Ang kasaysayan ng social networking

Published by Rey Ablay

Ang kasaysayan ng social networking

Pagpapakilala

Ang Social networking ay maaaring tumutukoy bilang ang mga site na nagpapahintulot sa mga gumagamit na
bumuo ng isang profile, ito ay ginawa ng pampublikong sa loob ng isang kalakip na sistema. Pinahihintulutan
din ng social networking website ang mga gumagamit upang Makita ang ilan sa mga iba pang mga gumagamit
upang makipag-usap at payagan silang matingnan ang mga listahan ng ibang miyembro na natagpuan sa loob ng
sistema.

THE HISTORY OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

By Digital Trends Staf August 5, 2014

Long before it became the commercialized mass information and entertainment juggernaut it is today,
long before it was accessible to the general public, and certainly many years before Al Gore claimed he
took the initiative in creating it, the Internet and its predecessors were a focal point for social
interactivity. Granted, computer networking was initially envisioned in the heyday of The Beatles as a
military-centric command and control scheme. But as it expanded beyond just a privileged few hubs and
nodes, so too did the idea that connected computers might also make a great forum for discussing mutual
topics of interest, and perhaps even meeting or renewing acquaintances with other humans. In the 1970s,
that process began in earnest.

Mullets may have reigned supreme in the late 70s and early 80s, but as many will
surely recall computers were a far rarer commodity. The machines language was
bewildering, and their potential seemingly limited. Whats more, this whole sitting-infront-of-a-keyboard thing was so isolationistic. Put all this together and you have a
medium where only the most ardent enthusiasts and techno-babbling hobbyists dared
tread. It was, in effect, a breeding ground for pocket-protector-wearing societal rejects, or
nerds. And boring, reclusive nerds at that. Yet it also was during this time, and with a
parade of purportedly antisocial geeks at the helm, that the very gregarious notion of
social networking would take its first steps towards becoming the omnipresent cultural
phenomenon we know and love in 2014.

BBS, AOL and CompuServe: The Infant Years

Put all this together and you have a medium where only
the most ardent enthusiasts and techno-babbling hobbyists
dared tread.
It started with the BBS. Short for Bulletin Board System, these online meeting places were effectively independentlyproduced hunks of code that allowed users to communicate with a central system where they could download files
or games (many times including pirated software) and post messages to other users. Accessed over telephone lines
via a modem, BBSes were often run by hobbyists who carefully nurtured the social aspects and interest-specific
nature of their projects which, more often than not in those early days of computers, was technology-related.
Moreover, long distance calling rates usually applied for out-of-towners, so many Bulletin Boards were locals-only
affairs that in turn spurred local in-person gatherings. And voila, just like that, suddenly the antisocial had become
social.

The BBS was no joke. Though the technology of the time restricted the flexibility of these
systems, and the end-users experience, to text-only exchanges of data that crawled
along at glacial speed, BBSes continued to gain popularity throughout the 80s and well
into the 90s, when the Internet truly kicked into gear. Indeed, some services such
as Tom Jennings FidoNet linked numerous BBSes together into worldwide computer
networks that managed to survive the Internet revolution.

But there were also other avenues for social interaction long before the Internet
exploded onto the mainstream consciousness. One such option was CompuServe, a
service that began life in the 1970s as a business-oriented mainframe computer
communication solution, but expanded into the public domain in the late 1980s.

CompuServe allowed members to share files and access news and events. But it also
offered something few had ever experienced true interaction. Not only could you send
a message to your friend via a newfangled technology dubbed e-mail (granted, the
concept of e-mail wasnt exactly newfangled at the time, though widespread public
access to it was). You could also join any of CompuServes thousands of discussion
forums to yap with thousands of other members on virtually any important subject of the
day. Those forums proved tremendously popular and paved the way for the modern
iterations we know today.
But if there is a true precursor to todays social networking sites, it was likely spawned
under the AOL (America Online) umbrella. In many ways, and for many people, AOL was
the Internet before the Internet, and its member-created communities (complete with
searchable Member Profiles, in which users would list pertinent details about
themselves), were arguably the services most fascinating, forward-thinking feature.
Yet there was no stopping the real Internet, and by the mid-1990s it was moving full
bore. Yahoo had just set up shop, Amazon had just begun selling books, and the race to
get a PC in every household was on. And, by 1995, the site that may have been the first
to fulfill the modern definition of social networking was born.

The Internet Boom: Social Networkings Adolescence

Though differing from many current social networking sites in that it asks not Who can I
connect with? but rather, Who can I connect with that was once a schoolmate of
mine? Classmates.com proved almost immediately that the idea of a virtual reunion
was a good one. Early users could not create profiles, but they could locate long-lost
grade school chums, menacing school bullies and maybe even that prom date they just
couldnt forget. It was a hit almost immediately, and even today the service boasts some
57 million registered accounts.
One of the first iterations of SixDegrees.com.

