Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

1979’s UseNet allowed users to communicate through a virtual newsletter.

1980s: Bulletin Board System (BBS) emerges as one of the earliest known forms of social media, and remains popular.

By the 1980s, home computers were becoming more common and social media was becoming more sophisticated. Internet relay chats, or IRCs, were first used in 1988 and continued to be popular well into the 1990’s.

The first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that’s still popular today.

After the invention of blogging, social media began to explode in popularity. Sites like MySpace and LinkedIn gained prominence in the early 2000s, and sites like Photobucket and Flickr facilitated online photo sharing. YouTube came out in 2005, creating an entirely new way for people to communicate and share with each other across great distances.

2003: Myspace, one of the most popular social networking sites ever, launches.

By 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world. These sites remain some of the most popular social networks on the Internet. Other sites like Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare and Pinterest began popping up to fill specific social networking niches.

After its launch and subsequent expansion, Facebook grew quickly, surpassing MySpace in 2008 as the most visited site in the world. Today, it ranks #3 on the Alexa traffic rankings, behind only Google and YouTube.

Facebook went public in 2012 and it received a valuation of $104 billion, making it one of the highest IPO valuation’s of all time. It currently generates over $40 billion a year in revenue, and it is considered as one of the most important tech companies in the entire world.

Currently, Facebook has just over 2.3 billion active users, a number that has grown consistently since its launch. This amounts to just under 30 percent of the entire global population.

The introduction of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram has single handily changed society and altered the way we view ourselves and other people.

Social media is the reason most younger people spend so much time on their phone.

Staying in touch with family members and friends has never been easier.

Social Media is one of the best ways to find and interact with new people who have the same interests as you, as social media allows you to seek out groups that are focused towards your own interests and hobbies.

Social media is also a great way to catch international criminals and terrorists, as anyone with a social media profile can be tracked and located.

Issues – privacy, Cyberbullying , terrorism, addictive.

Social media plays huge rolls in modern day politics and is one of (if not) the most valuable assets that parties use to gain votes. This is down to the pure reach of social media and its capabilities to be seen by millions of people in a matter of minutes. Take a look back at the last election campaigns in the UK and see how both parties spent millions on social media to help tarnish each other’s names and policies.

There are overall 2.3 Billion worldwide active social media users.

The first online dating services launched in the mid-90s, with Web Personals in 1994 and Match in 1995. Also in 1995, online marketplace Craigslist was launched, allowing people to post free personal ads and make connections. 

The mid-to-late 90s was an era in which online dating was still taboo, something that was seen as the preferred method of computer nerds and loners, not as a socially-acceptable and even preferable way to meet your significant other. 

Part of the mainstreaming of online dating can be credited to the 1998 romantic comedy “You’ve Got Mail” starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The film centered upon a couple finding love on the internet, though the way their coupling plays out seems quaint in comparison to today’s online dating scene.

Then online dating giant eharmony was launched in 2000, and in 2004 OKCupid was launched. Eharmony put a lengthy questionnaire front and center to perfect matchmaking for its users, while OKCupid made use of bio prompts and questions to help users see who they might be better suited to. 

Smartphones and the advent of swipe culture.

In 2007, the first smart phones went on the market, and people became able to connect by social networks and dating sites at all times no matter where they were. Also, the handheld interface made dating sites and social networking ever more popular. That same year, Americans spent more than $500 million on online dating. 

In 2012, Tinder was launched. Tinder popularized proximity dating and the swipe left, swipe right feature—creating a whole new culture of online dating.

By 2018, Tinder had become the top-grossing app in the app store.

Rosalie Saxby’s induction

Rosalie with Robin Arndt who did the Induction. Photo by Doug Worthington

Rosalie Saxby is the new member and her particular interest is the recycling of re-usable hospital waste.

Rosalie with President Allan
Photo by Doug Worthington

Homeless Connect Day on the 13^th of November

RYLA 2020 Applications are open!