Emergence of Social Media

The Invention of the Internet set the way to Emergence of Social Media. Media is an Instrument of Communication; so Social Media would be a Social Channel of Communication.

Social Media depend on Mobile and Web based Technologies to create highly Interactive Platforms through which Individuals and Communities Share, Co-Create, Discuss and Modify User Generated Content.

Social Media Technologies take on many different forms including Social Networks, Internet Forums, Weblogs, Social Blogs, Micro blogging, wikis, Podcast, Magazines etc. Social Network aggregations can Integrate many of the Platforms.

Nowadays, It has become a fancy way to describe the Zillions of Conversations People are having Online 24x7.

1994 : The First Blog

Justin Hall, A Swarthmore College (U.S.A) Student Creates what (web-based diary “Justin's Links from the Underground”) is considered to be the Very First Blog. A pioneer blogger Justin Hall is an American Journalist and entrepreneur.

Blog (Short for “Web log”) is a Web Page that serves as a Publicly Accessible Personal Journal for an Individual or Community. Online media, such as Discussion Forums and email are considered to be predecessors to the blog.

1997 : The First Social Networking Site

“SixDegrees.com” is widely considered to be the very First Social Networking Site founded by Andrew Weinreich in May 1996 and Launched in 1997.

1999 : Blogger Launched

Blogger, A Blogging Site or Blogging Platform launched on August 23, 1999, Blogger was Pyra Labs as one of the earliest dedicated blog-publishing Service tools. It is credited for helping popularize the format. In February 2003, Pyra Labs was acquired by Google. It allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Blogs can also be hosted in the registered custom domain of the blogger (like www.example.com). A user can have up to 100 blogs per account.

2002 : Earlier Social Networking Site “Friendster” Launched

Friendster, An earlier Social Networking Site was created in 2002 by Peter Chin, Jonathan Abrams and Dave Lee to find a way for people to meet new friends on the Internet, keep in contact with already existing friends and to expand Personal Networks in a safe manner.

2003 : Social Networking and Bookmarking Sites Appear

Linked.in, Photo Bucket, Delecious, My Space, etc. Launched

2004 : facebook Launched

on 4^th February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched "thefacebook.com". It became facebook.com in August 2005. Mark Zuckerberg, 23, founded Facebook while studying Psychology at Harvard University. A keen computer programmer, Mr. Zuckerberg wrote a program called "Facemash" on October 28, 2003. He had already developed a number of Social-Networking Websites for fellow students, including Coursematch, which allowed users to view people taking their degree, and Facemash, where you could rate people's attractiveness. Later, it began to Spread Worldwide. The Site remains Free to Join, and makes a profit through advertising revenue. 

On 26^th September 2006, facebook was opened to everyone at least 13 years old with a valid email address.

2005 : YouTube Launched

The PayPal (an American company operating a worldwide online payments) employees created a Video-Sharing Website www.youtube.com where users could upload, share and view content. The Internet domain name www.youtube.com was activated on February 14, 2005.

The first YouTube video, titled “Me at the zoo”, shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo. The video was uploaded on April 23, 2005, and can still be viewed on the site.

YouTube was founded by Chad Meredith Hurley ( an American co-founder and former CEO of YouTube and MixBit), Steve Chen (a Taiwanese-born American internet entrepreneur), and Jawed Karim (a German-American Internet entrepreneur).

On 13^th November 2006, Google acquired YouTube.

2006 : Twitter, Slideshare Launched

Twitter is an Online News and Social Networking Service where Users Post and Reead short 140-character Messages called "tweets". Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched in July 2006, whereby the service rapidly gained Worldwide Popularity.

SlideShare, a web based slide hosting service through which Users can upload files privately or publicly in the following file formats : Power Point, PDF, Key Note or Open Document Presentation. SlideShare was officially launched on October 4, 2006. Jonathan Boutelle is the CTO of SlideShare and came up with the initial idea behind the website. Rashmi Sinha was the CEO and co-founder. On May 3, 2012, SlideShare was to be acquired by linkedln.

2007 : Mobile Apps Revolutionized Communication

Mobile apps (a software application developed specifically for use on small, wireless computing devices, such as smart phones and tablets, rather than desktop or laptop computers) came into existence and revolutionized the Communication.

It was during this period the first “time-waster” games begin to appear.  Nokia was famous for putting the 1970s video game Snake on some of its earliest phones. Other followed, adding games like Pong, Tetris, and Tic-Tac-Toe, etc.

Apps that are not preinstalled are usually available through distribution platforms called app stores. They began appearing in 2008 and are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry App World. Some apps are free, while others must be bought. Usually, they are downloaded from the platform to a target device, but sometimes they can be downloaded to laptops or desktop computers. 

2008 : Google Play

Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) is an International Online Software Store developed by Google for Android Devices. It opened in October 2008. Any One can download the number of apps via the Google Play Store. As of September 2016, according to Statist the number of apps available exceeded 2.4 million.

