 | Angelfire, Myspace, Facebook ... whats next? |
The internet has now been around since 1994 for the consumer base and when it was started, you really didn't have too many sophisticated places to go. Things were pretty simple back then; most things didn't require an internet connection like today. Everything was done within the local network. All things being considered, the ability to connect to the internet required a modem (preferably an upscale 56k modem at that time), a phone line and an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
One very popular company that did this was America Online (AOL). People may not realize this but they were around since the mid 1980's. During that time one of there primary goals was to launch an online Atari games. This eventually evolved to give the Commodore 64 the ability to offer an online service which was called Q-Link. They were one of the first to offer a connection to the internet. Then in the early 1993 - 1994 you used to get a free dial 3-1/2 floppy diskettes from AOL when ordering a happy meal from McDonald's.
That is how AOL did their advertising. Pretty smart ... huh?
One very popular company that did this was America Online (AOL). People may not realize this but they were around since the mid 1980's. During that time one of there primary goals was to launch an online Atari games. This eventually evolved to give the Commodore 64 the ability to offer an online service which was called Q-Link. They were one of the first to offer a connection to the internet. Then in the early 1993 - 1994 you used to get a free dial 3-1/2 floppy diskettes from AOL when ordering a happy meal from McDonald's.
That is how AOL did their advertising. Pretty smart ... huh?
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However, back then creating a website still wasn't an easy task. Domain names cost a lot more than they do today and hosting costs a ton especially for the individual who wanted to create a simple personal website for themselves. However, there was one website that allowed users to create their own personalized website by using its tools. This was called Angelfire.com. They were the first to allow users to upload photos and pictures to their servers and create a simple web page for their own personal website for free. They were also a medical transcription service of which they eventually stopped doing. Regardless, it was very easy thing to create an account, login, and begin creating your own website which was hosted by them. This became very popular as many people signed up with an Angelfire account. You also didn't even need a domain name. Your website was referenced by "http://www.angelfire.com/mycoolwebsite" or whatever your username was. It was the simplest form of social networking by being able to create a simple personal web page.
Several years later on another website came on like a storm was called MySpace. MySpace was founded in 2003 and was developed with similar features as the Friendstar website. MySpace was similar to Angelfire in that you set up an account and then had the ability to upload photos and content but it also allowed you to search for other members. Although, you didn't need to know how to code anything, MySpace became extremely popular. On a typical day during that time, MySpace registered on average over 200,000 new users which even surpassed Google in terms of traffic. Having over 200 million users, MySpace looms over other social networking sites such as Friendster, Xanga, Beboe and, until recently ... Facebook. It was a creative easy way to create a page for yourself, upload photos along with setting up a profile and connecting to other users. MySpace allows users to decorate their profiles using HTML and Cascading Style Sheets. The real magic was with mySpace, the ability to connect to friends, relatives, co-workers, etc...
However now Facebook started getting into the picture. When this started happening, MySpace started to rapidly decline. FaceBook started in 2003 but did not gain the tremendous popularity until around 2007. It mainly attracted businesses to set up pages but not yet touched the individual person like we see today. Around 2009 to 2012 people in waves stopped using MySpace in favor of FaceBook. Facebook now allows users to create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information, and other information. It knows how to connect you by grabbing your email information and connecting you to others... very clever! Users can communicate with friends and other users through messages and a chat feature. They can also create and join interest groups and "like pages".
When comparing Facebook to Myspace, one significant difference between the two social websites is the degree of customization. FaceBook has now become so popular that it became a social place to help a revolution in the Middle East. 50% of people who go on FaceBook do so through their mobile device these days. It maintains tremendous popularity even in 2013!
Well now, one has to wonder... what's is going to be next on the horizon? What could possibly be better than FaceBook? There are a whole host of social websites now out there like twitter.com, linkedin.com, meetup.com, or even Google Plus. So where do we go from here? Only time will truly tell, but rest assured, something will come up and be the next best thing to arrive on the internet! Here is an article about the benefits and drawbacks of social media