Morr|son & Foerster Soc|a| Med|a News|etter Vo|.

2, Issue 4 August 2011

4
A Short H|story of
Soc|a| Med|a
June 30, 2011:
hews 0crp. seIIs Hy$pace tc
Irvine÷basec cicitaI recia firr fcr
$35 riIIicn. $pecific Hecia, the
b0yer, cc0nts J0stin TirberIake
arcnc its investcrs.
May 19, 2011:
IinkecIn cces II0, the vaI0e
cf its shares rcre than
cc0bIinc in the initiaI cay
cf tracinc. 0n J0ne 3, caiIy
ceaIs site 6rc0pcn fiIes tc cc
p0bIic as weII.

1995:
IerscnaI hcre÷pace service
6eccities is Ia0nchec. 6ces p0bIic
in 1998 anc is p0rchasec by Yahcc!
in 1999 fcr $3.57 biIIicn. 6eccities is
sh0tterec in 2009.
0curtesy cf $cciaIIy Aware,
the scciaI media Iaw update; tc subscribe,
pIease visit www.mcfc.ccm/scciaIIyaware.
February 1978:
First ciaI÷0p 880 ("088$") is
Ia0nchec. 88$s ccntin0e tc crcw
in pcp0Iarity thrc0ch the 1980s.
February 6, 2009:
Facebcck chances its terrs cf
service tc incI0ce brcac, perpet0aI
u60 Iicense. TweIve cays Iater,
after ccnsicerabIe press0re, the
chances are rcIIec back.
Ju|y 13, 2011:
Twitter ceIebrates its five÷year
birthcay-the scciaI recia ciant
ceIivers 350,000,000,000 Tweets per
cay.
Apr|| 2008:
Facebcck's pcp0Iarity
cvertakes Hy$pace's, basec
cn the n0rber cf rcnthIy
0nic0e visitcrs.
Ju|y 8, 2011:
IinkecIn cIirbs tc #2 in the u.$.
fcr tctaI rcnthIy 0nic0e visitcrs,
sc0eakinc by Hy$pace's 33.5
riIIicn J0ne visitcrs with 33.9
riIIicn cf its cwn.
June 28, 2011:
6cccIe II0s Ia0nches its cIcsec
beta-in a IittIe cver twc weeks,
rcre than ten riIIicn pecpIe
have jcinec, sharinc arc0nc cne
biIIicn iters per cay.
December 2006:
Yahcc cffers $1 biIIicn tc
b0y Facebcck. b0t Facebcck
0ItirateIy cecIines the cffer.
Ju|y 2003:
Hy$pace Ia0nches. The site
is acc0irec by hews 0crp in
2005 fcr $580 riIIicn anc
is receivinc rcre than 75
riIIicn visitcrs per rcnth in
Iate 2008.
1997:
FarIy scciaI recia service
$ix0ecrees.ccr is Ia0nchec.
At its heicht, the service
cIairs 1 riIIicn 0sers.
78
May 2003:
0crpcrate scciaI netwcrkinc
site IinkecIn cpens its cccrs.
0J
March 2006:
Text÷basec scciaI recia
service Twitter is bcrn.
$c÷caIIec "Tweets" are
Iiritec tc 140 characters
each.
February 4, 2004:
Facebcck Ia0nches. InitiaIIy
cpen cnIy tc harvarc st0cents,
then cpens tc 800 ccIIeces
in Hay 2005. 8y $epterber
2006, Facebcck is avaiIabIe tc
aII 0sers 13 anc cver.
04
08
09
06
95 97
August 1999:
8Icccinc service 8Icccer
Ia0nches. I0rchasec by
6cccIe in 2003.
99
March 2002:
$cciaI recia site Friencster
Ia0nches. Herbership
peaks in 2008, then becins
its steacy wane.
02
December 1, 2009:
8evisec FT0 "60ices 0cncerninc
the use cf Fnccrserents anc
TestircniaIs" cc intc effect,
irpactinc bcth enccrsers anc
acvertisers.
December 2, 2009:
Facebcck rerbership hits
350 riIIicn. 0Iirbs tc 400
in Febr0ary 2010 anc haIf a
biIIicn 0sers five rcnths Iater,
after s0rpassinc
6cccIe's weekIy
web traffic in
Harch 2010.
10
May 21, 2010:
It is reveaIec that
Hy$pace, Facebcck, anc
cther scciaI netwcrks are
sencinc 0ser nares anc
I0s tc acvertisers aIcnc
with 0ser u8I cata.
010110110101010
101101011010BOB
SM/TH0100110010
11
March 15, 2011:
$tarb0cks passes
20 riIIicn "Iikes" cn
Facebcck.
November 30, 2010:
Facebcck vaI0ec at $50
biIIicn basec cn private
rarket transacticn.