8.1 What are social media?

Social media are online communications platforms that allow people to share content. The phrase typically brings to mind sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok; however, there are many other forms of social media where people share photos, text, videos, podcasts, music, discussions, and ideas. Social media also include a range of professional communication forums, online review sites (for example, Google Reviews and Rotten Tomatoes), and microblogging (for example, Twitter).

Social media have become everyday communication tools for almost every demographic in modern society.

Many brands use social media to leverage their marketing and public relations efforts. Specifically, organizations can use social media to enhance brand awareness, roll out promotions, and build online traffic (e.g. for websites and online stores). Social media also provide opportunities to develop relationships with audiences through engagement and key messaging. Valentini and Kruckeberg (2012) note that “social media provide a relatively inexpensive means to communicate with, and, more importantly, to enter into a dialogue with strategic publics” (p. 11).