History of the term "social network"
The term "social network" appeared in James Barnes' Classes and Meetings in a Norwegian Island Parish back in 1954. This is a social structure (mathematical - a graph), consisting of a group of nodes, which are social objects (people and organizations), and the connections between them (social relationships).
This term is widely used and in the second half of the 20th century it becomes commonly used in the English language.
The beginning of the modern theory of social networks was laid in 1951 by Ray Solomonoff and Anatoly Rapoport. In 1959-1968. Hungarian mathematicians Paul Erdos and Alfred Renyi have written eight papers describing the principles of social network formation. Duncan Watts and Stephen Strogach developed the theory of social networks, and among many other discoveries introduced the concept of the clustering coefficient - the degree of closeness between heterogeneous groups.
History of social networks
The world's first social network in its generally accepted sense appeared in 1995. Classmates.com was a system with a clear social position - it was designed to bring together graduates of educational institutions. The project was very successful, but was content with its limited market niche. In later years
the Internet community was eyeing new social networks that appeared with enviable frequency: in 1996, the SixDegrees network was created, 1997 marked the emergence of the AsianAvenue universal organizer (later transformed into a social network), in 1998 Amazon.com bought PlanetAll, Blackplane launches in 1999 The official start of the social networking boom was 2003, when MySpace, Hi5 and LinkedIn were launched.
It was MySpace that offered users not just another Internet service, but a kind of Internet haven, technical and social base for creating their virtual "I". A member of a new generation social network did not use the service to solve functional issues, such as searching for classmates or friends of interest, although he could use this service. He simply lived in this network - as they live in an apartment, without really thinking about what kind of brick the house is built of. The user got the opportunity step by step to create their own virtual universe based on real social contacts. The idea of the owners of MySpace - News Corp. (or rather, its daughters - Fox Interactive Media) turned out to be prophetic - the service gained popularity in a matter of weeks, because it provided its users with the main thing - the ability to express themselves.
MySpace is a typical example of a social network focused on the dominant human need for self-expression. At the same time, a number of resources successfully operate on the market, which have chosen a different path of development - more predictable and functional. First of all, we are talking about professional communities, the most prominent representative of which is LinkedIn. The ideology of such networks is as simple and transparent as possible: in fact, it is no different from the system of recommendations adopted in the real world. The advantage of LinkedIn compared to traditional letters of recommendation is the availability and centralization of the system, as well as the ability to optimally search for the employer/employee of interest. In addition, the network has a solid list of valuable features, which we will focus on below.
Social networks are leaders in attendance among other Internet resources. Millions of users visit pages every day to chat, find out the latest news, share information and photos. And if you follow the link, you can explore the features of the mobile version of the Odnoklassniki resource.
Of course, a certain kind of services existed before the development of the Internet era - most often they were intended for communication in a very narrow circle (certain structures). In our article, we will talk about public services used by people around the world.
classmates
The very first social network in the world is the American Odnoklassniki, which appeared in 1995. At first, the resource allowed you to create a profile and a list of friends who can be found solely by the parameters of the school, service or university. Subsequently, the resource was redesigned - it became possible to create accounts, write messages and much more, as a result of which a social network arose in the usual sense of the word. Now you know when the first social network that is currently operating appeared.
And if you need a Russian version and want to download Odnoklassniki to your computer, use this link.
Probably everyone is familiar with the theory of six handshakes, according to which all people in the world know each other through six other people? The world's first social network was called Sixdegrees.com, and it was based on this principle. The resource began to work in 1997 and was a familiar modern network for communication. Who created the first social network in the usual sense for us? This is programmer Andrew Weinreich.
The site did not survive to this day, its functionality was too complicated for the 1990s, when the Internet was not yet so widespread and people spent a small amount of time online. Despite attempts to update, the flow of users was too small and the service was closed, significantly ahead of its time in terms of development. The resource was replaced by others, more modern, functioning now.
Mark Zuckerberg
This name is familiar to every modern student and adult. It was he (in collaboration with three other students) who created the well-known Facebook. It happened in 2004, at first the site was available only to students at Harvard University, then it spread among Boston students, and then conquered the United States, and then the whole world. Just think, four students were able to create a unique product that had no similarity in the whole world. Today it is the most popular social network in the world.
