2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

Home keyboard_arrow_right Technology keyboard_arrow_right The Web & Communication

computer network more_vert Actions

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article History

toc Table of Contents

Key People: Vinton Cerf • Lawrence Roberts • Douglas Engelbart • Leonard Kleinrock • J.C.R.
Licklider

Related Topics: Internet • ARPANET • e-commerce • social network • virtual community

See all related content →

computer network, two or more computers that are connected with one another for the
purpose of communicating data electronically. Besides physically connecting computer and
communication devices, a network system serves the important function of establishing a
cohesive architecture that allows a variety of equipment types to transfer information in a
near-seamless fashion. Two popular architectures are ISO Open Systems Interconnection
(OSI) and IBM’s Systems Network Architecture (SNA).

Two basic network types are local-area networks (LANs) and wide-area networks (WANs).
LANs connect computers and peripheral devices in a limited physical area, such as a
business office, laboratory, or college campus, by means of links (wires, Ethernet cables,
fibre optics, Wi-Fi) that transmit data rapidly. A typical LAN consists of two or more
personal computers, printers, and high-capacity disk-storage devices called file servers,
which enable each computer on the network to access a common set of files. LAN operating
system software, which interprets input and instructs networked devices, allows users to
communicate with each other; share the printers and storage equipment; and simultaneously
access centrally located processors, data, or programs (instruction sets). LAN users may also
access other LANs or tap into WANs. LANs with similar architectures are linked by
“bridges,” which act as transfer points. LANs with different architectures are linked by
“gateways,” which convert data as it passes between systems.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 1/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

Britannica Quiz

What Do You Actually Know About the Internet?

WANs connect computers and smaller networks to larger networks over greater geographic
areas, including different continents. They may link the computers by means of cables,
optical fibres, or satellites, but their users commonly access the networks via a modem (a
device that allows computers to communicate over telephone lines). The largest WAN is the
Internet, a collection of networks and gateways linking billions of computer users on every
continent.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.

Home keyboard_arrow_right Politics, Law & Government keyboard_arrow_right Banking & Business

Cisco Systems more_vert Actions

American company
Written by Robert Lewis
Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article History

toc Table of Contents

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 2/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

zoom_in

Cisco Systems

See all media

Date: 1984 - present

Headquarters: San Jose

Areas Of Involvement: computer network • Internet of Things

Related People: John T. Chambers

See all related content →

Cisco Systems, American technology company, operating worldwide, that is best known for
its computer networking products. As a company that sold its products mostly to other
businesses, Cisco did not become a household name, but in the second decade of the 21st
century it was one of the largest corporations in the United States. Cisco was founded in
1984 and has its headquarters in San Jose, California.

The founders of Cisco Systems were Leonard Bosack and Sandra Lerner, a married couple
(later divorced) who had met while students at Stanford University. After graduating in 1981,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 3/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

they worked at the school, directing the computer facilities of two different departments.
Bosack found a way to link their respective computer networks using technology that other
Stanford employees had devised in the 1970s. He and Lerner came to recognize that router
technology, as it was called, could be adapted very profitably for large-scale use outside the
university. In December 1984 the two founded Cisco Systems (originally written “cisco
Systems”), taking the company name from the city of San Francisco. Stanford eventually
licensed its proprietary software to Cisco.

In 1985 Cisco sold its first product, a network interface card for Digital Equipment
Corporation’s computers. Its first big success, a router that served multiple network
protocols, came the following year. In need of cash for expansion, the founders turned to a
venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital. Sequoia took effective control of the company in late
1987 and installed John Morgridge as president and CEO in 1988. He managed ably but did
not get along with the founders. In 1990, soon after Cisco sold its first shares of stock to the
public, Lerner was ousted from the company, and Bosack subsequently quit.

