The Social Media Revolution: An Economic Encyclopedia of Friending, Following, Texting, and Connecting: An Economic Encyclopedia of Friending, Following, Texting, and Connecting

Jarice Hanson

May 2016 · ABC-CLIO

About this ebook

Social media shapes the ways in which we communicate, think about friends, and hear about news and current events. It also affects how users think of themselves, their communities, and their place in the world. This book examines the tremendous impact of social media on daily life.

When the Internet became mainstream in the early 2000s, everything changed. Now that social media is fully entrenched in daily life, contemporary society has shifted again in how we communicate, behave as consumers, seek out and enjoy entertainment, and express ourselves. Every one of the new applications of social media presents us with a new way of thinking about the economy that supports technological development and communication content and offers new models that challenge us to think about the economic impact of communication in the 21st century.

The Social Media Revolution examines the tremendous influence of social media on how we make meaning of our place in the world. The book emphasizes the economic impacts of how we use the Internet and World Wide Web to exchange information, enabling readers to see how social media has taken root and challenged previous media industries, laws, policies, and social practices.

Each entry in this useful reference serves to document the history, impact, and criticism of every subject and shows how social media has become a primary tool of the 21st-century world—one that not only contributes to our everyday life and social practices but also affects the future of business. The coverage of topics is extremely broad, ranging from economic models and concepts relevant to social media, such as e-commerce, crowdfunding, the use of cyber currency, and the impact of freeware; to key technologies and devices like Android and Apple iOS, apps, the cloud, streaming, and smartphones and tablets; to major entrepreneurs, inventors, and subjects of social media, such as Julian Assange, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Marissa Mayer, Edward Snowden, Steve Wozniak, and Mark Zuckerberg.

Provides an insightful perspective on the past and future that demonstrates how the technologies of communication serve to create the nexus of social interaction

Examines the fundamental need and desire of humanity to communicate, which in turn determines what we think of ourselves, how we see the world, and how we make meaning

Focuses on social media as a powerful tool, not only for communication and entertainment but also for potentially equalizing power and social mobility locally, nationally, and globally

Considers the financial impact of social media as it challenges legacy media for consumers, users, and audiences

About the author

Jarice Hanson, PhD, is professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.