Mediaboss Marketing

Social media has invaded every aspect of our lives, and in 2013 that fact became more apparent than ever. Have a problem with a company? Tweet at them to solve it. See a billboard on your commute to work? Note the Facebook logo in the lower corner. Beyonc announces the biggest album of the year where? On Instagram, of course.

Social media isnt disappearing anytime soon, but the rules are still being written and its anyones guess as to where we go from this point. Here are the biggest social media triumphs and downfalls of the year.

Twitters latest app update made it easier for new users to navigate.

Twitter goes public: The top social media story of the year was, without a doubt, Twitter going public. The microblogging service grew from a silly status updater favored by tech-industry insiders to a global town square used to foment revolution and report news. (Though silly status updates still abound.) Now its a publicly traded company expected to return value to shareholders. To make that happen, Twitter needs more usersand therefore more eyeballs on its adsso its staff is working to make the service and app more user-friendly. Inline images, swipeable timelines, and improvements to the private-message system are designed to bring people in and help them discover reasons to stay.

Tumblrs big payday: When Yahoo scooped up Tumblr for $1.1 billion in May, it seemed like a curious match. Actually, it still does. But Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer knew that Tumblrs youthful, GIF-addicted audience could provide a much-needed shot in the arm for her dinosaur of a company. So far, Yahoo hasnt done much to change Tumblran ad here, an ad there. But the personal-blogging site remains mostly the same, which is good news for users. For now. Next year, everything could change.

Vine launches: While Twitter was heads-down toward the end of the year, focused on going public and making all the money, the social network kicked off 2013 by surprising everyone with a new venture: Vine. The 6-second video-sharing app quickly became a smash hit, attracting artists, actors, comedians, and creative types who viewed 6 seconds as a challenge instead of a restriction. Despite fierce competition from Instagram, Vine continued to thrive, adding new features and expanding its reach from iOS to Android and Windows Phone, too.

Vine debuted on iOS but added Android and Windows Phone apps this year.

Instagrams new features: If you thought Instagram would rest lazily on the $1 billion bed of money Facebook made for the photo-sharing app, you thought wrong. Instagram in 2013 comfortably cruised from 80 million to 150 million monthly active users, half of whom check their feeds daily. The app has become a mainstay of the social routine because it continues to be interesting. After watching Vine become a social media darling, Instagram rolled out its own video product. After seeing Snapchat capture the hearts of teens across the country, Instagram introduced its own direct-messaging feature, Instagram Direct. Some people think Instagram is merely aping whatever its competitors are doing, and that may be truebut no one can deny that the end result is a great social experience.

Snapchat skyrockets: The ephemeral messaging app Snapchat has captivated your teenage relatives, and for good reason: They just tap out a message or snap a photo with a funny caption, and set a timer. When the seconds tick down, the message disappears. Its fun, simple, and, most important, private. Snapchat began growing its fanbase last year, but in 2013 the service was inescapable. The app capped the year by rejecting a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebooknot too shabby for a service best known for its more scandalous uses.

Facebook touted its redesigned News Feed earlier this year, but never implemented that new look.

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From Twitter to Tinder: Social media's biggest hits and misses of 2013