Social media are computer-mediated online tools that allow people, companies, and other organizations, including non-profit organizations and governments, to create, share, or exchange information, career interests,[1] ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks. The variety of stand-alone and built-in social media services available in the 2010s introduces challenges of definition; however, there are some common features:[2] (1) social media are interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications,[2][3] (2) user-generated content (UGC) such as text posts or comments, digital photos or digital video posts are the lifeblood of the social media organism,[2][3] (3) users create their own profiles for the website or app, including their real name (or a pseudonymous username), demographic information, and information about their interests; this profile is inputted by the user onto a standardized template that is designed and maintained by the social media organization,[2][4] and (4) social media facilitate the development of online social networks and relationships by connecting a user's profile with those of other individuals and/or groups, or offering tools that enable the user to seek out other users with compatible interests.[2][4]
Social media use web-based and mobile technologies on smartphones and tablet computers to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals, communities and organizations can share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content or pre-made content posted online. They introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between businesses, organizations, communities, and individuals.[5] Social media changes the way individuals and large organizations communicate, because a regular, relatively anonymous person can post comments directly under the official post of a major organization. These changes are the focus of the emerging field of technoself studies.
Social media differ from traditional paper-based or industrial media such as TV broadcasting in many ways, including quality,[6] reach, frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence. Social media operate in a dialogic transmission system (many sources to many receivers).[7] This is in contrast to traditional media that operates under a monologic transmission model (one source to many receivers), such as a paper newspaper which is delivered to many subscribers. Some of the most popular social media websites are Facebook (and its associated Facebook Messenger), WhatsApp, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Baidu Tieba, pinterest, Linkedin, Google+, YouTube, viber and Snapchat. These social media websites have more than 100,000,000 registered users.
Observers have noted a range of positive and negative impacts from social media use. Social media can help to improve individuals' sense of connectedness with real and/or online communities and social media can be an effective communications (or marketing) tool for corporations, entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, including advocacy groups and political parties and governments. At the same time, concerns have been raised about possible links between heavy social media use and depression and even the issues of cyberbulling, online harassment and "trolling". According to Nielsen, Internet users continue to spend more time with social media sites than any other type of site. At the same time, the total time spent on social media in the U.S. across PC and mobile devices increased by 99 percent to 121 billion minutes in July 2012 compared to 66 billion minutes in July 2011.[8] For content contributors, the benefits of participating in social media have gone beyond simply social sharing to building reputation and bringing in career opportunities and monetary income, as discussed in Tang, Gu, and Whinston (2012).[9]
