This document outlines the major stages in the development of the internet and social media from the 1970s to present day, including the infrastructure decade of the 1980s, the internet going public in the early 1990s and exploding in popularity late in that decade, the birth of social media in the early 2000s which then exploded in popularity from 2005-2006, the rise of new devices and platforms from 2009-2010, and the continued rise of social media through 2011 and today.

2. 1970’s: the beginning

3. 1980s: the infrastructure decade

4. early 1990s: internet goes public

5. late 1990s: the internet explodes

6. early 2000s: social media is born

7. 2005 – 2006: social media explodes

8. 2009 – 2010: new devices, new platforms

9. 2011: rise, rise & rise of social media

10. now ….?

11. acknowledgement
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