It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. The first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, launched in 1997. Internet relay chats, or IRCs, were first used in 1988 and remained popular well into the 1990s.īefore the end of the century, social media as we now know it began to take shape. By the ’70s, networking technology had improved, and in 1979 UseNet allowed users to communicate through a virtual newsletter and digital bulletin board systems.īy the 1980s, personal computers were more common, and social media was growing more sophisticated. Primitive forms of electronic communication also were developed during this time. The earliest forms of the internet, such as CompuServe, were developed in the 1960s. After the first supercomputers were created in the 1940s, scientists and engineers began to develop networks between those computers, which later would lead to the birth of the internet and the World Wide Web. Technology began to change rapidly in the 20th Century, and so did the evolution of social media. Telephone lines and radio signals enabled people to communicate across great distances instantaneously, something that mankind had never before experienced.īoth technologies are still in use today, although the modern versions are far more sophisticated than their predecessors. Two important discoveries occurred in the final decade of the 1800s: The telephone in 1890 and the radio in 1891. Although no longer popular outside of drive-through banking, the pneumatic post utilizes underground pressurized air tubes to carry capsules from one area to another. In fact, many claim the birth of social media corresponded with the development of the telegraph.ĭeveloped in 1865, the pneumatic post created another way for letters to be delivered quickly between recipients. Although telegraph messages were short, they were a revolutionary way to convey news and information. The telegraph was invented in 1792, and it allowed personal messages to be delivered over long distances much faster than a horse and rider could carry them. The earliest postal service began as early as 550 B.C.E., and the primitive delivery system ultimately grew, widespread, and streamlined across the following centuries. The earliest methods of communicating across great distances relied on hand-delivered correspondence such as letters. Social media saw its origins in traditional forms of written communication. Ultimately, the credit for social media lies with many innovative thinkers who contributed their ideas over decades. Many, however, argue that social media was invented when the first social networking websites launched in 1997.

When did social media begin? Was it invented, or did the technology evolve over time? There are no simple answers to any of those questions since the origin of social media remains under debate.ĭid it start with the birth of the telegraph in 1844, or with what ultimately became the internet in 1969? Or, was social media invented with the introduction of the first digital bulletin boards in 1978?

Brief Histories of Popular Social Media Sites.

Social media infographic