Networks have been the conceptual and practical foundation of the Internet since its inception. It was initially designed in the USA as a communication network by nodes, capable of sharing information through various routes during the Cold War. This was with the idea of not losing communication in the country in case an attack on one or several cities caused sufficient destruction of infrastructure to interrupt other forms of communication: a network was the solution.
Over time, universities and other research centers were included in the network and little by little the exclusivity of something first military and then academic entered the civilian population completely. With the advancement of computing and domestic access to this technology, the 1990s saw the birth of the antecedents of today's social networks: newsletters, e-mail, online forums, live chats and
In the beginning these diverse systems were not like today: they used different protocols (some still do) and connecting to them was not as common as it is today, nor as easy. What is important for our story is that they showed that the Internet was more than a tool to communicate; more than a way to get information from one point to many more: it was a place where people wanted to stay.
Web 2.0 and the democratization of content
During the 1990s, telecommunications advanced to give rise to the popularization of cellular telephony and the abundance of personal computers, but the big change that made possible the social networks we know today was what is known as Web 2.0.
When a new technology appears it has a very similar cycle in all cases. In general aspects:
- It is first restricted to research uses focused on science or technology development, as well as military and security applications and general commerce. It is usually funded by government universities and research centers.
- Then ways are developed to produce and reproduce it more easily and at lower cost. This is usually when it enters the consumer market.
- In the market it starts as part of exclusive and expensive services or items. Different competitors invest more money in finding ways to economize production and offer different versions at different prices.
- Eventually it becomes more accessible and becomes ubiquitous and popular. Even if not all people have access or interest, there comes a point at which it is no longer novel or particularly expensive. A clear example is smartphones.
Something similar happened with the Internet: having one's own online space was difficult and expensive. Updating it was also difficult and expensive, and connection speeds, which initially depended on telephone networks, did not allow for very complex elements.
Over time, processors improved, along with the advent of broadband to transfer more data at higher speeds over dedicated infrastructure. This meant that it was no longer so expensive to have a virtual space: it was no longer something just for business.
Web 2.0 is the name given to the change of the Internet from being one for the consumption of data published by only a few people, to the one we know today. Unlike before, today anyone can open a website for free. In social networks it is possible to publish as much as we want in multiple formats and in a free way.
The possibility that any individual can modify a piece of the network and that this can happen without great effort is the cornerstone that separates today's social networks from the first interaction networks in forums and digital boards.
