The telephone came first, followed by the fax machine, and then social media — a revolutionary method of communication. Since its inception, people have been able to communicate with one another in unprecedented ways. Friends and family can communicate at any time, and marketers can reach consumers in a completely new way. In fact, individuals spend an average of 144 minutes per day using social media. Social Media Day was created on June 30 as a result of its impact on society over the years, and it has continued to gain prominence ever since.
The background of Social Media Day
Mashable inaugurated World Social Media Day on June 30, 2010. It was created as a means to recognise the impact of social media on global communication and to unite the world in celebration of it. Everyone uses social media every day; it’s how we quickly and easily connect with people all over the world. Mashable is known for utilising social media to connect diverse cultures, movements, and fandoms; therefore, they desired a day to recognise this. Every year, people use the hashtag #SMDay; this year is your chance to get involved!
Sixdegrees was the first social media platform to be introduced in 1997. The website, founded by Andrew Weinreich, permitted users to list friends and family members and featured bulletin boards, profiles, and school affiliations. Sixdegrees had over a million users at its zenith, but it was shut down in 2001.
Friendster was the first modern social media platform in 2002. The website enabled users to make new friends in a secure environment and has over a hundred million users, the majority of whom reside in Asia. In 2003, LinkedIn, the first business-oriented social media platform, was introduced. MySpace debuted in 2004, the same year as Facebook, but its initial success was substantially greater. By 2006, MySpace was the largest social media platform in the world, and users adored the customizable profiles that allowed them to post music.
YouTube launched its video-specific website in 2005, and Twitter followed with its platform for limited characters in 2006. As both platforms grew in prominence, so did Facebook, establishing the most popular social media platforms for the next five years.
In its first couple of months after its introduction in 2010, Instagram gained over a million users. In response to Instagram’s challenge to Facebook’s dominance, Facebook acquired the platform for $1 billion in 2012. In 2014, Facebook also paid $16 billion for the encrypted messaging platform WhatsApp. Snapchat was one platform that Facebook did not acquire. Snapchat was introduced in 2011 and reportedly turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook in 2013. Snapchat became popular due to its disappearing story feature. TikTok is the most recent addition to the list of social media titans. The app was released in 2016 and has gained immense popularity due to its extensive audio and video editing capabilities.
As social media platforms have evolved and grown in prominence, so too has their scrutiny. With controversies surrounding their use of data, hate speech, impact on mental health, election results, and false news, the platforms are under greater pressure than ever to reveal what occurs behind the scenes.
Social media has become a means of instantaneous communication, typically with friends and family, but also with strangers. It has become a significant source of news, purchasing, locating business influencers, and general entertainment. The purpose of Social Media Day is to appreciate the benefits that these platforms have brought to our lives, and perhaps like or post a few photos.
SOCIAL MEDIA DAY ACTIVITIES
Post, post, post!
Social media is only as effective as its posts, so use this opportunity to join the conversation! Post a photograph, tweet, or go live on Facebook or Instagram.
Try out novel systems
There are numerous social media sites out there just itching to be discovered. You could be making TikTok videos, sharing your greatest travel adventures on Instagram, and participating in trending topics on Twitter before you realise it. Try out a few platforms and see if you like them.
Put it online
Social media can bring people together, but it’s particularly special when Internet peers become IRL friends. In honour of Social Media Day, hang out in person with an acquaintance you typically only interact with on social media. Take a stroll, grab a refreshment, or watch a movie. Just remember to snap a photo to post on social media!
5 FACTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
Every minute, over 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, and the average daily viewing time is forty minutes!
81% of small and medium-sized enterprises use at least one social platform to maintain customer relationships.
The most Instagrammed cuisine is pizza, followed by sushi and steak. Yum.
The photo with the most likes on Instagram is a picture of an egg uploaded by world_record_egg in an attempt to break the previous record.
Every day, 500 million tweets are sent, or 6,000 tweets per second.
SOCIAL MEDIA DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | June 30 | Friday |
| 2024 | June 30 | Sunday |
| 2025 | June 30 | Monday |
| 2026 | June 30 | Tuesday |
| 2027 | June 30 | Wednesday |
