As a social media and digital communications major, and avid social media consumer, I felt it was important to do a deep dive into the communication technology that over 72% of Americans are utilizing. For the EOTO project, I looked into the history of social media: who invented what platforms, when were the apps we all know of first released, and how has the roll out of social media impacted human communication.
Per the Webster Dictionary, social media is defined as "forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)". The idea of social media evolved in the 1970s with the release of email servers that could receive and store messages when the receiving device was not connected to the internet. This idea of online messaging was further developed with the introduction of programs like multi user domain and the bulletin board system. These systems allowed "users [to] log into the system to upload and download software, read news, or exchange messages with others". The idea of social networking unfolded, and thus, in the 90s programs like Blogger and Napster launch, closely followed by the 2000 release of Wikipedia, and later in 2003 we got programs we’re probably familiar with: MySpace and Linkedin, and then in 2004 and 2005 Facebook and YouTube launch, introducing us to what we know as social media today.
Six Degrees, the very first social media platform launched in 1997, and was popular until 2001 before it was effectively replaced by MySpace and Facebook. Andrew Weinreich designed Six Degrees to be a platform that allowed users to create profiles and build friends lists in order to keep people connected. The platform was advertised as connecting two strangers through six or less "friend of a friend" statements. Due to limited access to internet connection the site's popularity dwindled quickly.
With the introduction of social media came a whole new world of digital communication. Social media provided a platform that anyone could use: be that for promoting a business, keeping in touch with long distance friends and family, or keeping up with current news, social media has for everyone to enjoy. People use their social media to stay connected with friends, family, and others they might not be able to stay in touch with otherwise. Social media also provides people with a platform to express themselves, and showcase their artwork, achievements, anything they might want to share.
Other benefits of social media include providing a platform to facilitate political change. As seen during the 2020 surge of protests, many users took advantage of their social media platforms to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Around the same time we also saw users sharing information put out by the CDC, and other health organizations urging everyone to remain in quarantine, and encouraging the use of masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Social media provides a great outlet for people to share things they're passionate about, express their opinions or simply aid in the spread of needed information.
However, that being said, social media also opens doors to the widespread of misinformation. With social media allowing news to travel faster than ever, false information is also be spread faster than ever. With the click of a button, one can repost or share misinformation without a second thought. While many platforms now claim to be filtering posts to avoid this, that starts the discussion of a whole other issue: government censorship.
There's an endless list of pros and cons to social media, so in the end it's up to the individual to decide if the pros outweigh the cons.
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