As we enter the mid 1990s, the World Wide Web slowly starts entering prime time. Several major closed networks, including the likes of AOL begin providing public Internet access, leading to a new group of Internet users that never had access before. With Yahoo! Launching in 1994 and Amazon and eBay joining in 1995, the World Wide Web keeps getting more and more commercial. At the time, Yahoo! Was the first popular web directory and with Yahoo! Search launched in 1995, they become the first popular Search Engine on the World Wide Web. At the time, Amazon sells only books and eBay is only focused on auctions.
It was clear that a shift was being made. The internet, a place for research and education, slowly also became the place for Entertainment. With Imdb being one of the first movie based websites, a new player arrived on the market in 1997. In the age that going out to a movie rental store was the norm for enjoying a movie at home, a small company launched as a DVD by mail service. You could sign up and select DVDs online over the Internet, but the actual DVDs were mail and had to be mailed back when the customer was done. Two brilliant and revolutionary ideas that this company had: no shipping fees and no late fees. This company, Netflix, 20 years later got the recognition as not only the most renown streaming service, but a game changer in the entertainment world.
The early adopters were quickly changing the consumers mindset. Companies like eBay built systems for loyalty and also advocacy, allowing reviews which created an online reputation score, something that for companies like AirBNB and Uber is now the norm. Aside from the online entertainment succes stories, the World Wide Web also catered the necessity for adult entertainment. AOL was one of the first big companies that allowed adult content. One of AOL’s main features was the online chat. A 1996 Rolling Stones articles estimated that the half of the AOL Chat was sexually orientated, but that it also meant a $7 million dollar monthly revenue.
This of course, didn’t mean that education completely disappeared from the Internet. With the World Wide Web reaching 1 Mln websites in the world several big education systems and websites started surfacing. A very familiar one for most students was the launch of Blackboard, a tool that is still actively being used by several educational communities and even Universities today.
[...to be continued...]
About Social Media in Suriname
This story is part 30 of my #Maynia goal to write a book in the month of May. The topics I'll be writing about from May 1st until May 31st, 2020:
(Want to read them all? The chapters will become clickable as the month progresses. Please note that I'm not always writing in chronological order, so check all 31 to see which are clickable)
The history of the Internet according to the Internet
1 - Predicting the Future
2 - The origin of the online community
3 - The birth of the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web
4 - Endless opportunities
5 - For education and entertainment
6 - Social Media before Social Media
The Rise of Web 2.0
7 - In Search of the first online Empire
8 - User Generated Content
9 - Let’s Get Connected
The Golden Generation
10 - From friends and relatives to personal interest
11 - The birth of the like button
12 - Being number 1
The Battle for the internet
13 - Socialnomics and the fight for online supremacy
14 - The features and takeovers that shaped the landscape
15 - It’s more than just Social
The Mainstream and The Alternatives
16 - The rise of the creator and the influencer
17 - The comeback of traditional media
18 - The age of information overload
The Marketeer and the Community
19 - Can’t we all have a little fun?
20 - Is age really just a number
21 - The Dangers of Dopamine and Instant Gratification
Suriname: From Dail Up to Tik Tok
22 - Getting connected
23 - Before Facebook Conquered the World
24 - The Growth of Social Media minded Suriname
25 - The Rise of Social Media Entertainment
26 - Twisting The Rules
27 - Free Facebook
28 - The diversification of Social Media
29 - From Brand Ambassadors to Social Media Influencers
30 - The Fight against Fake
The Recap
31 - What’s next?
Maynia Log
Learn more about Maynia by reading about it here.
Today's word count: 414
Total word count: 4.367
Daily review:
Too little time, started too late. It is visible in the word count. But proud that I still managed to put this Chapter up.
Daily question:
This month I'll post a daily question on which you can comment. Everyday I will give away a Hive SBI to my favorite. 😉
Today's question:
Did you consider the pre-2000 World Wide Web more of a Educational or more of a Entertainment platform?
Sources:
- Preece, J., Maloney-Krichmar, D. and Abras, C. (2003) History of Online Communities In Karen Christensen & David Levinson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Community: From Village to Virtual World. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1023-1027.
https://blog.paessler.com/history-of-the-internet-part-2
https://medium.com/@rchen8/the-history-of-internet-communities-f0234db848b1
