The short answer: Social media is humanity’s oldest technology. Before the internet, the barbershop wall, the church bulletin, and the swap-shop radio were the original social networks — trust was the algorithm and word of mouth was the feed. Today’s platforms rent you an audience. The future belongs to whoever owns their square.
What Is Social Media, Really?
Strip away the apps and social media is simple: people sharing news, reputation, and opportunity through a network they trust. That definition covers the village griot, the church bulletin, the MySpace Top 8, and the TikTok For You page. The technology changed. The human need never did.
Ancient Social Media: The Original Networks
Before there was a feed, there was the wall. The barbershop wall — who got a haircut, who got locked up, whose record was playing. The church bulletin — every announcement that mattered, printed and pinned. The swap-shop radio — call in, sell your lawnmower, find your dog. The griot carried the whole village’s memory in his mouth.
The algorithm was trust. The feed was whoever you believed. Nothing moved without a witness, and the receipt was somebody saying “I was there.”
The Early Internet: The First Digital Town Squares
Then came the wires. Bulletin board systems you dialed into. Usenet arguments at 2am. AOL — you’ve got mail. MySpace — pick your top eight, and everybody knew exactly where they stood with you. These were the first digital social networks, and they felt like rooms because they were small enough to be rooms.
Social Media Today: The Rented Mall
Now the square is a mall. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and Threads — five landlords, one rent: your attention. Your followers are borrowed, not owned. The landlord changes the locks whenever he wants — ask anybody who watched their reach fall off a cliff overnight. On today’s platforms, you’re not the customer. You’re the crop.
The Future of Social Media: Back to Owned
Here’s what nobody wants to say: the future looks like the ancient. Owned channels. Direct lines. No landlord.
That’s the whole idea behind the Signal Economy — the church bulletin and the barbershop board were the original social network, and they never stopped working. A dated receipt beats an algorithm. Proof of work beats a follower count. When you own the square, nobody can change the locks.
The town square never moved. We just took a twenty-year detour through somebody else’s mall. Time to walk home.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the first social media?
The earliest digital social networks were 1970s–80s bulletin board systems (BBS) and Usenet. But human social networks — barbershop walls, church bulletins, town criers, griots — are thousands of years old and worked on the same principles: trust, reputation, and word of mouth.
Why are social media followers “borrowed, not owned”?
Because the platform controls the connection. Algorithm changes, account bans, or shutdowns can cut you off from your audience overnight. You rent reach from the landlord; you don’t own the building.
What is the future of social media?
The likely future is a return to owned, direct channels — email lists, private communities, and local networks where the creator controls the relationship with the audience. No algorithm between the speaker and the listener.
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