2009 : WhatsApp

WhatsApp Messenger is a Free, Cross-Platform, end-to-end encrypted instant messaging,  proprietary and social media application for smart phones incorporated in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, both former employees of Yahoo!.

WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, was acquired by Facebook in February 2014.

App Stores

Apple’s App Store was not the first App distribution Service, but it ignited the mobile revolution and was opened on July 10, 2008, and as of January 2011, reported over 10 billion downloads. The original AppStore was first demonstrated to Steve Jobs in 1993 by Jesse Tayler at Next World Expo.

Others

2009 : BlackBerry World, Samsung Apps, Ovi (Nokia), Windows Phone Store (2010), Amazon App Store (2011) and many more alternative applications store for the Android operating system was opened and continuously Developing.

2011 : Google+ launched

In June 2011, Google+, an Interest-based Social Networks Service Launched. It is owned and operated by Google. Its Features included the ability to Post Photos and status updates to the stream or interest based communities, group different types of relationships (rather than simply "friends") into Circles, a multi-person instant messaging, text and video chat called Hangouts events, location tagging, and the ability to edit and upload photos to private cloud-based albums.

TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE

The Technological Dimension of Convergence is the most readily understood. With the World Wide Web, Smart Phones, Tablet Computers, Smart Televisions, and other Digital Devices, billions of people are now able to access media content that was once tied to specific communications media (print and broadcast) or platforms (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and cinema).

These developments have Transformed Communication and Journalism as well by breaching longstanding boundaries, with an ongoing existence.

Social Media became a new driver of the Convergent Media Sector. The term social media refers to Technologies, Platforms, and Services that enable Individuals to engage in Communication from One-to-One, One-to-Many, and Many-to-Many.

INTERNET

The Internet has revolutionized the Communications world like nothing before.

The invention of the Telegraph, Telephone, Radio, T.V and Computer set the stage for this unprecedented Integration of Capabilities.

1989 : World Wide Web / Internet

World Wide Web (WWW or The Web) is an Information Space where Documents and other Web Resources are identified by  Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the Internet was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee a British computer scientist in 1989. Then, He gave it to the World for Free.

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an Application Protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. Development of HTTP was initiated by Tim Berners Lee at CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1989.

Internet : ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983, and from there Researchers began to assemble the “Network of Networks” that became the modern Internet. The online world then took on a more recognizable form in 1990, when computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.

The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic Location.

INTERNET made the World a Global Village as far as Information is Concern.

1995 : Internet explorer

Internet Explorer is a discontinued series of Graphical Web browsers developed by Microsoft (an American multinational technology company) and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995.

The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic Location. It made the World a Global Village as far as Information is Concern.

Web Search Engine : A Software System that is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web.

The information may be a mix of Web Pages, Images and other types of File. Some search engines also mine data available in database or Open Directories.

Some Earlier and Popular Search Engines

1993 : W3Catalog / Ali Web / JumpStation / WWW Worm

1995 : Yahoo! (and Others)

1998 : Google! / msn (and Others)

2004 : Yahoo! Search (and Others)

2005 : AOL Search (and Others)

2006 : Ask.com (and Others)                 [Inactive / Active]

INTERNET in INDIA

1995 :  The First Publicly available Internet Service in India was launched by state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) on 14 August 1995.

Development of Communication @ Development of Media

Emergence of Modern Era in Communication and Mass Communication follows the Inventions of Modern Technologies. The Growth of Media (an Instrument of Communication) and Social Media (Social Channel of Communication) Revolutionized the Communication Rapidly. 

1792 : The Telegraph (Semaphore System)

A system of conveying Information by means of Visual Signals, using towers with pivoting shutters invented in 1792 by Claude Chappe, a French inventor. He demonstrated a practical Semaphore System that was the First practical Telecommunication system of the industrial age, making Chappe the first telecom Mogul with his "Mechanical Internet”.

1836 : The Telegraph (Morse Code System)

A method of transmitting text Information as a Series of On-Off tones, Lights, or Clicks that can be directly understood without special equipment. It was an Electrical Telegraph, independently developed and patented in the United States in 1836 by Samuel Morse. His assistant, Alfred Vail, developed the Morse code Signaling Alphabet with Morse.

1836 : Pneumatic Mail

A System to deliver Letters through Pressurized Air Tubes invented by Willam Murdoch in 1836 in United Kingdom.

1838 : The Telegram

It refers to the message received using a Telegraph. The code used on a Telegraph Machine to send a Telegram is called Morse code, named after the inventor. The Telegram was invented by Samuel Morse in 1838 in United States.

1875 : Telephone

Point to Point Communication System whose most basic function is to allow Two People Separated by Large distances to talk to each other. It was invented by a Scottish emigrant Alexander Graham Bell in 1875.

