Social media Mr. John Dobbs Colorado Mesa University CSCI 100 Computers in Our Society

What is Social Media? From Wikipedia Social Media: Social media are computer-mediated technologies that allow the creating and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. The variety of stand-alone and built-in social media services currently available introduces challenges of definition. However, there are some common features. Social media are interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications. User-generated content, such as text posts or comments, digital photos or videos, and data generated through all online interactions, are the lifeblood of social media. Users create service-specific profiles for the website or app that are designed and maintained by the social media organization. Social media facilitate the development of online social networks by connecting a user's profile with those of other individuals and/or groups.

Popularity of Social Media sites This is a list of the leading social networks based on number of active user accounts as of September 2016[update].[40] Facebook: 1,712,000,000 users WhatsApp 1,000,000,000 users Facebook Messenger: 1,000,000,000 users QQ: 899,000,000 users WeChat: 806,000,000 users QZone: 652,000,000 users Tumblr: 555,000,000 users Instagram: 500,000,000 users Twitter: 313,000,000 users Baidu Tieba: 300,000,000 users Skype: 300,000,000 users Sina Weibo: 282,000,000 users Viber: 249,000,000 users Line: 218,000,000 users Snapchat: 200,000,000 users From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

Social Media Demographics Mobile Messaging and Social Media 2015 Pew Research Center see Mobile Messaging and Social Media 2015 This article is an extensive view of demographics of various social media and messaging apps Please browse the multiple pages of demographics

History of Facebook From Wikipedia see History of Facebook Is Facebook a business (class discussion)?

Early Human Social Interaction From Scientific American - https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/fire-cooked-up-early-human-culture/: Some scientists say the use of fire helped make us modern humans—it dramatically changed what and how we eat and may have even altered our anatomy. But University of Utah anthropologist Polly Wiessner thinks that fire was also important in shaping human social interactions and cultural traditions. Her conclusions are in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Polly W. Wiessner, Embers of society: Firelight talk among the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen] Wiessner evaluated day and night activities and conversations of Kalahari Bushmen from Botswana and Namibia. These communities still live by hunting and gathering, as most humans did over evolutionary history. During the day, nearly a third of the conversations dealt with economic issues such as hunting strategies and foraging plans. Another third covered complaints, criticisms and gossip. But at night around the fire, more than 80 percent of group conversations were storytelling, often about people living far away or in the spirit world. Weissner says that humans are unique in that we create ties to others outside of our immediate group. Gathering at the fire expanded listeners’ imaginations and allowed for the development of cognitive processes that made it possible to form those links to distant communities. Which makes fire the precursor to Facebook.

Social Media Benefits Easier to stay in touch with remote friends and family Others Does it make you feel better? Class discussion?

Social Media Concerns Time spent checking in? Cyber-bullying? Fake news? See Inside the Macedonian Fake-News Complex Also see As An American Tragedy Unfolds, Russian Agents Sow Discord Online Several Social Media companies have testified before the US Congress lately What did they have to say? Did this make you feel better or worse about using these applications? Others – class discussion?