It was an undoubted breakthrough - nothing like it had ever existed. On the site, you can create profiles, write messages, share videos and photos, join various groups. Accounts for business, created specifically for companies, are very popular.
Russian analogue
The very first social network in Russia arose in 2006, it was then that the notorious Pavel Durov launched his VKontakte project. At its core, it is a repetition of Zuckerberg's resource, but it also has distinctive features.
This site, no doubt, is familiar to almost every Russian-speaking Internet user. It gained immense popularity due to its wide entertainment and multimedia capabilities, as well as additional functions (money transfer, video calls, etc.). Users can create their own profiles, write messages, share news and read publics and groups.
Finally, it is worth mentioning the domestic analogue of the first Internet project for communication - Odnoklassniki. The resource was created in 2006 and is only slightly inferior to VKontakte in terms of attendance and popularity. This is an entertainment resource that allows you to search for friends, colleagues and fellow practitioners and stay in touch with them. It is worth noting that this service is intended for an older age category than Vkontakte (the average age of the audience is 16-35 years).
We briefly told you what the first social network was like, analyzed the history of social networks and gave vivid examples of the largest sites for communication, some of which still work today. Choose an option from functioning services, register and start communication.
Every day, more than 60 million people from around the world visit one of the most popular social networks - VKontakte. Who created this project and how did it happen? Considering that the history of the creation of the service itself deserves attention, we suggest that you go back a few years and see how it all began and what path preceded such an enchanting success. And the appearance of VKontakte is closely connected with the name of one of the brightest figures among the representatives of the new generation of entrepreneurs - Pavel Durov.
Despite the fact that the popularity of Durov's main project brought him great fame, there is not so much information about the creator of the best social network in Runet.
Childhood
The one who created the VKontakte network was born in Leningrad (modern St. Petersburg) on October 10, 1984, in the family of the famous Soviet philologist Valery Semyonovich Durov, the author of a large number of scientific works.
For several years, Durov Sr. and his family lived in where the head of the family worked. It was there that Pavel began to go to school. Upon returning to his native Petersburg, he continued his studies at a regular school, but not for too long - too often he had to point out to teachers their incompetence, which the boy could not accept. However, an alternative was found quite quickly - in the experimental classes of the Academic Gymnasium, such as Durov Jr., they recruited a whole group.
During his school years, Pavel sat at the first desk, often alone, received high scores and was considered a very erudite child, but the "stars" of the class - winners of various olympiads - overshadowed him. Nikolai, Durov's older brother, is a talented scientist who also won competitions in computer science and mathematics.
University admission
Immediately after graduating from the gymnasium, Pavel Durov, following in the footsteps of his father, entered the St. Petersburg State University, the Faculty of Philology, and graduated from it in 2006. In his student years, the one who created the VKontakte social network did not go with the flow like most students, but actively used the time for self-improvement and development.
First steps towards success
A key moment in the biography of the entrepreneur was approaching - the emergence of VKontakte. Who created this you already know. However, few people know that even before its appearance, while studying at the university, Pavel worked on several predecessor projects. One of them is the site durov.com, which had no commercial benefit, but helped students who studied and lived in different districts of the northern capital to exchange opinions and ideas online.
However, soon Pavel let the work of durov.com take its course and shifted his attention to a new project - the university forum spbgu.ru, starting to promote it. First of all, Durov broke the portal to the sites of the faculties, then he began to initiate verbal battles, registered under different nicknames and argued with himself, and in real life he organized beauty and design contests. Meanwhile, the attendance of the forum reached 3,000 people a day, the resource began to be enriched with new social functions. Users were able to blog, raise or lower each other's rating. Pavel was especially careful about monetization, not allowing banners that were not related to education to appear on the site.
By the end of his studies, Durov was firmly convinced that he needed to work on his own projects, and not on translations from English, as indicated in the diploma. By the way, he did not take the diploma itself, so as not to encounter bureaucracy once again.
At the dawn of a new era
We continue to study the biography of the one who created the social. network "VKontakte". Against the background of his other ideas, Durov has long been thinking about the implementation of such a project, where all people could perform under real names. Just at this turning point, in his mailbox there was a letter from a person with whom Pavel lost contact 7 years ago - Vyacheslav Mirilashvili. A student at the prestigious American Tufts University saw how social networks are rapidly gaining popularity, and gave the idea to an old friend.