That same level of success cant be said for SixDegrees.com. Sporting a name based on
the theory somehow associated with actor Kevin Bacon that no person is separated by
more than six degrees from another, the site sprung up in 1997 and was one of the very
first to allow its users to create profiles, invite friends, organize groups, and surf other
user profiles. Its founders worked the six degrees angle hard by encouraging members to
bring more people into the fold. Unfortunately, this encouragement ultimately became
a bit too pushy for many, and the site slowly devolved into a loose association of
computer users and numerous complaints of spam-filled membership drives.
SixDegrees.com folded completely just after the turn of the millennium.
Other sites of the era opted solely for niche, demographic-driven markets. One was
AsianAvenue.com, founded in 1997. A product of Community Connect Inc., which itself
was founded just one year prior in the New York apartment of former investment banker
and the future Community Connect CEO, AsianAvenue.com was followed by
BlackPlanet.com in 1999 and by the Hispanic-oriented MiGente.com in 2000. All three
still exist today, with BlackPlanet.com in particular still enjoying tremendous success
with more than eight million visitors per month.

Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook: The Biz Grows Up

In 2002, social networking hit really its stride with the launch of Friendster. Friendster
used a degree of separation concept similar to that of the now-defunct SixDegrees.com,
refined it into a routine dubbed the Circle of Friends, and promoted the idea that a rich
online community can exist only between people who truly have common bonds. And it
ensured there were plenty of ways to discover those bonds.
An interface that shared many of the same traits one would find at an online dating site
certainly didnt seem to hurt. Friendster CEO Jonathan Abrams even once referred to his
creation as a dating site that isnt about dating. Within a year after its launch, Friendster
boasted more than three million registered users and a ton of investment interest.
Unfortunately, the service has since seen more than its fair share of technical difficulties,
questionable management decisions, and a resulting drop in its North American fortunes.
Although briefly enjoying success in Indonesia and in the Philippines, Friendster has since
abandoned social networking and now exists solely as an online gaming site.

Introduced just a year later in 2003, LinkedIn took a decidedly more serious, sober
approach to the social networking phenomenon. Rather than being a mere playground
for former classmates, teenagers, and cyberspace Don Juans, LinkedIn was, and still is, a
networking resource for business people who want to connect with other professionals. In
fact, LinkedIn contacts are referred to as connections. Today, LinkedIn boasts more
than 297 million members.
MySpace also launched in 2003. Though it no longer resides upon the social networking
throne in many English-speaking countries that honor now belongs toFacebook just
about everywhere MySpace was once the perennial favorite. It did so by tempting the
key young adult demographic with music, music videos, and a funky, feature-filled
environment. It looked and felt hipper than major competitor Friendster right from the
start, and it conducted a campaign of sorts in the early days to show alienated Friendster
users just what they were missing. Over the years however, the number of casual
Myspace users declined, and today the site exists now as a social networking site
targeted to bands and musicians.

As expected, the ubiquitous Facebook now leads the global social networking pack.
Founded, like many social networking sites, by university students who initially peddled
their product to other university students, Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvard-only
exercise and remained a campus-oriented site for two full years before finally opening to
the general public in 2006. Yet, even by that time, Facebook was considered big
business. So much so that, by 2009, Silicon Valley bigwigs such as Paypal co-founder and
billionaire Peter Thiel invested tens of millions of dollars just to see it flourish.

The secret of Facebooks success the site currently boasts more than 1.3 billion active
users is a subject of much debate. Some point to its ease of use, others to its
multitude of easily-accessed features, and still others, to its memorable name. A highly
targeted advertising model certainly doesnt hurt, either, nor did financial injections such
as the $60 million from noted Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing in 2007. Regardless, theres
universal agreement on one thing: Facebook promotes both honesty and openness. It
seems people really enjoy being themselves, and throwing that openness out there for
all to see.

Pulling Ahead: How Facebook and Twitter won the Web

Facebook is king for a reason. It wasnt just through luck that founder Mark Zuckerbergs
darling came to reign supreme over the social media kingdom. It was, in fact, a series of
smart moves and innovative features that set the platform apart from the rest of
the social media pack. First and foremost, the 2007 launch of the Facebook Platform was
key to sites success. The open API made it possible for third-party developers to create
applications that work within Facebook itself. Almost immediately after being released,
the platform gained a massive amount of attention. At one point in time, Facebook had
hundreds of thousands of apps built on the platform, so many that Facebook launched
the Facebook App Store to organize and display them all. Twitter, meanwhile, created its
own API and enjoyed similar success as a result.
DTs early hands-on with Google+.

