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- Distributed discussion system with newsgroups
- A precursor to online forums
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- Allowed users to post messages and share files
- Early form of online communities
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- Made internet access and instant messaging widely available
- Connected millions
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- One of the first social networks to connect friends online
- Influenced MySpace and Facebook
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- Allowed personalized profiles and music sharing
- Dominated social networking mid-2000s
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- Revolutionized social networking with the News Feed and large-scale connectivity
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- Made video sharing accessible to everyone
- Foundation of content creators
- Made video sharing accessible to everyone
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- Centralized friends’ updates
- Changing how people consumed social content
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- Introduced microblogging and hashtags for real-time updates
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- Allowed posts to be categorized and trends to go viral globally
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- Focused on photo sharing with filters
- Stories feature later reshaped visual content
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- Social media helped organize protests and spread news worldwide
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- Introduced ephemeral messaging and Stories - Changing user behavior for daily sharing
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- Went viral on social media
- Raising awareness and funds for ALS
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- Enabled 24-hour disappearing content
- Boosting daily engagement
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- Popularized short-form, algorithm-driven videos, redefining social media engagement
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- Algorithm-driven personalized content feed that encourages viral videos
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- Major milestone in social media ownership affecting platform policies and culture
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- Several countries considered or implemented bans on TikTok due to security concerns, impacting its global user base