“Geocities me!” It’s not a phrase that rolls easily off the tongue, like “Tweet me!” is it? Maybe that’s why (a) nobody in the history of the universe has ever said it, and (b) why Geocities doesn’t exist anymore (except in Japan, for some reason). And yet Geocities was the great-grand-daddy of all the social media we use today, launching way back in the Stone Age of the internet, 1994.
The Technology of Social Media
The social media revolution has been enabled by two main developments – the spread of wi-fi, and the development of portable devices. The first internet-enabled phones weren’t a lot of fun to use, with nasty monochrome screens and slow connections – and we’re not really talking about that long ago.
Look where we are now though – smartphones and tablets with amazing HD screens, super-fast connections, and every kind of social media you could want; from tweets to pics and entire life histories, available 24/7, on something that fits in your pocket. But don’t forget, in 10 years time it’ll all seem clunky and boring, as we’ll all have 3D IMAX implants in our eyeballs.
Twitter
People either love Twitter or hate it. It usually takes a while for people to start following you at first, and many new Tweeters give up in frustration. But stick with it, start following interesting people, and you may eventually find it pretty rewarding. You’ll soon learn to avoid the people who are using the site for marketing purposes. It’s even been involved in real social change in some countries.
Facebook
Facebook is probably the king of social media right now, having kicked MySpace off its perch a while ago. By September last year there were more than a billion active Facebook users worldwide. So what keeps the site expanding? There’s the social aspect of course; simply keeping in contact with friends and family. But that social theme is continued in other ways as well, like gaming. Games are massively popular on Facebook and other sites, and people looking for farming simulators, puzzles, casino games like poker and blackjack or even baccarat rebates from various sites can find the stuff they need easily and quickly.
Photo Sharing
Instagram is the leader in photo sites for now, and its free image filters and sharing abilities allow users to link up nicely with Twitter and Facebook. Pinterest launched around the same time, and exploits a slightly different niche, offering a virtual pin-board for users to display images and other themed content.
As the technology gets better and faster, social media is bound to keep growing. Just be careful what you post – the internet is full of examples of things people have shared and then wished they hadn’t!
(Images courtesy of cultofmac.com, theguardian.com, wallnest.com)