1891 : Radio

Radio is the Transmission of Signals through Free Space by Electromagnetic Waves with frequencies. Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, proved the feasibility of radio communication. He sent and received his first radio signal in Italy in 1895. By 1899 he flashed the first wireless signal across the English Channel and two years later received the letter "S", telegraphed from England to Newfoundland.

1920 : Television

Television (T.V) is a system for Converting Visual Images (with sound) into Electrical Signals, Transmitting them by Radio or other means, and displaying them Electronically on a Screen. John Logie Baird is regarded to its Invention in 1920.

1953 : First Commercial Scientific Computer

International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, an American Multi National Technology Company Publicly Introduced the First Commercial Scientific Computer IBM 701.

Note: In 1822, Charles Babbage conceptualized and began developing the Difference Engine, considered to be the first automatic computing machine.

In 1837, Charles Babbage proposed the first general mechanical computer, the Analytical Engine. 

               (The first Mechanical Computer, created by Charles Babbage in 1822)

1964 : The First Desktop / Mass-Market Computer                                                        

The First Desktop Computer, the Programma 101, was unveiled to the public at the New York World's Fair.

1969 : ARPANET

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was an early Packet Switching Network and the first network to implement the protocol suite TCP/IP. Both technologies became the Technical Foundation of the Internet. ARPANET was initially funded by the Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of Defense.

The packet switching methodology employed in the ARPANET was based on concepts and designs by Americans Leonard Kleinrock and Paul Baran, British scientist Donald Davies, and Lawrence Roberts.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic Communication Language or Protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a Communication Protocol in a Private Network (either an Intranet or an Extranet).

The TCP/IP were developed for ARPANET by Computer Scientists Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf, and incorporated concepts from the French CYCLADES Project directed by Louis Pouzin.

1969 : First Commercial Online Service by CompuServe

CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its acronym CIS) was the first major commercial Online Service in the United States. CIS was known for its Online Chat System, Message Forums covering a variety of topics, extensive Software Libraries for most computer Platforms, and a series of popular Online Games. They are also known for their introduction of the GIF format for pictures, and CIS was a very popular GIF exchange mechanism.

1971 : First e-mail

Sent by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971, the email was simply a Test Message to himself. The email was sent from One Computer to another Computer sitting right beside it in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it traveled via ARPANET, a network of computers that was the precursor to the Internet.

1975 : Personal Computer

Ed Roberts coined the term "Personal Computer" when he introduced the Altair 8800.

1978 :  Bulletin Board Service (BBS)

Coin Operated Computer Terminals located in neighbourhoods. A Bulletin Board System or BBS, is a Computer Server running Software that allows users to connect to the system using a Terminal Program.

Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as Uploading and Downloading Softwares and Data, Reading News and Bulletins, and Exchanging Messages with other users through email, Public Messages Boards and sometimes via Direct Chatting.

Bulletin Board Systems were in many ways a Precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web, Social Networks and other aspects of the Internet.

1979 : News Groups / UUCP dial-up Network

Usenet is a Worldwide distributed Discussion System available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP dial-up Network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was established in 1980.

Users Read and Post Messages (called Articles or Posts, and collectively termed News) to one or more categories, known as News Groups. Usenet resembles a Bulletin Board System (BBS) in many respects and is the Precursor to Internet Forums that are widely used today.

UUCP (Unix-to-Unix Copy) is the term generally refers to a Suite of Computer Programs and Protocols allowing remote execution of commands and Transfer of Files, email and Net News between Computers.

1981 : Portable Computer

The First Portable Computer was created in April 1981 by a company called Osborne, led by a Journalist turned entrepreneur named Adam Osborne.

1983 :  Portable Telephone (Cellular Phone/ Handset / Mobile)

The World’s First Cell Phone “Motorola DynaTAC 800x” was launched in 1983. It was priced at around $4,000 and lasted for 30 minutes of talk time before dying. It was also about the size of a foot long sub from Subway.

Cell Phones were originally created so people could take while they drove. Initially called “Car Phones”, early cell phones were Bulky, Cumbersome, and Expensive compared to today’s Modern Devices.

For the first time in history, a human being could call someone without the constraints of wires or portable phone holders.

1985 : The America Online (AOL) Service Opened                                                                     AOL was one of the early Pioneers of the Internet in the mid 1990s founded by Bill Von Meister. It was the most recognized brand on the web in the U.S. and still exists. It originally provided a dial-up Service to millions of Americans, as well as providing a Web Portal, email, Instant Messaging and later a Web Browser following its purchase of Netscape.

1989 : World Wide Web / Internet

World Wide Web (WWW or The Web) is an Information Space where Documents and other Web Resources are identified by  Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the Internet was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee a British computer scientist in 1989. Then, He gave it to the World for Free.

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an Application Protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. Development of HTTP was initiated by Tim Berners Lee at CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1989.