I remember getting ready for college back in 2005. It was just when Facebook started opening up outside of a small number of colleges and letting anyone with a college email create an account. That’s right, I’m old enough to remember when Facebook was limited to college students.
I had just gotten back from an orientation meeting where I had met some cool people who would later turn out to be the friend group I’ve maintained for the rest of my life (at least so far — stay on your toes, Nathan), and I was hoping to stay in touch with them throughout the rest of the summer before we actually moved into our dorm rooms for the fall semester.
Since group texts weren’t what they are now, it made it difficult for everyone to stay in touch and see what was going on in each other’s lives as a group. That’s where Facebook came in. We all signed up and were able to stay in touch with each other — individually and as a group — until we were all with each other again in person.
I remember being really grateful such a service existed and wholeheartedly believe it’s one of the reasons our friend group was able to actually form so closely over the months leading up to us heading off to college. We really hit the ground running, and we’ve (mostly) all stayed in touch and remain friends to this day.
That’s the social media I loved. That is not what social media is today. In fact, it was called a social network at the time, not social media. Media really came in later with hoards of advertising and a drive to create content for money or fame. Today’s landscape of social apps is a far cry from something that lets you stay in touch with friends and family.
