Timeline of 21st-Century Technology

The Internet, which was introduced on January 1, 1983, gained prominence in the 1990s and eventually became an integral part of everyday life in the 2000s. Companies and individuals flocked to the new technology to promote their work and to establish digital identities. Social media websites such as Myspace, introduced in 2003, and Facebook, which was founded just a year later, allowed users to connect with people around the world, creating networks of vastly different groups of people. Apple was a prominent leader in the “Technology Revolution,” introducing the first widely used touchscreen phone in 2007, which also featured a handy Internet connection.

With the advent of new technology, however, arose new issues. Cybercriminals introduced computer viruses such as the infamous Love Bug, which threatened to upend users’ lives by stealing their personal information. Facebook, which had been such a useful way to connect with strangers and faraway friends, was accused of promoting dangerously false information, and Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now X) angered loyal users, who criticized his lax approach to content moderation. New technology allowed users to wear a mask of anonymity on the Internet—a feature that was both protective and, in the wrong hands, dangerous.