Social media are online forms of communication through which users can share content within networks of individuals and groups. These platforms enable the exchange of ideas, personal messages, photos, and videos, opening up possibilities for users to create and distribute content and to collaborate with other users. Corporations, organizations, and society at large are heavily influenced by social media platforms such as Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, and Twitter. This entry first provides an overview of social media and its development. It then discusses the basic concepts underlying social media and presents a classification of different types of social media applications, with a focus on the particular characteristics of mobile interfaces.

Facebook, founded in 2004, links approximately 2 billion active users monthly all around the globe, a user ...