On Reading and Creating Social Media

 Reading Social Media

Beginning in the 1990's, the ability to interact with friends and strangers alike over the internet initially constituted simple chat rooms; however, social media today has become as unique and diverse as the people who utilize it. Social media is no longer simply read, but experienced in a multi-media presentation across every platform one could possibly imagine. Social media can be defined as any platform online which can be used to connect with people, products, and places remotely. While some formats rely on text only, others mainly feature images, and still others support varying lengths of videos. Within each platform is a 'culture' of sorts, rules of engagement that define the structure and rules of engagement. Social media is also facilitated as a community, requiring participants to agree to certain guidelines as well as providing support when it is believed these guidelines are being neglected. The following questions will help readers (and participants), especially those who are unfamiliar with social media, to reach a better understanding of and appreciation for this relatively new form of art and communication.

What are the rules of engagement?

While many social media platforms are similar in purpose, the structure of each is incredibly varied. There is almost a culture to every platform, and the way we present ourselves within them is defined by this culture. For example, Facebook was originally created as a website where Harvard students could rate the attractiveness of their classmates based on uploaded pictures: This would be drastically different from how we might present ourselves on LinkedIn today. Facebook has luckily become a place where friends can share life updates, video links, and most recently, opinions. It can be a place of learning and connection, as well as a place of division. Luckily, Facebook is structured to choose whose updates you would like to see on your 'newsfeed' or main page; it is quite easy to decline or even retroactively 'unfriend' someone whose posts are not to your taste. Each social media platform has standards of engagement, and posts infringing on them can be reported and taken down. This begs the question: Who gets to decide what is and is not appropriate to post? This is a recurring and largely ambiguous question to consider anytime an opinion or post is not to our taste and we are faced with decisions moving forward as to a response. Social media platforms are often seen as communities, with culture and expectations regarding the media created and how others can interact with it. While all platforms have a certain level of customization in the content you would prefer to see, the type of content seen will vary greatly from one platform to another. Twitter is often described as 'a lawless place' because the character limit challenges users to be blunt, creative, and concise with their word choice. It is often a place where more personal and less professional content is created. While it is possible to curate your feed to an extent, the algorithm is the primary decider of what content you will read.

How is the platform structured?

One common thread across most social media platforms is the concept of the 'like'. Whether a user creates their own content or merely interacts with content created by others, 'liking' a post communicates to the creator that their effort or message resonated in some way. The more 'likes' a post gets, the more likely it is to gain a wider audience. Instagram, one of the most popular social media platforms across the world, operates mostly through the posting and captioning of images. Only one image can be seen at a time, and captions are limited to 2,200 characters (though only a preview is shown unless the user clicks to read more). Youtube is a platform which centers around video content being shared. Video length is seemingly limitless for those who have verified accounts (the longest video thus far is 596 hours long). Creators and consumers alike can comment and interact on the page of each video. Every social media platform has a unique structure which could determine the type and objective of media created for it.

What is the algorithm? How does it know me so well?

At this point it is no secret that our internet activity is tracked and saved to be used for various purposes, most often for advertising. Social media platforms have internal algorithms that track not only your browsing history, but also your interactions with content creators as well as what you personally upload. In order to see the kind of content you prefer, you must first find and interact with the content you prefer. For example, Tik Tok is one of the most recent social media platforms that is best known for its oddly-specific algorithm. The app makes note of the videos you like or even watch all the way through, and curate the upcoming videos towards things you might be interested in.