are credited with creating the first rudimentary postal system, a system described by Greek historian Herodotus as being complete with riders and horses ne’er deterred by “snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.” In fact, our modern United States postal service borrows a version of Herodotus’ famous words to serve as its own unofficial motto. In essence, these industrious ancient Persians established the first social network. Like their primitive ancestor, the letter, these digital sites serve to connect people to one another without the burden of physical presence. And indeed, the late 1990s, as well as the 2000s, saw social media focused mainly on connecting peers; it was truly a person-to-person interaction with businesses yet to fully embrace the Internet’s power and potential. Pushing marketing messages directly among consumers not only increases the message’s authority, it hastens its circulation, enabling it to reach more people in less time than any static message could ever attract the same. With this in mind, companies are returning to the true “social” aspect of social media. They finally understand that consumers can be the greatest sales force. In return, the companies are being rewarded themselves. Personal recommendations will trump sponsored content every time because consumers trust their friends’ advice way more than they trust a corporation’s own spiel. All hail the power of a good social network!
Social media existed long before the Internet. Persians in 550 B.C.E. are credited with creating the first rudimentary postal system, a system described by Greek historian Herodotus as being complete with riders and horses ne’er deterred by “snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.” In fact, our modern United States postal service borrows a version of Herodotus’ famous words to serve as its own unofficial motto. In essence, these industrious ancient Persians established the first social network.
Messengers proceeded to relay communications and spread social commentary across all lengths of distances for more than two thousand years, at which point the pace picked up with written letters swiftly morphing in to telegraph messages, telephone calls, radio signals, email messages and finally, the social media utilities that come to mind today: Six Degrees as a first step, followed by blogging, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (to name but a few). Like their primitive ancestor, the letter, these digital sites serve to connect people to one another without the burden of physical presence. And indeed, the late 1990s, as well as the 2000s, saw social media focused mainly on connecting peers; it was truly…
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