As the years go by, social media networks like Facebook, YouTube are still competing with the new age social media sites like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. To keep up their userbase in a higher range and to lure more users they are evolving with new concepts and ideologies. In this story, we are discussing this evolution in detail.
WhatsApp is a messaging platform that was founded by Brian Acton and Jan Koum in the year 2009. Initially, it was a text-based messaging platform, which is the Android version of the famous BBM (BlackBerry Messenger).
Later Whatsapp become a multiplatform, multimedia platform, where it allows sharing images, videos, documents etc.,
Facebook acquired WhatsApp in the year 2014. In the same year, WhatsApp introduced voice calls features.
Over the years WhatsApp introduced group, broadcast, video calling features, group voice and video calls, multi-platform and device access to keep their No 1 spot in the messaging application.
Instagram is an image-sharing app created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2010.
In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram. In 2013 Video sharing feature was added to compete with Vine.
IGTV is a feature from Instagram that allows users to upload 10 minutes videos.
Instagram Direct was introduced in 2013, it allows mutual followers to chat, video calling and the Room feature to group video calling.
Reels launched in 2019 to compete with TikTok which allows users to record short videos set to pre-existing sound clips from other posts.
LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman and founding team members from PayPal.
Initially, LinkedIn allows users to create profiles, which is similar to that of curriculum vitae so that job seeks can forward their LinkedIn profile to companies or HR.
LinkedIn later allowed people to connect, so that people from the same company or school can connect.
The connection program ensures users to connect with companies. Later LinkedIn allows users to direct messages to their connections.
Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016. LinkedIn can be the answer to Microsoft’s quest for social networking.
Similar to Facebook, you can post content into LinkedIn.
Similar to blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger and Medium it allows users to write long articles, and users can follow their writers through a follow button.
Facebook founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, it has a decline in user base after the inception of new-age social media like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
Facebook experimented their email service and even created email IDs for all of its users and this idea failed and a big impact was created on its userbase.
Facebook chat was then remodified as Facebook Messenger and after the acquisition of Instagram, Messenger becomes a stand-alone app that allows people to interact with both their Facebook and Instagram contacts.
Facebook allows users to live stream videos.
To compete with services like Amazon, Facebook allows users to sell products.
YouTube
YouTube is an online video hosting platform founded by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim in 2005.
Google acquired YouTube in the year 2006.
YouTube allows users to upload videos. It pays them for videos with more views.
In 2011, YouTube Live was introduced, which allows users to Live stream events.
In 2016, YouTube community is launched as a social networking feature to compete with Facebook. Community posts can include images, GIFs, text and video.
In 2020, YouTube Shorts was launched to compete with Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Final Words
As the technology possibilities raises, new services will evolve to engage users. To be in the race companies of then and now has to evolve in view of the future.
