The phenomenon that we now call ‘social media’ arguably started around the turn of the millennium with sites like Friends Reunited, at first offering a simple way for the internet to allow old friends to reconnect with each other. With the advent of Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and other services as the 2000s drew on, the concept of allowing people to connect with each other online was expanded, adapted and iterated upon in various ways. To start with, the purpose was simple – to provide novel online social interaction focused squarely on the users.
