Social Media has the popular buzz of 2009. Anywhere I go, people are talking about things like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. And yet, we forget that social media – in one form or another – has been around as long as there has been a need for people to communicate with other people.
In raw form, Social Media is simply some type of message, present on a communication medium that can be experienced by more people. I’d like you to meet my brother Nick. He’s currently studying communication research in the graduate program at the University of South Florida, where he is working on some ideas regarding applied communication theory and the web. We both happened to end up chasing after careers as communication geeks.
A few months back, Nick did some of his own research on the beginnings of social media. I thought it was interesting, and I’m delighted to have him as a guest for this series on my blog.
A Historical Time Line of Social Media - by Nick Riggs (Part 1)
What one needs to first realize when exploring the history of social media is that specific the progression of technology throughout history has determined our communicative barriers when it comes to effecting social networks.
With the predominance of the personal computer and the development of the internet, SNS’s are essentially the result of a combining all other forms of social media used throughout history to optimize message sending. Thus, we have far more potential in the area of communication than our predecessors.
Generally speaking, the progression of social media throughout history can be broken down into 5 Eras:
- Prehistoric-Early Civilization
- Classic
- Industrial
- Electronic
- Individualized Mobile Technology.
1st Era – Prehistoric & Early Civilization
Public postings & images were intended to reach unknown parties in order to leave an individual’s mark, or to increase civilization’s organization and coordination of community efforts.
Examples
- Spain’s Altamira caves have red and black depictions of running Bison and Deer (first known cave drawings).
- Egyptian Hieroglyphs on tombs and public buildings, as well as The Egyptian Book of the Dead.
- Hebrew Calendar used to create a shared sense of the passage of time.
- Earliest use of Papyrus as writing and preserving. Utilized for the passing on of messages.
- Hammurabi’s Code of Laws posted in the public domain, establishing community law.
2nd Era – Classic
Plays, Music, Rhetoric, Poetry, Literature – this era is defined by the need for humans to express themselves artistically. Thus, new forums emerged allowing messages to reach what could be considered an audience. In this era, large civilizations have been established, trade has begun, philosophy and religion are beginning to be developed and accepted by the masses, and culture is starting to take shape.
Examples
- Beacon fires and smoke signals are used in China
- Carrier Pigeons are used to coordinate the first Olympic Games
- Greeks develop theatre, choral music, and poetry
- Aristotle masters public address and develops what will be known as Rhetoric
- The Ten Commandments are created
- Romans use the first relay runners as messengers
Would you consider these examples of social media? Why or why not? Is their anything you would add or take away?
Join The Discussion!