Within a short period of time, social media has grown from direct information exchanges to virtual reality, from creating social bonding to trading platforms. The platform is the number one choice for marketers, small business owners, artists and many other professionals. But this wasn’t always the case for social media, so how did we get here?

The 80s and 90s were important for setting the ground foundation for social sites to be set up. But the early 2000s were a game changer for the digital world. The sharp rise of content-sharing platforms and the large amount gave birth to society’s obsession with content-sharing, which in turn gave rise to new markets and information hotspots.

The rise of end users and business markets

The computer experience had found its way from a desktop computer or laptop to a cell phone. Cellular service expanded, which led to the development of smartphones, as well as the availability of high-speed wireless internet in homes, businesses and public places.

As smartphones were developed, users were able to take their communities everywhere — which created a flux in business opportunities. A newer — better — way of buying goods and services was born, leading us to the ever-changing, fast-paced world we live in today!

The business experiences grew as the user bases grew into the hundreds of millions. Trackable user data that was conceived through applications like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, made it easier for businesses to hone in on their target market and direct ads to specific audiences.

Facebook has been placing ads as early as 2006, Twitter as early as 2010 and Instagram later around 2013.

The rise of the social media presence

Companies realized it was beneficial to cultivate an active, engaged social media presence in addition to promoting their ads on social media platforms. A social media presence refers to the visibility of a brand or individual on social media platforms.

This presence directly relates the community the brand or individual builds. When a business has a stronger presence, they have a great bond of trust with its audience and develop a direct relationship beyond the marketing channels.

This created the cultural reset of branding growing an audience organically through content creation and informative and entertaining content on platforms rather than paying for this directly.

So where is social media going now?

The backstory to social media and the reasons we use it and are so ingrained in it are vast, but social media has grown so much, what happens next? There’s no doubt social media will be shaped by any new evolving business models, as well as advancements in technology. Businesses, and users, need to be ready to adapt at the drop of a hat since our platforms are constantly evolving!

Humans are social creatures. Human interaction drives commerce. In the next decade and beyond, these two facts will continue to shape social media.

Written by Becca Bieda, Social Media Manager

Becca lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, and has her Bachelor’s in Business Marketing with a minor in Global Environmental Sustainability. She is a Social Media Manager here at Madwire and enjoys the creative range social media offers. Outside of work, Becca loves photography, road trips, and snuggling her 2 orange cats!