The Growing World of Social Media

Social media is a vital communications channel in the modern world we live in today. Individuals, organisations and businesses are using their profiles on the many niche sites out there to connect with others.

People are also linking their websites to their profiles to boost online presence. For anyone who doesn’t have a website, companies like WebHostingBlueBook.com can help – so you can get the very best out of your social media experience.

But how did the social media platform become what it is today? Here we explain everything you need to know about how this medium began, what it does currently and where it will take us.

How it started

Social networking can be traced back to something called the BBS, which stands for Bulletin Board System. This was something that was set up and used in the late eighties and early nineties as online meeting places accessed through a modem connection. They were used to download games or files and allowed users to post messages to each other.

BBSs may have paved the way for social networking to become what it has today, thanks to a progression in technology and faster connection speeds.

Shortly after this, other ways to communicate online came about such as Classmates.com. At the time, during the nineties, you couldn’t create a profile on this website but you could search for your old school friends. This is a site that has developed over time and continues to run today.

Fast forward a few years into the early noughties and the social networking momentum really started to boom. With the introduction of sites like MySpace, Friendster, Facebook and LinkedIn – a new wave of communicating was on the horizon.

Today

Social media is now firmly integrated into our everyday lives. Many people of all ages check their Facebook or Twitter accounts first thing in the morning – or just before going to bed. We can’t seem to live without it!

Facebook is a firm favourite, with more than 500,000,000 users signed up today. Twitter is not far behind the popularity stakes either. It is great for sending short regular updates called a ‘tweet’ to those who choose to ‘follow’ you.

Other sites such as YouTube, where you can watch and post videos, and Pinterest, where you can post photos and ‘pin’ pictures to your board, are also very popular. Then there is Google+, Instagram and many more countless social media sites available on the internet where you can create your very own profile, update your status and so on.

This is great news for not only individuals, but also organisations and businesses who can all join in and take advantage of what social media has to offer.

The future

Social media is constantly growing, with new ways to communicate and engage with others. Technology is also adapting, leaving anybody guessing as to what might happen in years to come. Who knew that we would be able to access the Internet through mobile phones? Well we can, so what’s next?

Facebook and Twitter may be the big players for now, but you never know what’s around the corner. Just look back to all the changes, which have taken place in the last decade and you will realise how far it has come, from being a simple tool to connect and broadcast through to so much more.

But ultimately, social media relies on its users – which places its future completely in our hands.