Cisco Systems grew rapidly in the early 1990s. The company introduced the improved 7000
model router in 1993, and that same year it began acquiring other companies. Its first
purchase, Crescendo Communications, allowed Cisco to move decisively into the field of
network switching devices. In 1994 the company relocated its headquarters from Menlo Park,
California, to San Jose, and the following year John T. Chambers replaced Morgridge as
CEO. Chambers continued to pursue the strategy of growth by acquisition. In 1998 Cisco
bought Selsius Systems, a company with expertise in Internet telephony that helped Cisco
take a dominant position in VoIP technology.

In 2006 Cisco introduced TelePresence, an elaboration of videoconferencing that is

intended to allow people in different locations to interact as if they were in the same place.
Cisco’s networking expertise made it a leading provider of products for the Internet of
Things, a concept often credited as having been named at Cisco. Chambers retired in 2015, as
the company increasingly changed its emphasis from hardware to software.

Robert Lewis

Home keyboard_arrow_right Technology keyboard_arrow_right The Web & Communication

local area network more_vert Actions

computer technology
Alternate titles: LAN
https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 4/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

Written by David Hemmendinger

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article History

toc Table of Contents

zoom_in

local area networks (LANs)

See all media

Related Topics: computer network • VPN • star topology • ring topology • bus topology

See all related content →

local area network (LAN), any communication network for connecting computers within a
building or small group of buildings. A LAN may be configured as (1) a bus, a main channel
to which nodes or secondary channels are connected in a branching structure, (2) a ring, in
which each computer is connected to two neighbouring computers to form a closed circuit, or
(3) a star, in which each computer is linked directly to a central computer and only indirectly

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 5/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

to one another. Each of these has advantages, though the bus configuration has become the
most common.

Even if only two computers are connected, they must follow rules, or protocols, to
communicate. For example, one might signal “ready to send” and wait for the other to signal
“ready to receive.” When many computers share a network, the protocol might include a rule
menu search Subscribe
account_circlekeyboard_arrow_down
“talk only when it is your turn” or “do not talk when anyone else is talking.” Protocols must
also be designed to handle network errors.

More From Britannica

computer: Local area networks

The most common LAN design since the mid-1970s has been the bus-connected Ethernet,
originally developed at Xerox PARC. Every computer or other device on an Ethernet has a
unique 48-bit address. Any computer that wants to transmit listens for a carrier signal that
indicates that a transmission is under way. If it detects none, it starts transmitting, sending the
address of the recipient at the start of its transmission. Every system on the network receives
each message but ignores those not addressed to it. While a system is transmitting, it also
listens, and if it detects a simultaneous transmission, it stops, waits for a random time, and
retries. The random time delay before retrying reduces the probability that they will collide
again. This scheme is known as carrier sense multiple access with collision detection
(CSMA/CD). It works very well until a network is moderately heavily loaded, and then it
degrades as collisions become more frequent.

The first Ethernet had a capacity of about 2 megabits (millions of bits) per second (mbps),
and today 10- and 100-mbps Ethernet is common, with gigabit-per-second (billions of bits
per second; gbps) Ethernet also in use. Ethernet transceivers (transmitter-receivers) for
personal computers are inexpensive and easily installed.

A standard for wireless Ethernet, known as Wi-Fi, has become common for small office and
home networks. Using frequencies from 2.4 to 5 gigahertz (GHz), such networks can transfer
data at rates up to 600 mbps. Early in 2002 another Ethernet-like standard was released.
Known as HomePlug, the first version could transmit data at about 8 mbps through a
building’s existing electrical power infrastructure. A later version could achieve rates of 1
gbps. Another standard, WiMax, bridges the gap between LANs and wide area networks
(WANs).

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 6/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

David Hemmendinger

Home keyboard_arrow_right Technology keyboard_arrow_right The Web & Communication

social media more_vert Actions

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article History

toc Table of Contents

Related Topics: blog • social network • USENET • newsgroup • netiquette

See all related content →

social media, communications on the Internet (such as on websites for social networking and
microblogging) through which users share information, ideas, personal messages, and other
content (such as videos). Social networking and social media are overlapping concepts, but
social networking is usually understood as users building communities among themselves
while social media is more about using social networking sites and related platforms to build
an audience.

