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Tech Timeline

It's hard to believe there was ever a time when social media didn't exist because most people use it daily. However, only 20 years ago, everything changed with the invention of Facebook. Originally called Facemash, what we know as Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg when he was 23 years old. Zuckerberg was a computer programmer and developed a social networking website for fellow college students. He launched The Facebook in February 2004, and in a month, over half of the undergrads at Harvard had a profile. The network was extended to other universities and became Facebook.com in August 2005. At that time, there was no way to interact with other college students outside of his university, and he thought it would be a good idea to create a network that allowed students to share course information as well as make friends. 

By December 2005, Facebook had 6 million users, and by 2023, it had almost 3 billion. Facebook has a huge demographic of people from the age of 18-65, with the highest number of users in the 25-34 age group and the highest usage by males at 56.8 percent. Originally, Facebook was a great thing because it made people from across the country and world be able to interact with one another and share pictures and stories. since then, one of the problems this has created is the broad sharing of misinformation. This phenomenon is still an issue today, especially during election season. It's very easy to create fake accounts, and due to the global penetration, it's easy to create false accounts within minutes. On the plus side, Facebook remains a great way to advertise products, so companies are still willing to advertise on the site. 

In 2010 Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger created Instgram. The name is a mash-up of an instant camera and telegram. The app was originally called Burbn and was a location-based app that allowed people to check in and share photos. Unfortunately, it was too similar to Four Square, but they noticed that people were enjoying sharing their photos, so they redeveloped the app into Instagram. Instagram had 2 million followers 6 weeks after it launched. In 2012, it was purchased by Facebook for 1 billion dollars. In 2024, Instagram became the most popular photo-sharing site, with over 2 billion users. Instagram also has a broad demographic with users from ages 18-65 and the highest usage in adults 25-35, and skews toward women at 55.4 percent. 

Although Instagram was originally created to share photos with friends, it has grown into a force in advertising, and it's the leading social media platform used by marketers worldwide. Instagram does not face the same misinformation issues as Facebook since users cannot link to external content, but it still poses certain problems. Many users curate their photos to create the illusion of a perfect life, which has been linked to increased levels of anxiety, depression, and FOMO. Additionally, users with public accounts often receive unwanted contact and are frequently exposed to inappropriate content. Although most of us imagine living in a world without Facebook and Instagram, we have to consider if sharing all of our information is actually healthy for us I don't think social media is going anywhere soon, but we as users may want to give extra consideration to what we share for the benefit of ourselves and others.