Social media
The PLATO system launched in 1960 at the University of Illinois and later commercially marketed by Control Data Corporation. It offered early forms of social media features with innovations such as Notes, PLATO's message-forum application; TERM-talk, its instant-messaging feature; Talkomatic, perhaps the first online chat room; News Report, a crowdsourced online newspaper, and Access Lists, enabling the owner of a note file or other application to limit access to a certain set of users. ARPANET came online in 1969 and enabled exchange of non-government/business ideas and communication by the late 1970s. A 1982 handbook on computing at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory described network etiquette known as netiquette. Usenet was conceived by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis in 1979 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University and established in 1980. Community Memory appeared by 1973 as a precursor to electronic bulletin board systems. The Computer Bulletin Board System launched in Chicago on the 16th of February 1978. Between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, BBSes numbered in the tens of thousands in North America alone. Message forums were the signature BBS phenomenon throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee integrated HTML hypertext software with the Internet, creating the World Wide Web. This breakthrough led to an explosion of blogs, list servers, and email services. Social media started in the mid-1990s with platforms like Classmates.com and SixDegrees.com. SixDegrees launched in 1997 and is often regarded as the first social media site. It boasted features like profiles, friends lists, and school affiliations. The platform's name was inspired by the six degrees of separation concept. BlackPlanet arrived in 1999 before Friendster and Myspace. Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter gained widespread popularity in the early 2000s.
According to Statista, around 3.96 billion people used social media globally in 2022. This number rose from 3.6 billion in 2020. As of 2023, as many as 4.76 billion people used social media, representing about 59% of the global population. Research from 2015 reported that globally, users spent 22% of their online time on social networks. In January 2024, Facebook had 3,049 million active users. YouTube followed with 2,491 million users. WhatsApp reached 2,000 million users. Instagram also had 2,000 million users. TikTok counted 1,526 million users. WeChat had 1,336 million users. Facebook Messenger held 979 million users. Telegram reached 800 million users. Douyin had 752 million users. Snapchat counted 750 million users. Kuaishou had 685 million users. Twitter held 619 million users. A 2009 study suggested individual differences help explain who uses social media: extraversion and openness have a positive relationship with social media, while emotional stability has a negative sloping relationship. Common Sense Media reported that children under age 13 in the United States use social networking services although many sites require users to be 13 or older. In 2017, the firm surveyed parents of children from birth to age 8 and found 4% used social media often or sometimes. Their 2019 survey of Americans ages 8, 16 reported about 31% of children ages 8, 12 use social media. Teens aged 16, 18 started using it at a median age of 14, though 28% said they started before reaching 13.
Social media has been criticized for negative impacts on children and teenagers including exposure to inappropriate content, exploitation by adults, sleep problems, attention problems, feelings of exclusion, and various mental health maladies. A 2017 study reported a link between sleep disturbance and social media use. It concluded blue light from computer phone displays predicted disturbed sleep termed obsessive checking. The median number of minutes of social media use per day was 61. Females were more likely to experience high levels of sleep disturbance. Many teenagers suffer from sleep deprivation from long hours at night on their phones. A 2011 study reported time spent on Facebook was negatively associated with GPA. One studied effect is Facebook depression which affects adolescents who spend too much time on social media. This may lead to reclusiveness increasing loneliness and low self-esteem. A 2017 study of almost 6,000 adolescent students found those reporting addiction-like symptoms were more likely to report low self-esteem and high depressive symptoms. Social media burnout defined as ambivalence emotional exhaustion and depersonalization negatively influences the likelihood of continuing on social media. Fear of missing out or FOMO is pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. A 2016 review concluded social media can trigger a negative feedback loop of viewing and uploading photos self-comparison disappointment and disordered body perception when social success is not achieved. A 2018 survey of American teens ages 13, 17 by Common Sense Media reported 45% said likes are at least somewhat important and 26% agreed they feel bad if nobody responds to their photos. A 2016 study reported users' reward circuits in their brains are more active when their photos are liked by more peers.
