Personal New Media History

• Facebook

  • Facebook was created in 2004.

  • I joined Facebook in 2012.

  • Facebook is important to be because I use it primarily to keep up with family members that live across the country. I mostly used it in high school to stay updated with changed in my school community like football game themes, new teacher hirings, etc. At this point in time I use it to keep up with my older family members who don't have other forms of social media.

• Instagram

  • Instagram was created in 2010.

  • I joined Instagram in 2014.

  • Instagram is important to me because I use it to stay in touch with people from school, whom I am not very close to, but still close enough to find joy in their life accomplishments and vacation photos. I used to use it to stay in touch with the wider world, but other apps like Twitter and TikTok have filled that space.

• Youtube

  • Youtube was created in 2005.

  • I joined Youtube in 2008.

  • Youtube popularity reaches peak in 2014

  • Youtube is important to me because it was part of my childhood. I remember watching funny Youtube videos with my family all night. I do not use it as much as I used to, but I still use it to find new yoga poses or try to figure out how to assemble an ottoman.

• Twitter

  • Twitter was created in 2006.

  • Twitter popularity reaches a peak in 2016.

  • I joined Twitter in 2017.

  • Twitter is important to me because I use it to stay in touch with the rest of the world. I don't trust Facebook politics so I usually type in key phrases on Twitter and find out what is actually happening from people who see it first hand. I originally got Twitter because everyone was talking about it and I wanted to see what all the appeal was, but I do not like it as much as the others listed above.

• Snapchat

  • Snapchat was created in 2011.

  • I joined Snapchat in 2019.

  • Snapchat popularity reaches a peak in 2015.

    • Popularity numbers have stayed at an equilibrium since 2015.

    • Snapchat is important to me because I use it to stay connected to my closest friends and younger family members. I like Snapchat because communication can be as simple as a picture of the ceiling, or as complex as a phone call. I mainly talk to people on this app and have continued to do so since I got it.