | Terms & Conditions | Disclaimer | DMCA
Copyright © 2020 Rackpoint®. All rights reserved. Service Locations