Social media changed the landscape not only for communications but also for literature and the arts. In this episode of Creatinuum, we discuss the evolution of social media and how it's affected the stories we read as well as which platforms are our favorites.
Those of us born in the nineties and the early aughts remember a time before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and now TikTok dominated the social media landscape. One of the biggest players in the game was MySpace, which dominated the culture enough to have appeared in many books, especially those written with young adults in mind.
Before Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram existed, everyone communicated through instant messaging (IM) platforms such as AIM and Yahoo! Messenger. Much like their successors, these platforms allowed the real-time exchange of messages as well as stickers and other forms of media. Including chat messages as dialogue was also popular, with characters having IM handles that often reflected their personalities.
As MySpace faded into the background, a new social media site stole the spotlight. Friendster had an interface that mirrored a halfway point between MySpace and Facebook, featuring your friends on the front page. One of Friendster's popular features was the user's ability to use HTML to personalize their own blog pages as much as their knowledge of the coding language would allow. Another feature of Friendster that stood above the rest was its testimonials feature, where you could highlight short biographies or messages written by your friends for and about you.
Around the 2010s was when social media hit its peak thanks to the popularity of now-classic platforms such as Facebook, Twitter (now X), and Tumblr. Human ingenuity took center stage as people started to use these platforms to role-play as their favorite characters. Twitter's micro-blogging feature was really effective in day-in-the-life types of stories, where readers would become invested in certain characters through the personalities they showed through their social media updates.
Eventually, companies learned how to use social media to their advantage by using its ability to tell stories. Makers of the indie game Celeste hyped fans by featuring supposed Instagram posts made by the characters. Some brands made social media work for themselves better than others, a popular example being Wendy’s, which was truly one of the first brands to adapt a persona and interact with its audience through replies, memes, and the like.
Despite these perks, the use of social media does come with its challenges. As with any form of communication that isn’t face-to-face, it can be quite difficult to decipher one’s tone online. This could cause unintentional harm and offense if one is not careful with the words they use. Moreover, the level of anonymity that these sites offer empower certain people to become extremely critical of others. Finally, one could experience a pressure to participate well in these platforms, if at all.
Still, it's safe to say that trends may come and go, but social media has cemented its place in internet culture and society. We must remember that the culture of social media is merely a reflection of the people who use it.
Listen in full to Creatinuum Episode 12, "Hashtag Fiction: How Social Media Has Influenced Writing," available on Simplecast, Spotify, Apple, and other platforms.
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