Social Media

The primary functions of social media are for individuals to create a profile, build connections (e.g., friends or followers), and to communicate with those connections through the site. Today, social media are prolific in part due to their presence as mobile applications (apps) on cell phones, as well as their ability to be accessed through the Internet.

[Page 1507]Arguably the first social media site was SixDegrees, launched in 1997. SixDegrees had users identify family and friends and operated from the idea that there are only six degrees of separation between people around the world. Users could log in to the website and see how their connections spread out through their network. The site never gained traction and was shut down in 2001. It would open the ...