Ray Tomlinson creates email as part of a program for ARPANET. [1] The Social Dilemma discusses the unethical design of the gmail inbox.
Jaron Lanier and Thomas Zimmerman founded VPL Research, Inc. the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves. [2] The movie features an interview with founder Jaron Lanier, who also wrote the book "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now".
The first online social network, Six Degrees, a profile uploading service was created. [3]
Google Inc. is officially launched as a search engine. [4] The movie features Tristan Harris, a former Google Design Ethicist.
Wikipedia was founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger as an online encyclopedia. [5] The Social Dilemma discusses how Wikipedia is a neutral landscape that shows all users the exact same information without curating or monetizing it.
Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University. [3] The movie interviews multiple former Facebook executives who give an insightful look into the unethical design of the site.
Youtube was founded as a website for sharing videos. [6] The Social Dilemma warns its viewers to never accept a Youtube recommended video.
The Facebook tagging feature was introduced, where users could post attachments to one anothers walls. [8] The movie discusses how this is an engagement tactic to keep users addicted to Facebook.
Twitter, designed as a microblogging site, was launched. [3] The movie reveals the harm of false news which spreads 6x faster than true information on Twitter.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg today introduced Facebook Ads, an ad system for businesses to connect with users and target advertising to the exact audiences they want. [7] As The Social Dilemma states, "Our attention is the product being sold to advertisers."
Uber is launched in San Francisco as a smartphone app that lets people tap a button and get a ride. [9] The movie interview Sandy Parakilas a former product manager at Uber.
Facebook releases the "like" button feature. [10] The movie exposes how social media paradigms, such as the creation of the Facebook "like" button, create a subconscious social-validation feedback loop that keeps users engaged.
Stanford graduate, Kevin Systrom, founded Instagram as a photo-sharing site. [3] In The Social Dilemma, Bailey Richardson, a member of the early Instagram team is interviewed.
Founded by Ben Silbermann as a visual “pin board". [3] Former Pinterest President, Tim Kendall, discusses how social media is specifically designed to steal the users attention.
A trio of Stanford students launched Snapchat as a video sharing service. [3]
The Kitchen Safe Time Locking Container debuts on Shark Tank, as a anti temptation kitcen storage unit. In The Social Dilemma, this is used to store the family's phones. [11]
Snapchat introduces 'Lenses', augmented reality filters that are available for use in video and photo capture. [12] The movie talks about "Snapchat dysmophia", a new phenomenon where users want to get plastic surgery to look more like they do with snapchat filters.
Chinese tech company ByteDance launches Tik Tok, as a merge with the U.S. based app Musical.ly. [3]
Russian cyberattacks via social media and hacking interfere with the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. [13] The movie discusses the impact social media has on the results of elections, with the spread of fake news and algorithms that lead to political polarization.