Social media helps the development of online social networks by connecting a user's profile with those of other individuals or groups.[2][5]
The term social in regard to media suggests platforms enable communal activity. Social media can enhance and extend human networks.[6] Users access social media through web-based apps or custom apps on mobile devices. These interactive platforms allow individuals, communities, and organizations to share, co-create, discuss, participate in, and modify user-generated or self-curated content.[7][5][1] Social media are used to document memories, learn, and form friendships.[8] They may be used to promote people, companies, products, and ideas.[8] Social media can be used to consume, publish, or share news.
Social media outlets differ from old media (e.g. newspapers, TV, and radio broadcasting) in many ways, including quality,[9]reach, frequency, usability, relevancy, and permanence.[10] Social media outlets operate in a dialogic transmission system (many sources to many receivers) while traditional media operate under a monologic transmission model (one source to many receivers). For instance, a newspaper is delivered to many subscribers, and a radio station broadcasts the same programs to a city.[11]
Social media has been criticized for a range of negative impacts on children and teenagers, including exposure to inappropriate content, exploitation by adults, sleep problems, attention problems, feelings of exclusion, and various mental health maladies.[12][13] Social media has also received criticism as worsening political polarization and undermining democracy.
^ abCite error: The named reference usersoftheworld was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Fuchs, Christian (2017). Social media: a critical introduction (2nd ed.). Los Angeles London New Delhi Singapore Washington DC Melbourne: SAGE. ISBN978-1-4739-6683-3.
^ abCite error: The named reference Schurgin-2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Agichtein, Eugene; Castillo, Carlos; Donato, Debora; Gionis, Aristides; Mishne, Gilad (2008). "Finding high-quality content in social media"(PDF). WISDOM – Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining: 183–193. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2019.