Digital platforms and technologies that enable users to create, share, and interact with content and each other in virtual communities. These platforms facilitate two-way communication and user-generated content, fundamentally changing how brands connect with audiences.
The term gained widespread use in the early 2000s with the rise of platforms like MySpace and Facebook, though the concept traces back to early bulletin board systems and forums in the 1980s. 'Social media' was formally defined by Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein in 2010 as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0.'
Social media has created the phenomenon of 'micro-celebrities' and transformed ordinary people into influencers with massive reach, sometimes surpassing traditional media outlets in audience size and engagement. The addictive nature of social media is by design - platforms use variable reward schedules (the same psychological principle behind gambling) to keep users scrolling and engaging.
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