In July 2014 media lawyers were quoted in Australian media that anyone who tweets a link to WikiLeaks report could face charges following release of a secret suppression order made by the Victorian Supreme Court. In November 2024 the federal government passed the Online Safety Amendment Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024 introduced by the Albanese government banning people under age 16 from using most social media platforms effective December 2025. Presented by Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland the bill aimed reducing social media harms for young people. The stated penalty for breach was financial penalty of AU$49.5 million. The ban applies to many major platforms including TikTok Instagram Snapchat and Twitter but exempts YouTube and Google Classroom. Supporters included advocacy group 36 Months and News Corp Australia which ran campaign Let Them Be Kids. Opposers expressed concern about isolation among marginalized groups like LGBTQ community or migrant backgrounds. On the 27th of July 2020 two women in Egypt were sentenced to two years imprisonment for posting TikTok videos claimed violating family values. In the 2014 Thai coup d'état public explicitly instructed not to share or like dissenting views on social media or face prison. US enacted Communications Decency Act in 1996. Section 230 exempted internet platforms from legal liability for content authored by third parties. In 2024 legislation enacted in Florida required social media companies verify age prohibit holding account for people aged under 14 and between 14 and 16 without parental approval. European Union presented Digital Services Act DSA and Digital Markets Act DMA proposals in 2020 both enacted July 2022. DSA entered force the 17th
of February 2024 DMA in March 2024. Violators could face complete ban in Europe or fines up to 6% of global sales.
The business model of most social media platforms is based on selling slots to advertisers. Platforms provide access to data about each user allowing them to deliver ads individually relevant to them. This strongly incentivizes platforms to arrange content so users view as much content as possible increasing number of ads they see. Platforms such as X add paid user subscriptions partly to reduce dependence on advertising revenues. A 2014 Pew Research Center survey reported 91% of Americans agree or strongly agree that people have lost control over how personal information is collected and used. Some 80% of social media users said concerned about advertisers and businesses accessing data they share. In 2019 UK legislators criticized Facebook for not protecting certain aspects of user data. In 2019 Pentagon issued guidance identifying potential risk associated with using TikTok app directing appropriate action for employees to safeguard personal information resulting military Coast Guard Transportation Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security banning installation use of TikTok on government devices. In 2020 US government attempted ban TikTok and WeChat from States over national security concerns but federal court blocked move. In 2024 US Congress passed law directing TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest service or see service banned operating in US. Company sued challenging constitutionality of ban. Ban upheld constitutional. Social media platforms can serve as breeding ground for addiction-related behaviors with studies reporting excessive use leads to addiction-like symptoms including compulsive checking mood modification withdrawal when not using social media.
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Common questions
When did the PLATO system launch and what social media features did it offer?
The PLATO system launched in 1960 at the University of Illinois and offered early forms of social media features including Notes, TERM-talk instant messaging, Talkomatic online chat rooms, News Report crowdsourced newspapers, and Access Lists for user access control.
Which platform is considered the first social media site and when did it launch?
SixDegrees launched in 1997 and is often regarded as the first social media site with features like profiles, friends lists, and school affiliations inspired by the six degrees of separation concept.
How many people used social media globally in 2023 and what percentage of the population does this represent?
As of 2023, as many as 4.76 billion people used social media representing about 59% of the global population according to Statista data.
What negative impacts on children and teenagers are associated with social media use?
Social media has been criticized for negative impacts on children and teenagers including exposure to inappropriate content, exploitation by adults, sleep problems, attention problems, feelings of exclusion, and various mental health maladies such as Facebook depression and low self-esteem.
When was the Online Safety Amendment Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024 passed and what age does it ban from using most platforms?
In November 2024 the federal government passed the Online Safety Amendment Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024 introduced by the Albanese government banning people under age 16 from using most social media platforms effective December 2025.