World Social Media Day 2022: The Entire World Is Hooked Upon It
The acronym for pass-time, part-time income, and a source of entertainment is "social media." Right from waking up in the morning till sleeping, one cannot be detached from social media. Social media has really taught mankind to be social. It is ironic how introverts are also socially active, in some way or the other. People talk about politics, personal lives, books, shows, food, and share photographs and videos on social media, and in no time, one can learn about a person's mundane details.
Living in their own virtual world, most use social media as an easy escape from the real world. Social media has created a network of friendships, businesses, and even influencers today. Its spell cannot be broken, no matter how hard one tries.
Having rambled enough on social media, it has become a medium of expression for most people.The interactive medium has now become an important source of communication. In fact, it acted as an oxygen source during the pandemic as it was the only medium by which people had the ability to talk to each other.
Every minute, people receive a message or notification from a social media application, trying to keep them updated with what's going on with their friends, the world, and even other businesses.
Kepios analysis has stated that social media users have increased by 19 million between 2021 and 2022. At the beginning of 2022, 33.4 per cent of the total population in India was actively present on social media.
A report published by Oxford University Press has revealed that 54 per cent of Indians rely on social media for factual information.
History
World Social Media Day is celebrated on 30 June to honour the importance of social media in international communication as well as its influence on people's lives. It was an initiative taken by Mashable, a global entertainment and multimedia company at the forefront of using social media in business. Pete Cashmore founded Mashable in 2005. They organise the Mashable Awards every year to celebrate the best online services and communities.
On this very day, people use the hashtag #SMDay to celebrate this day.
The Emergence of Social Media
Founded in 1997, Sixdegrees was the first ever social media platform. Andrew Weinreich created the website, including features such as bulletin boards, profiles, and school affiliations designed to allow users to list their friends and family. In 2001, Sixdegrees was shut down after having amassed over a million users.
In 2002, Friendster became the first modern social media platform. Over a hundred million people used the site to make new friends, with the majority of them residing in Asia. 2003 marked the launch of LinkedIn, the first social media platform aimed at businesses.
The popular social network MySpace was founded in 2004, the same year as Facebook, with a much greater degree of success at launch than Facebook. At its peak in 2006, MySpace was the largest social media platform in the world due to its customisable profiles and music uploading features.
In 2005, YouTube unveiled its dedicated video website, and in 2006, Twitter responded with its limited character platform. Facebook followed suit and became the most popular social media platform for the next five years as well.
During its first couple of months of operation, Instagram attracted over a million users in 2010. In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for USD 1 billion to counter Instagram's dominance. The following year, WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging platform, was purchased by Facebook for USD 16 billion.
Other social media applications that create a buzz include Snapchat, Pinterest, Club House, Spotify Greenroom, Discord, Reddit, Telegram, Triller, etc.