If they started a little later, the chances of success would be much lower. In the spring of 2006, the number of users in domestic social networks continued to grow, but even the audience of the leader, the Odnoklassniki website, hardly reached 500,000 people.
Beginning of work
Vyacheslav did not have his own funds to launch the project. He had to borrow them from one of the companies of his father, Mikhail Mirilashvili, the owner of the St. Petersburg casinos "Konti" and shopping and entertainment centers "PetroMir". Mirilashvili Sr. is one of the most famous businessmen in the northern capital of the 1990s and is believed to be a good acquaintance of President Vladimir Putin.
Friends established a company in which Vyacheslav remained, and his friends Pavel Durov and Lev Leviev became. Durov was not at all embarrassed that the project could be associated with someone else's name. But he left himself a block of voting shares, sufficient to veto objectionable decisions.
On October 1, 2006, a key event took place - the company registered the vkontakte.ru domain. This day is considered the birthday of VKontakte. Who created this site, you now know. It's time to talk about the development of the project itself.
At first, the site was closed, and it was possible to register only by invitation. Registration was allowed only for those who indicated their real name and surname. Students of the capital's universities vied with each other to persuade each other to register, and in just a few days in November, the newly appeared social network attracted more than 2,000 users. And the main motive was participation in the competition, which, again, was invented by Pavel Durov, the one who created the VKontakte website. The one who was able to invite the largest number of friends was promised an original and expensive gift for that time - a real iPod.
Already 3 months later, free registration was introduced, and the rapidly growing number of participants in the social network prompted the organizers to switch to more powerful servers and actively improve the system.
Further development of VKontakte
Now you know how the social network VKontakte appeared, who created it and continued to develop it. Today the site is constantly changing and improving. It can be said without exaggeration that VKontakte has become a whole world for those who like to communicate, make new friends, listen to music, watch videos, play games, read news and interesting notes.
With the advent of the Internet, many aspects of our lives have gradually migrated to the virtual world. And communication was no exception, rather, on the contrary. The human need for high-speed communication (transfer of information) became the basis for the emergence of the Internet itself. If the older generation still remembers well about living forms of communication, then the younger generation increasingly prefers virtual connections. Sometimes it comes to the fact that even neighbors communicate with each other via the Internet.
The emergence of social networks was a consequence of the development and spread of the Internet. Today, for many, the morning begins not only with a cup of coffee, but also with viewing your page on a particular social network. According to statistics, about 50% of the population of our planet regularly visit their page on any social network, and some even visit several at once. The data on youth speaks best of their popularity: 96% of young people communicate in social networks. networks. And they are really addictive, not without reason the Internet was called the World Wide Web. After all, if some insect gets into the web of a spider, then it remains there forever.
In principle, we can say that the emergence of social networks began almost simultaneously with the advent of the Internet back in 1969. Throughout the evolution of social networks, two main directions of development can be distinguished: purely professional communities and non-specialized networks. Derivatives of professional communities are networks that unite people with the same interests or hobbies.
So, when did the first social network appear and what was it like? - different sources put forward different opinions regarding the emergence of the first full-fledged social network. In principle, the first social network resource can be considered Classmates.com, created by Randy Conrads in 1995. Classmates translates as classmates. The site provided users with the opportunity to reconnect with former classmates, classmates, colleagues, friends. Today this network has more than 50 million users in the US and Canada. In addition, its services are available to residents of Sweden, Germany, Austria and France. But for quite a long time, this social portal did not support the functions of creating personal profiles and adding friends. That is, the user could only be connected to his educational institution and provide him with a list of students who studied at this institution.
That is why some researchers consider the first full-fledged social network not Classmates, but the SixDegrees.com project, which was launched in 1997. At that time, many web services (dating sites, for example) offered features such as creating a personal page or a list of friends (ICQ and AIM), but separately. SixDegrees.com was the first social networking service to combine these features, and over time (in 1998) added a new one, such as search through friends pages. This project was closest to modern social. networks, however, in 2001 the SixDegrees.com portal ceased to exist. The founder of the network, Andrew Weinreich, explained this by saying that the service was simply ahead of its time. In 2000, less than half of US residents had Internet access. In other words, registered users did not have enough friends and acquaintances with Internet access to make communication on this site even interesting.
