Did You Know?

1979
Usernets and Bulletin Board Systems --- the earliest forms of online communication --- hit the internet allowing users to exchange data over phone lines.

1991
America online launched AOL and email, which for many people was their introduction into the World Wide Web.

1995
Classmates.com is launched.  The social networking site allows users to find and connect with former acquaintances and classmates.  Craigslist starts as an email distrubution list to friends of Craig Newmark featuring local events in the San Francisco Bay Area;  in 1996 it became a Web-based service that expanded into other classified categories.

1997
AOL's instant Messenger is born allowing for real time instant online communication.

2001
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, online memorials pop up in cyberspace including one for families of Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died in the World Trade Center http://www.cantorfamilies.com/

2002
Friendster.com launched, as did Meetup, another online social networking site that helped organize offline group meetings in various locations worldwide.  Meetup users enter their zip codes or city and the topic they want to meet about, and the website helps them arrange a place and time to meet.

2003
MySpace.com launched, as did Linkedin and Photobucket.  Google bought the blog-publishing service Blogger.com, which allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries.

2004
Facebook is founded as a way for college students to connect.  It opened to the general public in 2006 and overtakes MySpace as the most popular social networking site in 2008.  Also launched were Digg and Flickr, World of Warcraft, a multiplayer online role-playing game, and Vimeo, a video-sharing website where users upload, share and view videos.

2005
The video-sharing website You Tube is launched, as is the entertainment, social networking and news website Reddit, which allows registered users to submit content, including posts or direct links.  In 2006, Conde Nast Publications acquires the site from the University of Virginia roommates who founded it.

2006
Twitter launched.

2007
Tumblr launched.

2009
Facebook created the "Like" button, and Foursquare, the local search and discovery mobile app, is launched.

2010
Instagram is launched as a free smartphone mobile app; also launched was Storify, a social networking service that lets the user create stories or timelines using social media outlets.  It opened to the public in 2011.

2011
Pinterest, Google Plus and Snapchat are launched.

2012
Vine, the short-form video sharing service, where users share six-second long looping video clips, is launched.  Users videos are published through Vine's social network and can be shared on other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

2015
Periscope, the live video streaming app for IOS and Android devices, is launched.