Now more than ever, we need to understand social media - the good as well as the bad. We need critical knowledge that helps us to navigate the controversies and contradictions of this complex digital media landscape. Only then can we make informed judgements about what's happening in our media world, and why.

Showing the reader how to ask the right kinds of questions about social media, Christian Fuchs takes us on a journey across social media, delving deep into case studies on Google, Facebook, Twitter, WikiLeaks and Wikipedia. The result lays bare the structures and power relations at the heart of our media landscape.

This book is the essential, critical guide for all students of media studies and sociology. Readers will never look at social media the same way again.

What Is a Critical Introduction to Social Media?

What Is a Critical Introduction to Social Media?

What is a critical introduction to social media?

Key Questions

  • What is social about social media?
  • What does it mean to think critically?
  • What is Critical Theory and why is it relevant?
  • How can we approach Critical Theory?

Key Concepts

  • Social media Marxist theory
  • Critical theory Critical political economy

Overview

What is social about social media? What are the implications of social media platforms such as Facebook, Google, YouTube Wikipedia, Twitter, for power, the economy and politics? This book gives a critical introduction to studying social media. It engages the reader with the concepts needed for critically understanding the world of social media with questions such as:

  • Chapter 2: What is social about social media?
  • Chapter 3: How meaningful is the notion of participatory culture for thinking about social ...
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