There are a few key periods in social media:
- Pre-social media (1970s-1980s): Early form of digital communication
- The Pioneers (1997-2005): LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook was started. This is also when the indie web really thrived.
- The Rise of Microblogging and Videoing (2006-2010): Twitter (2006) introduced 140-character updates, while YouTube (2005) revolutionized video sharing.
- The Mobile & Visual Era (2011-2025): With smartphones being a part of our daily lives, apps like Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011), and Pinterest (2010) focused on photo sharing, filters, and mobile-first experiences.
- Short-form video & AI Era (2016-present): Algorithms and short-form video dominate.
Our current social media landscape
Is characterized by:
- Social media feeds having infinite scroll
Which causes:
- People feeling brainrot
- Platforms that we loved to use are now increasingly harmful and less-fun because of enshittification
Future direction: