Mark Zuckerberg released Facebook to the public eye all the way back in 2004, and since then it has become a global phenomenon—quickly seemingly wiping out similar sites like Myspace. Zuckerberg, along with three other Harvard University students, founded the free-to-use social networking site that earns most of it’s money from advertisements. Users can create a profile, join or create groups, play games, upload photos and videos, share their everyday life, find old friends and sell/buy items on the Marketplace. You can connect other sites with your Facebook account, like your Instagram account, and posts could automatically post directly from your Instagram to your Facebook, sharing with even more people without the time spent re-posting it multiple times. You can chat with friends- either through written messages or video calls in messenger or another application called WhatsApp. Facebook wasn’t the original name though, nor was it the original idea. The first version was called ‘Facemash’ where students could judge the attractiveness of others—but Zuckerberg violated University policy and the site was shut down after only two days. Due to this, however, over 400 people flocked to the site, as well as voted over 20,000 times, and this is what drove Zuckerberg to register the URL. This is what aimed the social network site closer to what we know it as today. Now called ‘The Facebook’, it was a way for students to connect with each other, post photos of their daily life, classes, and clubs they were in, and find similar minds. It quickly branched out from Harvard to Yale and Stanford Universities. By 2004, The Facebook reached a million active users—but it still trailed Myspace by four million—and it wasn’t until 2008 when Facebook would surpass its rival network site. By February 2012, not even 10 years after its first publication on the Web, Facebook filed to become a public company—and Zuckerberg’s stock holdings were estimated at over 19 billion dollars. Not bad for the creation of a couple of college kids.
Within years of Facebook coming to the attention of many, Twitter was created in March 2006 and released to the public in July 2006. Not even 6 years later, it boasts more than 100 million users, all of whom post over 300 million tweets each day. Following Facebook’s move to a public site, Twitter went public in 2013 and by 2019, it had over 300 million monthly active users. Elon Musk tried to buy out Twitter in 2022, which would have turned the network back into a private company, however, he terminated that deal not even three months later—and as a result, Twitter stock shares plummeted, prompting the company to take legal action against Musk. Twitter is primarily a status-sharing, written word social network account, though people can post videos and audio as well. People can use Hashtags to tag their posts, making it easier for others to find their posts—and if enough people use the same tag at near the same time, it makes that tag ‘trend’. Celebrities, normal individuals, and even TV networks have accounts, that can share posts and tag important information, as well as tag other people, by putting the @ sign before the other user’s name.
Brought into attention in 2010, Instagram is one of many photo-sharing social networks. Much like every other social media site, users will make an account, a profile, and a news feed that will be filled by accounts they ‘follow’ or ‘friend’. If you make a post either a picture or even a video, it uploads to your account and all of your friends can view it (or anyone else, if your account is not set to private). To get more views, you can add hashtags so that anyone who searches a particular tag or word will find your post. On top of hashtags, people can add a geographical location to their post and post to multiple social networks at the same time, saving you time. Instagram is a free app and can be accessed on any device- mobile or desktop—and any device, iOS or Android. A lot of businesses use Instagram in an effort to share their business and bring in more customers to their stores. Photos can be modified with a number of different filters, and videos can be anywhere from three seconds to sixty minutes long. Best of all, Instagram is a free-to-use social network- you’ll never be charged for anything you post or use on the site—so long as what you post is not illegal and gets you in trouble.
Aimed more at professionals, LinkedIn is a social network meant to connect professionals, so they can share and learn from others. Despite its popularity, not many people know what LinkedIn truly is, how to use it or how people can benefit from having an account. From major companies to small shop owners, college students to older professionals, anyone can use LinkedIn to connect with others in the same profession, other or similar professions, or even take opportunities to grow their careers. You can add other people as connections, much like adding a friend on other Social Networks and converse with them in similar manners as well through private messages. On your page, you’ll add all of your achievements and experience, almost like a public resume for others to view. LinkedIn also lists all sorts of Job opportunities based on your information—from your location and job preferences. You can use LinkedIn to get back in touch with old colleagues you fell out of touch with, use it as your resume and apply to jobs, participate in groups, blog about what you know, and connect with new professionals. Basic profiles are free but there is also premium, paid plans available depending on what you’re looking for.
It seems like a new Social Network is created each year and sometimes they hold up well to the rival ones, but most of the time they quickly break under the weight of keeping up either due to lack of interest or lack of funds to keep them going. Eventually, it’s entirely possible, that the popular Social networks of today will lose their popularity in favor of new ones that are created within these next few years- as was seen with Facebook and Myspace. Only time will tell if a certain social network will remain strong or plummet into obscurity.
Facebook | Overview, History, & Facts | Britannica
What Is Instagram, and Why Should You Be Using It? (lifewire.com)
What Is LinkedIn and Why Should You Be on It? (lifewire.com)