Welcome to Episode 2 of the JavaScript LifeStyles Podcast! In this episode, we will be jumping on a topic that really hit me when I was starting to put together the original episode of the podcast. The episode that I scrapped because it was in a direction that I did not want to go. Over the last couple of weeks, I have really taken the time to think about how to reframe some of the topics in that episode to better fit our education-based framework.
For a bit of reference, the original episode spoke on Parler and the massive wave of bans that hit them. But at the core there was more to explore than what was publicized, and if we are being honest what was politicized.
The core topic that needed to be explored, and examined was not what happened to this social media platform, but the societal, and groundbreaking changes that all software engineers can illicit by building different applications.
This episode we have talked about the intersection between social media, and politics. I want to make it as clear as I possibly can. This is not, nor will it be political. The goal of both myself, and those who will be invited on is, and will be to remain as politically agnostic as possible. I want this podcast to educate, and explore different topics. Some of those topics might brush up against politics, but will never endorse any political party, movement, or ideology.
According to Digital Trends:
It started with the BBS. Short for Bulletin Board System, these online meeting places were effectively independently-produced hunks of code that allowed users to communicate with a central system where they could download files or games (many times including pirated software) and post messages to other users. Accessed over telephone lines via a modem, BBSes were often run by hobbyists who carefully nurtured the social aspects and interest-specific nature of their projects – which, more often than not in those early days of computers, was technology-related.
Source:
The History of Social Media | Digital Trends
This gave rise to the earliest social media networks, beginning with the short-lived Six Degrees profile uploading service in 1997. This service was followed in 2001 by Friendster. These rudimentary platforms attracted millions of users and enabled email address registration and basic online networking. Weblogs, or blogs, another early form of digital social communication, began to gain popularity with the 1999 launch of the LiveJournal publishing site. This coincided with the launch of the Blogger publishing platform by the tech company Pyra Labs, which was purchased by Google in 2003. In 2002, LinkedIn was founded as a networking site for career-minded professionals. By 2020, it had grown to more than 675 million users worldwide. It remains the social media site of choice for job seekers as well as human resources managers searching for qualified candidates. Two other major forays into social media collapsed after a burst of initial success. In 2003, Myspace launched. By 2006, it was the most visited website on the planet, spurred by users’ ability to share new music directly on their profile pages. By 2008, it was eclipsed by Facebook. In 2011, Myspace was purchased by musician Justin Timberlake for $35 million, but it has since become a social media afterthought. Google’s attempt to elbow its way into the social media landscape, Google+, launched in 2012.
Source:
The Evolution of Social Media: How Did It Begin and Where Could It Go Next?