Study Notes on Social Media: Defining, Developing, and Divining

Caleb T. Carr and Rebecca A. Hayes, School of Communication, Illinois State University

Social media has grown as a field of study but lacks a clear, universally accepted definition, leading to limited theoretical development within communication studies.
The article seeks to engage with existing literature across various disciplines, including public relations, information technology, and management, to create a widely applicable definition of social media.

Engagement with Social Media: The article opens by posing the question of what constitutes social media, suggesting that while people can list various platforms, there is no consensus on a concrete definition.
Current Challenges: Scholars recognize certain tools as social media, but the definitional inconsistency leads to weak theorizing about the uses and effects of social media.
Importance of a Unified Definition: A robust definition is pivotal for developing systematic theories and facilitates an understanding of the interactions and effects of social media.

Convergence: Existing definitions often agree that social media involves digital technologies aimed at user-generated content or interaction but differ widely in complexity and applicability.
Examples of Definitions:
- Russo et al. (2008): “Those that facilitate online communication, networking, and/or collaboration.”
- Kaplan & Haenlein (2010): “A group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, allowing for the creation and exchange of User Generated Content.”
- Kent (2010): Defines social media as “any interactive communication channel that allows for two-way interaction and feedback.”
Limitations: Many definitions fail to exclude other communication technologies like email, resulting in decreased precision for theoretical work.

Lack of Clarity: The definitions lack a formal, clear, and mutually agreed-upon statement, creating ambiguity in research and theory development.
Techno-Centric Focus: Many definitions focus on specific tools or technological features, failing to capture the unique qualities of social media.
Misapplications: Definitions of social network sites (SNS) have been often confused with social media in general, complicating theoretical discourse.

Comprehensive Definition: The authors propose to define social media as:
- “Internet-based, disentrained, and persistent channels of masspersonal communication facilitating perceptions of interactions among users, deriving value primarily from user-generated content.”
Explication of Key Terms:
- Internet-based: Social media use online tools operating via the Internet, which need not be exclusively web-based, expanding the definition to include apps and tools beyond current web applications.
- Disentrained, Persistent Channels: Communication does not require simultaneous participation like face-to-face interactions, and social media supports ongoing communication and engagement even when some users are offline.
- Perceived Interactivity: Users need to feel that interaction is possible, even if they’re not engaging with another human being, allowing for perceived social connections.
- User-Generated Value: The core value of social media arises from interactions and contributions from users, rather than from content produced by organizations or media hosts.
- Masspersonal Communication: These interactions blur the traditional boundaries between mass communication and interpersonal communication, allowing both personal and public engagement on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Mobile and Data-Driven: Access to social media is increasingly through mobile devices using applications, rather than traditional web-based platforms. This transition may radically reshape how users engage online.
Emergent Trends: As social media evolve to be data-driven, AI algorithms will adaptively shape user experiences, potentially challenging traditional perceptions of agency in communication.

Masspersonal Communication Dynamics: The use of social media is evolving toward more massive, group-centric interactions, leading to the development of communications designed for mass audiences that appear personal.
- Emotional Engagement Risks: Automated interactions raise ethical concerns as these systems manipulate user emotions and decision-making through perceived personal engagement.

Collaboration in Social Media: The growth of social media allows for the more dynamic formation of ad hoc groups and organizations, enhancing collaborative work without geographical constraints.
Organizational Insights: Organizations can leverage social media for real-time feedback and environmental scanning of public sentiments, facilitating targeted messaging in their communication strategies.

Communication Redefined: Scholars must rethink foundational elements of communication, recognizing the role of system-generated interactions in shaping user experiences.
Human-Computer Interaction: Theoretical paradigms that include how individuals perceive and interact with non-human agents may need to evolve as social media tools become increasingly sophisticated.

Research Methodologies: Scholars will need to integrate new data collection and analytical tools to study the masspersonal communication algorithms and dynamics that emerge from complex user interactions.

Challenge of Integration: The convergence of media effects and communication studies necessitates a reevaluation of how the medium alters the messages transmitted, recognizing that communication and technological features must work in tandem.

Context and Privacy: Theories must grow to encompass varying perceptions of privacy as social media evolve, addressing dilemmas around personal information disclosures in an increasingly interconnected online landscape.

Forward-Looking Perspectives: The article posits that future scholarship needs to focus on understanding social media as dynamic entities, transcending time and specific technologies while analyzing developments that are presently hard to predict.
Unified Framework for Future Study: A sound definition of social media will serve as a foundation for predicting and analyzing communication processes as they evolve alongside technological advancements in the next two decades.

Acknowledgment of contributions from various academics who assisted in providing feedback during the development of this article.

The article emphasizes the necessity for multidisciplinary approaches as social media scholarship continues to adapt and grow, incorporating insights from various fields to enhance understanding of communication phenomena in evolving contexts.