It's hard to believe that it's been a decade since social media first began to take shape. Back then, there were no sponsored ads, no influencers, and no live streaming apps. But in the last 10 years, social networks have evolved into something much more than just a platform for conversations and photos. Take LinkedIn, for example.
This professional network has become a go-to resource for companies and job seekers alike. It's just one example of how versatile social networks have become. But before LinkedIn, there was Six Degrees and Friendster. Launched in 2002, Friendster was similar to Six Degrees in that users had to create a profile and add friends to their network in order to interact.
However, it went beyond Six Degrees by allowing users to share videos and photos, as well as send messages to other people on the network. This marked the beginning of social networks as we know them today - a platform for companies to generate revenue and improve customer experiences. The growth of social networks has been explosive over the past 12 years. Mark Zuckerberg and his team of Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollom, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes created Facebook in 2004, and it quickly became an integral part of our lives. Social networks are online communication media designed to create networks and communities where there is information, ideas, messages, photos, etc. MySpace was the first social networking site to appear on the scene, but many people mistakenly believe that Facebook was the original.
There are five science-backed psychological elements of social media that increase the amount of social media participation. Companies have also discovered the potential utility of cultivating an active presence on social networks by posting ads. In addition to ads, Instagram has become the application of choice for social media users interested in travel, entertainment, fashion and other visual orientation topics. Video content is another growing point of interest for social networks in the future. Social networks were officially born in 1997 but their roots go back even further to the early 1990s and the birth of the blogosphere.
In the beginning, they were designed to help end users digitally connect with friends, colleagues, family and like-minded people they might never have met in person. LinkedIn remains the preferred social media site for job seekers as well as human resource managers looking for qualified candidates. Today, customers can use social media to express their concerns, offer criticism and suggestions, and receive timely feedback on customer service issues. Social networks are an almost inevitable part of modern life now, with more active users joining every day. To that end, digital marketers hire social media influencers to share messages and product offers with their followers.
