You may be interested in featuring the people who first came up with the name "social" for social networking / social media.

The initial Devon Social Group (now known as The Social Group) was set up as a provider of social networking and social events 7 years before Facebook and 10 years before Twitter.

So social networking is in fact British!

It all started after former ski technician Andrew Haglington suffered an injury, was registered disabled, developed ME Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and was left really ill and weak, and in a lot of pain.  Following divorce, Andrew spent the best part of 5 years pretty much confined to bed and a wheelchair.  Life was very tough for him and, unable to work, he became isolated and still in his 30's was left in the care of home helps from Social Services.

When it occured to Andrew that he could not possibly be the only person on his own, in 1997 he decided to try to gather together a 'group of friends' that anyone could join in and go out with.  He decided to shorten the word "socialising" to "social", setting up Devon Social Group to run social events across a social network of people in South West England - thus naming what has grown to become a whole new sector of the economy!

With his idea being so very new, Andrew initially found lots of misunderstanding and resistance, with numerous people not getting it and doors slammed in his face.  People he approached for investment to back his brand new concept failed to realise the vast potential of what he was talking about.  It was just too far ahead of it's time and there wasn't a culture in the UK to back such a venture.  As a result, Andrew and his second wife Cathy were left to try to build up social networking in the UK by themselves, leaving the Americans to claim the multi-billion industry as their own, as detailed in the movie The Social Network.

Instead, Andrew & Cathy have focussed more on people connecting and socialising on a more local basis, over the last decade enabling many thousands of people to make friends and enjoy a better social life.  Many who have met through the couple's efforts have even gone on to get married and start families.  And at the same time, lots has been done to support good causes and charities, raising awareness and raising funds.

The Social Group is now in the process of going national, with new branches opening across the UK.

You can read more about all of this at...

http://www.thesocialgroup.uk.com

http://twitter.com/SocialGroupUK

http://twitter.com/AHaglington

http://twitter.com/CathyHaglington

Through their work as social entrepreneurs via The Social Group, and with them having such high profiles on the internet, Andrew & Cathy Haglington are recognised as social media celebrities.  The British Library has preserved copies of their early web sites as being of historical importance, and there is widespread recognition of the vital role Andrew & Cathy have played in making social networking and social media what it is today. 

Andrew is currently writing his story of overcoming illness to start up what has grown to become the social media sector - with a working title of "The Man Who Invented Social Networking".

Andrew & Cathy Haglington
08456 121 770 (12noon -7pm)