how social media originated and evolved
social media started out as a way for people to interact with friends and family but soon expanded to serve many different purposes in 2004 myspace was the first network to reach 1 million monthly active users 3social media participation exploded in the years that followed with the entry of facebook and twitter now x businesses gravitated toward these platforms in order to reach an audience instantly on a global scale according to global web index 46 of internet users worldwide get their news through social media that compares to 40 of users who view news on news websites gen z and millennials were most likely to view news on social sites vs other generations 2social media plays a key role in many businesses marketing strategies not surprising given the sheer number of hours people spend each day on social websites and apps at the same time social media is an ever changing field with relatively recent apps such as tiktok signal and clubhouse joining the ranks of established social networks like facebook youtube x and instagram in june 2024 surgeon general dr vivek murthy urged congress to put labels on social media apps as it does with cigarettes and alcohol citing the threat that social media poses to children 4