EOTO 1 Presentations: What I Learned

    After listening to everyone's presentations, one that stuck out to me was the history of social media. I use social media every single day, and was not aware of the history behind it. To begin, social media is a very large part of our society today. It is used for entertainment, marketing, business, communications, and so much more. More than half of the global population is on social media and constantly using it. Social media will be in our lives for the rest of time. 

    During this presentation, we learned about the history of Facebook and Instagram. These are two of the most popular social media platforms today. Starting with Facebook, it was founded in 2004 by Zuckerberg, Saverin, Moskovitz, and Hughes. In the beginning, it was used to let Harvard students rate female attractiveness. That didn't work well, so it was then turned into Facebook.com. It was initially only for students who attended Harvard to share information, photos, and schedules. Then, it expanded to Yale, Stanford, and other similar universities. By June 2004, 25,000 students from 24 universities had joined Facebook. 

    We then learned about the history of Instagram. It launched in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Instagram was created to share photos and experiences in an easier way. It prioritized images over text as people shared their posts. Instagram gained popularity for its sharing focus and photo filters. Photo filters used to be very popular in posts, as they elevated them immensley. Eventually, influencers became a trend on Instagram. Influencers posted brands, products, and services on their accounts, gained large followings, and made millions. Instagram transformed marketing strategies and digital advertising, changing the game in these fields. This is still one of the most popular platforms today, with top influencers achieving great wealth and success.