Profile

A profile is used by social media websites to present information about a user in a quick easy to understand matter. When other users visit a profile, they can find information such as that person's friends and they get to know what their personality is like. Most websites allow users to customize their profile with pictures of themselves and a short biography about themselves. Their profile can also be used to share media, photos and videos with the people on their friends list. A person’s profile is there Identity on that social media platform, so being able to make a profile that connects with the user is very important.

History
I terms of social media, one of the first customizable user profiles, was on a website called Six Degrees. This website was created in 1997 and its considered the first social networking websites. It used a web of contacts model that showed a user's friends and family and how they were connected. This model was very popular with users until websites like Friendster and MySpace introduced the friend circle model.

MySpace was a huge influence on the modern day social media profile. It allowed users to download profile widgets from 3rd party websites such as virtual pets, small games, and the very popular Top 8. MySpace was more about making a personal webpage for the user and less about communicating with friends. With modern social networking sites such as facebook, there isn't a huge reason to go onto someone's profile, unless you're looking for a certain post by that user. MySpace made user profiles fun and interesting for the user, making other users that checked your profile stay and see what you did to really make it your own space.