Technological Advances In The Past Decade That Have Changed Social Media

Technology has advanced at a ridiculous pace in the last ten years, and what once was futuristic and difficult to imagine is now a part of our everyday lives.

For example, 10 years ago there was the flip phone. No bells or whistles except for the ability to text at a rather slow and inconvenient pace.

You were probably still using DSL to navigate the internet at what was believed to be a blistering (or at least an acceptable) speed. You probably were not using your phone to browse web pages or download apps – but instead trying to buy a cheap ringtone that sounded more like a videogame than an actual song.

MySpace and AOL Instant Messenger were some of the few methods used to communicate with friends online, and we had only begun hearing whispers of “The Facebook.”

If you didn’t catch your favorite TV shows when they aired weekly, you had to wait until they showed re-runs or had marathons. Sometimes, as sad as this sounds, you completely missed an episode!

Fast forward to today, and you probably experience few, if any of those technological problems.

Let’s take a look at a few of the technological advances of the last decade that probably affect your everyday life now.

 

THE iPHONE!

As mentioned earlier, the Nokia flip phone was kind of a big deal a decade ago. It had a bright blue screen, all black text, and it felt sluggish like typing and speaking into a tiny yet bulky, reluctant robot.

In 2007, the original iPhone was released and started a new wave of smartphone technology that continues to improve and affect our daily lives.

With the release of the iPhone, consumers were beginning their path to a constant, unrelenting stream of information, and accessibility like never before.

Bonus: You can see pictures of what your friends had for lunch any time you want!

 

WI-FI

Another improvement in the area of mobility is the increasing presence of Wi-Fi spots. With the advent of smartphones, and improved laptops (and eventually tablets!) Wi-Fi has really changed how and where we access our technology.

Businesses everywhere are providing Wi-Fi to customers with the realization that everyone wants to be and stay connected at all times.

If you’re at a basketball game or concert and you want to document and share a status update about your fun and exciting night, poor internet coverage is becoming less of an issue.

The same goes if you’re on a relaxing vacation and you’re trying to melt your stress away – Wi-Fi is there to make sure you still get your Facebook notifications for game invites.

 

SOCIAL NETWORKING

For younger generations, they will never remember a time before Facebook or Twitter (or the Dark Ages as they’re commonly referred to).

But just a decade ago MySpace was the social network of choice, and connected millions of people together to share stories or pictures and even listen to new music.

Over the past few years, Facebook and Twitter are still an important online presence but other social media outlets have developed such as Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest, showing the ever-expansive growth of social networking.

 

ONLINE STREAMING

Can you even remember what you did before streaming through apps like Netflix or Hulu? Maybe you were watching movies or TV shows on cable or satellite, or renting movies from a Redbox kiosk. Though, these things are still somewhat common, online streaming has changed the way consumers watch television and movies.

For instance, if you miss any of your favorite shows, you can now catch most of them online the next day. And if you missed an episode or even entire season of a show from a decade ago, you can now catch up on that as well!

With the advancement in streaming technology, you’re able to view a whole world of interesting shows, documentaries, and older movies that were probably more difficult to access.