The other key to success was Facebooks ubiquitous Like button, which broke free from
the bounds of the site and began appearing all over the Internet. Now you can like or
tweet just about everything even when youre not on Facebook or Twitter. Realizing the
power of social networking, Google decided to launch their own social network (Google+)
in 2007. It differed from Facebook and Twitter in that it wasnt necessarily a full-featured
networking site, but rather a social layer of the overall Google experience. Initially,
Google generated a lot of buzz with the services Hangouts feature, which allowed users
to enter live video chats with other online friends. At the time of launch, Facebook was
scrambling to keep up by integrating a video chat feature of their own.
Within just four weeks, Google+ had garnered 25 million unique visitors, with as much as
540 million active monthly users as of June 2014. Regardless, the service definitely didnt
dethrone Zuckerbergs behemoth, especially considering more than half of Google+
users have never even visited the services official site. It still arguably showed the world
that there was still room for innovation and competition in the realm of social
networking, though.

The Multi-platformed Self: The Rise of Mobile

Over the course of the past two years, Fourth screen technology smartphones,
tablets, etc. has changed social networking and the way we communicate with one
another entirely. What used to sit on our desks now conveniently fits in the palm of our
hands, allowing us to effortlessly utilize functionality once reserved for multiple devices
wherever we go.

Given the abrupt rise in mobile computing, its not surprising the most popular social
media platforms of the past several years hinge on the capabilities of smartphones.
Photo and video-sharing applications such as Snapchat and Instagram, the latter of
which has now garnered a staggering 20 billion images since the apps initial inception in
October 2010, exist almost entirely on mobile. The same goes with platforms such
as Foursquare, an application in which users use their smartphones to check in to various
locations around the globe, and various matchmaking services. Tinder, for instance,
currently boasts more than 10 million daily users, each of which swipes for potential
partners based on their approximately in relation to their smartphone.

Mobile-based platforms also approach social networking in an entirely different fashion

than their Web-based counterparts. Rather than offering a comprehensive social
networking experience like the now-defunct Myspace and the struggling Google+, they
instead specialize in a specific kind of interaction service that involves the sharing of
public images (Instagram), the private sharing of images sharing (Snapchat), augmented
reality (Foursquare), and location-based matchmaking (Tinder). People essentially use
the various services in conjunction with other platforms to build a comprehensive, digital
identity.

People now exist on multiple platforms, and instead of

fighting against this trend, larger companies are tapping
into this new environment.
Indeed social media companies no longer see the market as strictly zero-sum, or at least thats what Zuckerberg
continues to say in public. The registration process for hundreds of applications such Snapchat, Instagram,
Foursquare, and Tinder can be completed using already-existing Facebook, Gmail, or Twitter accounts.
Furthermore, a number of platforms allow users to simultaneously post content using several platforms at once.
Again, people now exist on multiple platforms, and instead of fighting against this trend, larger companies are
tapping into this new environment.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: The Future of Social

Networking
In March 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus VR, a company on the cusp of mass producing
virtual-reality headsets. Upon sealing the deal, Zuckerberg commented regarding the
communication potential for the platform, highlighting the slew of potential uses for the
virtual technology when it comes to academics, viewing live events, and consulting with
doctors face-to-face. However, Facebook has taken a hands-off approach in its
management of Oculus VR, allowing the company to continue focusing predominately on
gaming applications while other parties i.e. the Pentagon quietly look into using
virtual reality headsets for military purposes. A number of medical experts have even
begun using virtual reality to treat anxiety, combat-induced P.T.S.D., and other
pronounced mental illnesses. Adult entertainment, meanwhile, has invested in virtual
reality for years.
Oculus Rift

To simplify my point, it appears a good deal of people have high hopes that virtual reality
will become the next blockbuster computing platform. The technology already exists,
and with the consumer version of the Oculus Rift VR headset slated to go on sale in late
2014 for under $300, the potential for widespread adoption of virtual reality has never
been greater. At the very least, the Rifts success or failure in the market will shape
Facebooks approach toward incorporating virtual reality. Note that augmented reality
differs from virtual reality in that it applies digital interaction to the real world instead of
creating an audio-visual experience from scratch. In terms of social networking,
augmented reality offers a number of possibilities. For instance, people could share their
name, interests, relationship status, and mutual friends all within a digital sphere.
Google Glass

