There was a time when like, share subscribe, Instagramming, Tweeting, and Snapchat was not a part of our daily vocabulary. No, it wasn’t the cave-man period then. It may seem like the internet, social media, and smartphones have been there forever, but no, there was a time when socializing was only when we met in-person; sending across information and messages was through the mail; often referred to as snail mail now.

Now we live in an era where socializing happens in a matter of minutes and across continents and sharing information happens in a matter of seconds. The invention and evolution of social media have changed the way our society functions. And by the looks of it, it may stay here for an exceptionally long time. So, how did this all start, let’s have a look.

The beginning

According to the Oxford dictionary, Social Media is defined as, ‘Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.’ The first social media website was Sixdegrees.com. It was launched in 1997 by Andrew Weinreich. It had features such as profiles, friend list, and school affiliations.

The growth 

After sixdegrees.com, many social media sites like Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Whatsapp were launched from 2000-2010. It was in this decade that people slowly got hooked on social media. People warmed up to the idea that socializing can happen over long-distance using gadgets.

It was towards the end of the decade, around 2008 that social media started being an inseparable part of our lives. People started sharing their lives on Facebook walls, uploading videos on Youtube, and LinkedIn became a reliable source for professionals to connect and find jobs. From being considered a distraction at its inception, social media slowly crept into the lives of people and became an inevitable part of their lives. The evolution of social media has been steady.

Social media also grew from being just a networking platform to a means of marketing, a place to look for ideas, and express views. Companies, celebrities, politicians, everyone understood the importance of online presence. The impact of social media on the business started increasing and it grew beyond anyone’s imagination.

The boom

In the last ten years, apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok have been launched. The growth and popularity of the already existing apps like Facebook and Twitter have been exponential. We have reached a stage where; every industry and businesses have a digital imprint on them. Nearly 45% of the population now use social media. People spend close to 3hours a day on social networking sites.

The power of social media to influence people has widened its range of utility. It is now a platform to grow businesses, market products, and promote ideas. Social media marketing has become an integral part of marketing strategies. It has even opened a new field of employment- digital marketing.

The growth of social media has been directly proportional to the advances in technology. With the invention of smartphones, the internet and all its perks became accessible to everyone. One did not have to depend on the computer to access social media.

From the time of its inception, the evolution of social media has been astounding. From a tiny seed, it has grown into a huge tree with its branches in every aspect of life. Even with all the evolution social media has had, it still serves its basic purpose of entertainment and connecting people.

Kolkata School of Digital Marketing is an advanced digital marketing training institute based in Kolkata. With our passion and love for digital marketing, we aim to create proficient digital marketers with in-depth knowledge about the various aspects of digital marketing.

Our courses are designed keeping in mind the needs and developments of the ever-growing digital platform. Diploma in digital marketing, Pay per click, Google ads, Facebook ads, SEO course are the courses we provide at our institute.