Social Media

Platforms such as Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube or Twitter have changed the Internet considerably in recent years. They are regarded as "social media" because they have a great influence on how people present themselves and their interests on the Internet, how they maintain and re-establish relationships, and how they inform themselves about relevant topics. At the same time they raise a number of far-reaching questions: Is privacy disappearing through social media? Does social media make everyone a journalist? Do social media bring knowledge to everyone? Are social media participatory - or do they monitor and control people? The volume answers these questions from a sociological perspective and thus provides an overview of how social media change our individual everyday life as well as our society. For the second edition, the volume has been updated and extended by e.