Believe it or not, augmented reality already exists in apps like Yelp and Google
Ingress. Smartphones are more than capable of delivering augmented reality, and as one
might expect, the technology is the entire concept driving Google Glass digital
integration with the real world. Googles deliberate decision to sell Glass at an inflated
price of $1,500, however, is likely meant to exclude the general public while the tech
giant and a selective group of consumers aka explorers work to hammer out the
devices flaws. The day Google lowers the price of Glass to its estimated production cost
of $150 marks the day when widespread adoption of augmented reality, including
augmented reality in social networking, becomes a greater possibility. Until then, theres
always Snapchat and the overuse of hashtags in just about everything we do.
This guide is continually updated to reflect the latest trends in social networking, such as
the widespread adoption of Instagram and augmented reality applications. Last update:
Aug. 5, 2014 by Aaron Liu. Multiple members of the Digital Trends staff contributed this
article. [Header image courtesy of Denphumi/Shutterstock]

HISTORY

The potential for computer networking to facilitate newly improved forms of computer-mediated social interaction
was suggested early on. Efforts to support social networks via computer-mediated communication were made in
many early online services, including Usenet, ARPANET, LISTSERV, and bulletin board services (BBS). Many
prototypical features of social networking sites were also present in online services such as America
Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, ChatNet, and The WELL.

Early social networking on the World Wide Web began in the form of generalized online communities such
as Theglobe.com (1995), Geocities (1994) and Tripod.com (1995). Many of these early communities focused on
bringing people together to interact with each other through chat rooms, and encouraged users to share personal
information and ideas via personal webpages by providing easy-to-use publishing tools and free or inexpensive web
space. Some communities - such as Classmates.com - took a different approach by simply having people link to
each other via email addresses. Planet All started in 1996.
In the late 1990s, user profiles became a central feature of social networking sites, allowing users to compile lists of
"friends" and search for other users with similar interests. New social networking methods were developed by the
end of the 1990s and many sites began to develop more advanced features for users to find and manage friends.
This newer generation of social networking sites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com in 1997,
followed by Makeoutclub in 2000, Hub Culture andFriendster in 2002, and soon became part of the Internet
mainstream. Friendster was followed by MySpace and LinkedIn a year later, and eventually Bebo. Friendster
became very popular in the Pacific Island. Orkut became the first social networking service in Brazil and quickly
grew in popularity in India (Madhavan, 2007). Attesting to the rapid increase in social networking sites' popularity, by
2005, it was reported that Myspace was getting more page views than Google. Facebook, launched in 2004,
became the largest social networking site in the world in early 2009. Facebook was first introduced (in 2004) as a
Harvard social networking site, expanding to other universities and eventually, anyone.

The Early Years

Social networking began in 1978 with the Bulletin Board System (or BBS.) The BBS was hosted on personal computers,
requiring that users dial in through the modem of the host computer, exchanging information over phone lines with other
users. This was the first system that allowed users to sign in and interact with each other, although it was quite slow since
only one user could be logged in at a time.
Later in the year, the very first copies of web browsers were distributed using the bulletin board Usenet. Usenet was
created by Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott, and it allowed users to post news articles or posts, which were referred to as
news. The difference between Usenet and other BBS and forums was that it didnt have a dedicated administrator or
central server. There are modern forums that use the same idea as Usenet today, including Yahoo! Groups and Google
Groups.
The first version of instant messaging came about in 1988 with Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC was Unix-based, limiting
access to most people. It was used for link and file sharing, and generally keeping in touch with one another.

The Birth of Social Networking As We Know It

Geocities was among the first social networking sites on the internet, launching its website in 1994. Its intent was to allow
users to create their own websites, dividing them into cities based on the websites content. In 1995, TheGlobe.com was
launched, offering users the ability to interact with people who held the same interests and publish their own content.
Two years later, in 1997, AOL Instant Messenger and SixDegrees.com were launched. This was the year instant messaging
became popular and it was the first time internet users were able to create a profile and friend each other.

The New Millennium Brings the World Closer

Friendster was the pioneer of social networking. In its first three months, the social networking website acquired 3 million
users, amounting to 1 in 126 internet users being members at the time. Friendster served as the launching point for the
widely popular MySpace, who cloned Friendster and launched after just 10 days of coding.
In the following years, other social networking websites like Classmates.com, LinkedIn and Tribe.net started to pop up,
including what was to be the most popular social networking website in internet history.
Facebook.com was launched in 2004 with the intent to connect U.S. college students, starting with Harvard College. In its
first month, over half of the 19,500 students signed up. After gaining popularity, Facebook opened its registration to noncollege students, and in 2008, Facebook surpassed MySpace as the leading social networking website.
Social networking has come a long way since 1978, and we will all witness its evolution for years to come, forever changing
the way people connect with one another.