Category Archives: Media & Culture

When Did Social Media Begin?

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In the twenty-three years I’ve been maintaining this blog more than 800 posts wound up in the INTERNET category, making said category almost useless. And do I make SOCIAL MEDIA a tag, or a sub-category under INTERNET? To sort this out I am reviewing each of those 800+ posts. During today’s lunch break I asked GPT 4o when SOCIAL MEDIA became a thing.

While it’s impossible to pinpoint an exact starting point, social media as a component of the Internet has evolved over time. It depends on how you define it—whether as any form of online interaction or as modern profile-based networks. Here are some key milestones:

1. 1970s–1980s: Early Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and Usenet

  • BBSs (1978): Allowed users to post messages, share files, and engage in discussions.
  • Usenet (1980): Functioned like a decentralized forum, organizing discussions into topic-based newsgroups.

2. 1990s: The Web and Early Social Networks

  • AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy (late 1980s–90s): Introduced chat rooms, forums, and member profiles.
  • GeoCities (1994): Gave users personal webpages in themed “neighborhoods.”
  • Classmates.com (1995) & SixDegrees.com (1997): Often cited as the first modern social networks, with SixDegrees offering profiles, friend lists, and messaging.

3. 2000s: The Boom of Modern Social Media

  • Friendster (2002), MySpace (2003), LinkedIn (2003), Facebook (2004): Refined the model, with Facebook becoming dominant.
  • Blogs, LiveJournal, Twitter (2006): Expanded social networking beyond direct connections, introducing microblogging.

Conclusion: The “beginning” of social media depends on the criteria:

  • If looking for early online social interaction, BBS and Usenet were the start.
  • If considering profile-based networks, SixDegrees.com is a strong candidate.
  • If marking the moment social media became an Internet-defining force, the mid-2000s explosion with Facebook and Twitter is key.

I remember the modem screech that connected me to my first BBS. Posting to a Usenet group. My first CompuServe email address. And all that followed. Here on smays.com SOCIAL MEDIA started getting some ink in the mid-2000s.

4-Track Tape Players (Predecessor to 8-Track)

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Before the 8-track tape, there was a 4-track cartridge system, commonly known as the Muntz Stereo-Pak or simply the 4-track tape system. It was developed in the early 1960s by Earl “Madman” Muntz, an entrepreneur known for his work in consumer electronics and cars.Key Facts About the 4-Track System:

  • Introduced: Early 1960s
  • Cartridge Design: Used a continuous loop of 1/4-inch tape inside a plastic shell, similar to the later 8-track format.
  • Audio Quality: Offered stereo sound and was considered to have slightly better fidelity than 8-tracks due to fewer tracks being crammed onto the tape.
  • Adoption: Mainly popular in automobiles, often installed in custom and high-end cars of the era.
  • Main Drawback: Required a pinch roller built into the player (instead of inside the cartridge like 8-tracks), making it less convenient.
  • Replaced By: The 8-track format, developed by Bill Lear (of Lear Jet fame) in 1964, became more commercially successful due to support from major automakers and tape manufacturers.

Though 4-track players had a brief run, the format laid the groundwork for the success of the 8-track, which dominated car audio until cassette tapes took over in the late 1970s. (GPT 4o)

“Have you heard?”

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I spent far too much of 2024 following the news and took a much needed break a couple of months ago. A total blackout on television and almost nothing leaks through online. My mood has noticeably improved.

I’ve reached the stage of life — philosophically, geographically, and financially — where very little that happens in the world touches my life in any meaningful way. (Yes, I know, good for you, Steve.)

Bottom line: I’m much happier not following world (or local for that matter) events. Not knowing, if you will. And it turns out, if there is anything I really need to know, someone will call or text me: “Have you heard?” Hasn’t happened yet.

YouTube isn’t just a platform. It’s infrastructure.

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The excerpts below are from an article adapted from a blog post by Ryan McGrady. Ryan McGrady is a senior researcher with the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a researcher with Media Cloud and the Media Ecosystems Analysis Group.

There are 14 billion videos on YouTube. More than one and a half videos for every person on the planet and that’s counting those that are publicly visible.

According to McGrady, YouTube started (February 2005) as a video platform, “but it has since become the backbone of one of the 21st century’s core forms of communication.”

Videos with 10,000 or more views account for nearly 94 percent of the site’s traffic overall but less than 4 percent of total uploads. Just under 5 percent of videos have no views at all, nearly three-quarters have no comments, and even more have no likes.

I uploaded my first video to YouTube on February 12, 2006 and more than 560 videos since. Those videos have been viewed 1,171,459 times for a total watch time of 19,171 hours. Amazingly, (to me) my channel has accounted for 3,376 views in the last 28 days. From day one I have had no interest in comments or likes and I never considered trying to monetize my videos. I always saw it as a place to park my videos so I could include them in a blog post.

I cannot argue with McGrady’s view that “YouTube is now less an opportunity than a requirement—something you have to use, because basic elements of society have organized around it.” 

Public-access Television

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“From about 1920 to 1945, radio developed into the first electronic mass medium, monopolizing “the airwaves” and defining, along with newspapers, magazines, and motion pictures, an entire generation of mass culture. About 1945 the appearance of television began to transform radio’s content and role.” (Britannica.com)

Someone would be considered special (cool?) if they even knew someone who had been “on television.” Today anyone with a mobile device can share video (live or recorded) with the world. Everyone is “on TV” or in a “movie.” But back around 1970 we had something called Public-access Television.

“Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels.” (Wikipedia)

Not long after cable TV came to the little town where I grew up, a local church invested in some recording equipment and began producing local programming.

I was a “radio announcer” (that was the job title back then) so I made a few –very embarrassing— appearances on Time for Talk.