Amongst the most influential moments of the past decade, we could mention Wikipedia, the introduction of the iPhone and the U.S. Presidential election of Barack Obama.
Other notable events that we could mention include the Iranian election of 2009, when protests were organised using the power of social network sites.
But when it comes down to all of it, we could simply say that the internet itself is the real story of the decade, as it has become a real catalyst for change in our everyday lives, whether it’s in the area of commerce, education, politics or popular culture.
The one reoccurring aspect of all the milestones listed in this post, is the internet’s ability to put more power into the hands of everyday people by circumventing old systems.
Here is my list of the 13 most influential internet moments of the last decade:
1. Craigslist
In 2000, this free classified website expanded its services outside of the San Francisco region. This led to a significant impact on newspaper publishers all over the country and beyond.
2. Napster
Napster was finally shutdown in 2001, which opened the way for tons of other file-sharing programs to come and fill its place.
3. 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign
The 2008 U.S. presidential campaign literally changed the way in which campaigns were run, the world over.
4. Iranian Election Protests
In the year 2009, Twitter proved crucial in the organising of the Iranian election protests.
5. Launch of Google AdWords
In 2008, Google AdWords was released, allowing advertisers to target their customers with an unheard-of level of accuracy.
6. Flickr
Launched in 2004 and today hosts over 4 billion images. This service paved the way for online image hosting sites.
7. MySpace
It was launched in the year 2003, and immediately became the standard for social media networks, before the arrival of Facebook. While, it’s almost fashionable to speak about its slow and gradual demise today, it’s also important not to ignore the impact it had on social network services.
8. iPhone
The first iPhone was launched in 2007, changing the way we see smartphones, from luxury items, to a device we all cannot do without. Smartphones provides the end user with apps which we can use for tackling, investigating or managing almost every aspect of our modern lives.
9. iTunes
It could probably be argued that the introduction of iTunes was more significant than the arrival of the iPhone. iTunes is a website and not an actual device, but the amount of positive influence it’s been able to have on the music industry, says all you need to know about it.
10. Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an open-source encyclopaedia web portal that was originally launched in 2001, today it hosts more than 14 million posts, in over 250 languages pulling valuable information into one location.
11. Online Video Revolution
The video revolution started in 2005 with the introduction of YouTube, and led to a boom in the creation of professional and homemade video content on the internet, which has latter gone on to influence almost every facet of our lives, from politics, to entertainment.
12. Facebook
In 2006 Facebook was officially made available to non-college students, paving the way for what it has become today.
13. Google’s IPO
Google’s IPO which was developed in 2004 paved the way for the search engine that we have today, which has influenced people’s lives in a great many ways.
With all of that said, what things do you think we can look back on, ten years from now and say that those things are what has paved the way for things we have today. If I was to guess, I’d say, maybe the following:
- Online voting now becoming a thing, for both national and state elections.
- The launch of a new kind of internet, in whatever capacity that may exist, who knows?
- The convergence of all our online broadcasts and web data into a single feed, which can then be fed through our smartphone devices, or whatever clever device we’re using then.
- Portable or wearable computers, which allows us to surf the internet, irrespective of where we are. There are so many ways that such a device could be seamlessly integrated into the clothes that we wear and the various ways we could interface with it.
— AUTHOR INFO—
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website https://www.compuchenna.co.uk
