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With social media changing how we use and understand everything from communication and the news to transport, more than ever it is essential to ask the right kinds of questions about the business and politics of social media. This book equips students with the critical thinking they need to understand the complexities and contradictions and make informed judgements.
This new edition:
- Lays bare the structures and power relations at the heart of our media landscape.
- Explores the sharing economy of Uber and Airbnb in a brand new chapter
- Takes us into the politics and economy of social media in China
- Puts forward powerful arguments for how to achieve a social media that serves the purposes of a just and fair world
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.
List of contents
What is a Critical Introduction to Social Media?
What are Social Media and Big Data?
Social Media as Participatory Culture
Social Media and Communication Power
The Power and Political Economy of Social Media
Google: Good or Evil Search Engine?
Facebook: Surveillance in the Age of Edward Snowden
Twitter and Democracy: A New Public Sphere?
Weibo and Chinese Capitalism
The Political Economy of Online Sharing Platforms in the Age of Airbnb and Uber
WikiLeaks: Can We Make Power Transparent?
Wikipedia: A New Democratic Form of Collaborative Work and Production?
Conclusion: Social Media and its Alternatives - Towards a Truly Social Media
About the author
Christian Fuchs is Professor at, and the Director of, the Communication and Media Research Institute at the University of Westminster.
Summary
This book equips students with the critical thinking they need to understand the complexities and contradictions of social media and make informed judgements. The Second Edition explores the sharing economy of Uber and Airbnb and social media in China.