The earliest forms of social media appeared almost as soon as technology could support
them. E-mail and chat programs debuted in the early 1970s, but persistent communities did
not surface until the creation of the discussion group network USENET in 1979. USENET
allowed users to post and receive messages within subject areas called newsgroups. USENET
and other discussion forums, such as privately hosted bulletin board systems (BBSs), enabled
individuals to interact, but each was essentially a closed system. With the release in 1993 of
the Mosaic web browser, those systems were joined with an easy-to-use graphical interface.
The architecture of the World Wide Web made it possible to navigate from one site to another
with a click, and faster Internet connections allowed for more multimedia content than could
be found in the text-heavy newsgroups.

More From Britannica

media convergence: Social media

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 7/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

The first companies to create social networks based on web technology were Classmates.com
and SixDegrees.com. Classmates.com, founded in 1995, used an aggressive pop-up
advertising campaign to draw web surfers to its site. It based its social network on the
existing connection between members of high-school and college graduating classes, armed
service branches, and workplaces. SixDegrees.com was the first true social networking site.
It was launched in 1997 with most of the features that would come to characterize such sites:
members could create profiles for themselves, maintain lists of friends, and contact one
another through the site’s private messaging system. SixDegrees.com claimed to have
attracted more than three million users by 2000, but it failed to translate those numbers into
revenue and collapsed with countless other dot-coms when the “bubble” burst that year for
shares of e-commerce companies.

Nevertheless, social media sites became popular in the early 21st century. Social networks
such as Friendster and MySpace emerged that allowed family members, friends, and
acquaintances to connect online. Those two sites were eventually supplanted by Facebook,
which became one of the world’s most popular social media sites with billions of users
worldwide. Other forms of social media emerged for the sharing of specific types of content.
For example, YouTube allows users to share videos, and TikTok is specifically designed for
the sharing of short videos. LinkedIn emphasizes a user’s professional connections, where
users create pages similar in structure to résumés.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.

Home keyboard_arrow_right Politics, Law & Government keyboard_arrow_right Businesspeople & Entrepreneurs

Mark Shuttleworth more_vert Actions

South African entrepreneur, philanthropist, and space tourist
Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article History

toc Table of Contents

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 8/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

zoom_in

Mark Shuttleworth

See all media

Born: September 18, 1973 (age 49) • Welkom • South Africa

See all related content →

Mark Shuttleworth, (born September 18, 1973, Welkom, South Africa), South African
entrepreneur, philanthropist, and space tourist who became the first South African in space.

Shuttleworth was a student at the University of Cape Town in 1995 when he founded Thawte,
a consulting firm that became a world leader in Internet security for electronic commerce. He
sold the firm in 1999 to the U.S.-based company VeriSign and with his profits founded a
venture capital firm and a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding education initiatives in
Africa.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 9/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

Britannica Quiz

Space: Fact or Fiction?

In 2001, at a personal cost of $20 million, Shuttleworth bought a seat on a Russian spacecraft
and began the First African in Space project. For nearly a year he trained in Star City, Russia,
and in Kazakhstan for a mission aboard a Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station
(ISS). On April 25, 2002, Shuttleworth lifted off on Soyuz TM-34 with two cosmonauts,
commander Yury Gidzenko of Russia and flight engineer Roberto Vittori of Italy, from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked two days later at the ISS. Shuttleworth
spent eight days aboard the space station, where he conducted scientific experiments for
South Africa. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-33 on May 5, 2002.

Upon returning, Shuttleworth traveled widely and spoke about spaceflight to schoolchildren
around the world. He returned to his work in technology, and in 2004 he founded Canonical,
which became the parent company of various ventures, most notably Ubuntu. That project
created desktop and operating system software for free distribution to computer users, with a
special focus on expanding personal computer access in developing countries. Shuttleworth
served as CEO of Canonical until 2009, when he stepped down. However, he returned to the
post in 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Load Next Page

keyboard_arrow_down

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 10/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 11/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 12/13
2/21/23, 11:42 AM Social media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media 13/13