From the very beginning, mankind never gave up on looking to the sky to find a better place to live. As research continues, Earth is the only habitable planet for humankind and living creatures up to now. Scientists are hoping that one day we will find new Earth-like planets and extraterrestrial life. But, until that time, we invented new virtual planets for mankind while waiting for real ones; social media sites, or new virtual habitable planets other than Earth. These are the best until we can find a real one!
Before Facebook
Although the late 80s are years before the establishment of social media networks, the late 90s are the real start for social media sites and platforms. Internet usage was becoming more available all around the world. Through Internet Relay Chats (IRCs), people started to communicate with each other via social networks. In those days, saying hello (by just typing it) to someone that you didn’t know was amazing.
Do you remember the mIRC or ICQs (uh oh!) sound when you got a message? Those moments are unforgettable for me. We witnessed the beginning of a new era and we were not actually aware of it. We just saw it as 90s popular culture.
In 1997, sixdegrees.com was launched and it was a milestone for social network services. The late 90s was a messenger boomer time as we met the likes of AOL, Yahoo, and MSN messenger and they prepared us for what was upcoming.
While messengers were great for communication in the early 2000s, social media platforms were on their way to save the throne. Despite Sixdegrees’ short life and fall in 2001, it was followed by more successful examples such as Friendster, Myspace, Linkedin, and XING. I won’t take up too much of your time with the history of social media networks. I just wanted to display some of the large milestones it has gone through. We all know the largest milestone of all; Facebook.
Social Media Sites #1 – Facebook (Meta)
2004, a touchstone, a benchmark, or whatever you call it. Facebook was the real beginning for social media platforms. Personally, I think that you can group developments on social media networks as before and after Facebook. Surprisingly, I am not that much of a fan of Facebook. I even deleted my account. However, I respect their story and its effect on development. It is kind of like the Michael Jordan of social media sites where you can beat it but never defeat it. It is just like the Coca Cola of social media networks; they are big, they are powerful and they are known everywhere. No, Facebook is not paying me for this. I am just telling the truth we have all faced.
After Facebook
The reason I am discussing after Facebook is because things got wild after Facebook. It was just like a shark tank, the big fish ate the small ones, to then be eaten by an even bigger one.
In the same year, 2004, Flickr, Orkut and Tagged joined the game. In the later years, many well-known brands like Youtube, Twitter, Reddit, Russian-based VK, Chinese-based Qzone, Renren, Sina Weibo, and Tumblr were founded.
While the social networks were growing and new sites were opening, in early 2007, another milestone was achieved. Apple announced the ‘iPhone’ and it is operating software ‘IOS’, a completely new form of a cell phone. It was a revolutionary movement by Steve Jobs and followed by others. Google joined in the same year with the ‘Android’ operating software for other cell phone manufacturers. These achievements have changed the world and even destroyed some of the kings at that time (like the biggest cell phone manufacturer brand Nokia and Symbian software). This is very much related to the success of social media networks, due to their capabilities and opportunities for them.
Evolution of Mobile Phones
The smartphone and app term (application or program) entered into daily life. All social media brands started releasing their app in the App Store so people can download and use them. With the new platform of communication, social media networks began the race like a gold rush. Trying to increase the number of users by being in pockets 24/7. Smartphones opened up a new era for social media networks. It was an easy, free platform for them. Today, more than 80 percent of people using social media sites are connecting to these platforms through mobile phones.
The second wave hits the market after smartphones and new operating systems were introduced, the second wave hit the markets. These new developments and possibilities greatly increased the use of social media. More and more people started to connect to the internet and become a member of social media platforms. For this reason, new social media networks began to form to answer market demand. 2010 and 2011 were highly active years for new social media network launches. Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat came to service with a new trend to be as visual as you can.
Social Media Sites #2 – Instagram
As you already know, Instagram is one of the top social media platforms. They came to service with the idea of photo and video sharing. People liked it a lot. It has more than 800 million users according to the 2019 statistics and the projected number of users is 1 billion up to the year 2023. They launched Instagram on the app store at midnight on Oct. 6, 2010. Later on April 9, 2012, Facebook announced it was acquiring the company in a deal valued at 1 billion USD. Now, it is worth more than 100 billion USD. This is why I respect Facebook so much.
Social Media Sites #3 – Whatsapp – Another Milestone and Real SMS Killer
Whatsapp was launched in 2009 as a Messenger application for IOS platforms by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo!. Later, it was released for Android platforms as well. We don’t need to say it, it was another milestone in communication history. The messaging experience changed completely after WhatsApp. Facebook acquired the App in 2014. It became kind of like a personal social media network and so much more. In addition, it doesn’t just allow messaging but also sending voice notes, VoIP calls, video meetings, file transfer, and sharing locations. It later becomes the industry standard. Today, there are 2 billion WhatsApp users around the world and it is the number one mobile platform.
Most Popular Social Media Sites
There are plenty of popular social media platforms today where users have several options to start their virtual presence. That said, it is important to choose the right platform, especially for individuals who are planning to create content or become content creators. The right platform will connect them to their intended audience as well as make sure that they are targeting the audiences or followers that they want to follow them.
Since I tried to explain social media history briefly, let’s check out the list of most popular social media platforms currently:
These are the most popular social media platforms all around the world, but there are others as well. Depending on the region and country, popularity could be different. The number of users and the monthly active user are important values for comparing them.
