History of Social Media Day:
World Social Media Day was first recognized on June, 30 2010. Social media day was created to raise awareness of the social impact of media on global communication. Every day, people use social media to connect with people all over the world.
The first modern social media platform was Friendster in 2002. The website allowed people to safely make new friends and has over a hundred million users, most of whom are in Asia. Launched in 2003, LinkedIn was the first business-oriented social media platform. In 2006, MySpace was the largest social networking site in the world, and its users were thrilled to customize their profiles and upload music.
YouTube launched its website dedicated to video in 2005 and Twitter followed with its limited characters platform in 2006. Facebook grew in popularity as well, and the biggest social media platforms of the next five years were becoming established.
Instagram launched in 2010 and saw rapid growth, gaining over a million users within the first couple of months. With Instagram challenging their dominance, Facebook purchased the platform for $1 billion in 2012. In 2014, Facebook purchased encrypted messaging platform WhatsApp for $16 billion. One platform that Facebook failed to buy was Snapchat. The disappearing stories feature made SnapChat popular after it rejected a $3 billion offer from Facebook in 2013. The most recent addition to the list of social media heavyweights is TikTok. With its extensive audio and video editing features, this 2016 app quickly became a popular one.
Over time, social media has evolved and grown in popularity, as has the scrutiny that it receives. A number of recent controversies surrounding data use, hate speech, mental health, election results, and fake news have led to a need for more transparency.
Fun Facts and Stats:
• 5 billion – The number of people using social media.
• 68% – The proportion of U.S. adults who use Facebook.
• 3 hours – Time spent by your average person each day on social media or messaging.
• 500 million – The number of people using Instagram Stories each day.
• 60 billion – WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger messages sent each day.
• 35 minutes – The average user spends on Facebook each day.
• 270 million – The estimated number of fake Facebook profiles.
• 707 – Number of followers the average Twitter user has.
• 300 hours – Video footage uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• 95 million – Photos uploaded to Instagram each day.
Ways to Celebrate Social Media Day:
1. Post, post, post!
2. Try new platforms
3. Share your favorite accounts you follow with your other followers
Using social media has enabled people to instantly connect with others, often with friends and family, and even complete strangers. It has become a huge source of news, shopping, and general entertainment. Social media day is for us to enjoy the positives that these platforms have brought into our lives, and maybe like or share a photo or two.
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