7 Social Media visuals from the 80s

Sometimes it feels like there was no life before Social Media and the internet in general; we are totally consumed by its omnipresence in all aspects of our lives. Social networks are creative and explosive, however, their relentless energy and gumption can sometimes ignite addictive qualities. Love it or loathe it, it’s most definitely here to stay.

The power of Social today

Let’s take a look at just how much social media influences the world we know today:

YouTube operates in 80 different languages, where a mind-blowing 500 hours of videos are uploaded every minute;
500 million tweets are sent each day;
4.2 billion posts are liked per day on Instagram;

And let’s not forget the most visited site in the world: Google – holding over 92% of the market share. It handles over 40,000 search queries per second and over 3.5 billion searches per day. 63% of Google’s organic search traffic is from mobile devices so it’s hardly surprising that we’re all chained to our phones.

We use social applications for work and play. During our leisure time, we capture moments using apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok and use streaming services such as Spotify, Netflix and Deezer for our visual and aural pleasures. At work, we are required to network on Linkedin and Twitter, build brands and visuals on Instagram and Pinterest and keep up to date using Google and the blog-sphere.

The Internet in the 80s

As we approach the fourth decade of electronic interaction, let’s take a look at three major milestones of the 80s:

1980: BBS launches

1984: FidoNet is invented as BBS starts to exchange email

1988: Internet Relay Chat IRC is launched from the foundations of BBS, offering a similar service and has remained in use until this day.

The era of the power suit and shoulder pads was the very beginning of the personal computer industry. Technology has changed significantly since the 80s and it is no wonder it has become so difficult to recall a time before the internet and in particular social media.

TV and newspaper ads, pamphlets, posters and radio were the main sources of communication and advertisement of the 80s. When systems with a graphical user interface like Windows and Mac OS, began to emerge and gain popularity, it built a foundation for early social media platforms to thrive and exist. The invention of the Bulletin Board System (BBS) was the launch of the earliest known form of social media.