Social Media

Social media has taken the web by storm in the last five years. It is part of a new generation of Media that has seen the web transform from a source of information, or web 1.0, into a more participatory web (web 2.0) which has introduced file sharing, collaborations and user-created content. Also a part of 2.0 are wiki’s and blogs. A much more social community on the World Wide Web has broken out and the main use of the internet today is based upon communication. Digital Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter are used for friends and colleagues to communicate online. Facebook actually changed the way people connect as friends can now see what their pals are up to and how they’re feeling. Sites like these demote the need for telephones and physically spending time with people. And again it relates to privacy matters, as people can see what you’re up to, your interests, friends etc. Also a big part of 2.0 is Immaterial Labour; producing material online. An example of this is Wikipedia, a user-influenced source of information. Which is different from crowd sourcing because it is more factual, rather than being forum-orientated and self-participatory.