legraph , ▁which ▁connected ▁the ▁United ▁States . ▁The ▁PL AT O ▁system ▁launched ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 0 , ▁which ▁was ▁developed ▁at ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁Illinois ▁and ▁subsequently ▁commer cially ▁market ed ▁by ▁Control ▁Data ▁Corporation , ▁offered ▁early ▁forms ▁of ▁social ▁media ▁features ▁with ▁ 1 9 7 3 - era ▁innov ations ▁such ▁as ▁Notes , ▁PL AT O ' s ▁message - forum ▁application ; ▁T ER M - t alk , ▁its ▁instant - mess aging ▁feature ; ▁T alk om atic , ▁perhaps ▁the ▁first ▁online ▁chat ▁room ; ▁News ▁Report , ▁a ▁crowd - s our ced ▁online ▁newspaper ▁and ▁blog ; ▁and ▁Access ▁List s , ▁en abling ▁the ▁owner ▁of ▁a ▁note ▁file ▁or ▁other ▁application ▁to ▁limit ▁access ▁to ▁a ▁certain ▁set ▁of ▁users , ▁for ▁example , ▁only ▁friends , ▁class m ates , ▁or ▁co - work ers . ▁ ▁AR P AN ET , ▁which ▁first ▁came ▁online ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 7 , ▁had ▁by ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁developed ▁a ▁rich ▁cultural ▁exchange ▁of ▁non - g overn ment / bus iness ▁ideas ▁and ▁communication , ▁as ▁ev iden ced ▁by ▁the ▁network ▁et iqu ette ▁( or ▁" net iqu ette ") ▁described ▁in ▁a ▁ 1 9 8 2 ▁hand book ▁on ▁computing ▁at ▁M IT ' s ▁Art ific ial ▁Int elligence ▁Labor atory . ▁AR P AN ET ▁evol ved ▁into ▁the ▁Internet ▁following ▁the ▁publication ▁of