Social media

Article By:

Mata-Toledo, Ramon A. Department of Computer Science, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida.

Gupta, Pranshu Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, DeSales University, Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

Last reviewed:April 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.630752

Show previous versions

• Social media, published December 2019:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

The evolving internet technologies for content sharing and collaborating among communities of online users. Since the advent of the Web 2.0—the more dynamic and interactive second generation of the World Wide Web—the term social media has become well-known but remains difficult to define. In fact, an internet search of this term produces varying results, such as "20 definitions of social media," "academic definitions of social media," "pragmatic definitions of social media," "legal definition of social media," and the like. Dictionary definitions of social media do not necessarily agree with definitions expressed by other sources, academic or not. So, it seems that the term social media, as it is used today, depends on the lens through which one is looking. This diversity of opinions makes it difficult to pin down an all-encompassing definition of social media (see illustration). See also: Internet; Web 2.0; World Wide Web

The content above is only an excerpt.