The history of the internet is fundamentally a history of conversation. As bandwidth has increased, so has the richness of our online communication services.
In the 1990s, communication was text-based. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and bulletin boards allowed users to congregate in topic-based rooms. Communication was asynchronous or slowed by typing speed. Identity was purely username-based, allowing for a high degree of privacy but a lack of human nuance.
The early 2000s saw the rise of instant messengers like MSN and AIM. These introduced status updates and emojis, adding emotional context to text. However, they were largely "closed networks," requiring you to know a person's handle to connect.
With the advent of broadband and better compression algorithms, video chat platforms became viable. Initially restricted to desktop applications like Skype, the technology eventually migrated to the browser. This evolution democratized face-to-face communication, allowing users to connect instantly with other users or friends using nothing more than a web link, fundamentally changing the social fabric of the web.