A short history of social media [infographic]

How old is social media? If you guessed somewhere around the 2000 mark you’d be very wrong. The first instance of what we now call social media was the Computerised Bulletin Board System created in 1978.

This informative infographic gives you a short, but thorough, history of social media right from its roots in 1978 through to today. Beyond telling you when a particular social media service was created, (Blogger in August of 1999, for instance), it also gives you other relevant pieces of historical information.

For instance, it includes the 2009 hype surrounding Facebook’s decision to change its terms of service in respect of user generated content. This move has probably stuck in the minds of most as the “Facebook can sell your pictures” incident.

The infographic was created by the global law firm Morrison and Foerster. The company’s interest in social media arises from its lawyers “seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media”.

Click on the image for a better view.