social media

plural social medias

1. pluralsingularuncountableApplications or websites allowing users to share content and communicate with one another through the Internet.

   The early 21st century saw a huge increase in social media thanks to the widespread availability of the Internet.

   5 more examples

   "By all means we want people to use social media, but we do not want you to use it in ways that will incite violence," said Jonathan Toy, Southwark council's head of community safety. "This remains a big issue for us and without some form of censorship purely focusing on [violent videos], I'm not sure how we can address it."

   2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian

   Social media are spaces where media power and counter-power are played out. Dominant platforms, such as Facebook, Google/YouTube and Twitter, are privately owned and there are economic, political and ideological forms of media power at play; private ownership, concentration, advertising, the logic of consumption and entertainment, the high visibility of and attention given to elites and celebrities shape and filter communication on dominant social media platforms.

   2017, Christian Fuchs, Social Media: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition, SAGE, →ISBN

   I grow weary when I think of this as the new normal for what is considered to be a fruitful personal life. Social media is no longer a mere public extension of our private socialization; it has become a replacement for it.

   2019 October 1, Bianca Vivion Brooks, “I Used to Fear Being a Nobody. Then I Left Social Media.”, in The New York Times

   On social media, everyone believes that anyone to whom they have access owes them an audience: a writer who posted a take, a celebrity who announced a project, a pretty girl just trying to live her life, that anon who said something afflictive.

   2022 November 10, Ian Bogost, “The Age of Social Media Is Ending”, in The Atlantic

   The former FBI director James Comey has said it did not occur to him that that the numbers 8647 – which he spotted spelled out in seashells on a beach, and posted on social media – could be interpreted as a call to assassinate the president, as many supporters of Donald Trump have claimed.

   2025 May 16, Edward Helmore, “What does ‘8647’ really mean? Not what Trump’s supporters are saying”, in The Guardian

2. countableinformalpluralsingularA particular social media site or account.

   I decided to delete all my social medias that I rarely use.

   3 more examples

   As you will most definitely know, it's been absolutely all hands on deck since the cast of Love Island 2021 was announced yesterday. Between stalking their social medias and over-analysing their bios, we, the fans, have barely come up for air.

   2021 June 22, Daniella Scott, “New Islander Sharon Gaffka shares an unlikely link with Molly-Mae Hague”, in Cosmopolitan, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Jan 2022

   "It would literally pop up on all of my social medias," said Lexi Fadel, a 27-year-old physical therapist in Los Angeles. After struggling with hormonal acne and bloating, she said, "I was willing to try anything."

   2022 July 8, Becky Hughes, quoting Lexi Fadel, “Athletic Greens Becomes a Household Name”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Oct 2023

   Have a great profile and cover photo, then do a writeup that greets your fans, describes something about yourself, and talks about the content you're going to produce. After that, have some social medias that you can link to – these give you some legitimacy.

   2023 September 11, Jasmine Ramer, “The Top Big Dick Onlyfans Accounts of 2023”, in The Village Voice, New York, N.Y.: Village Voice, LLC., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2023

   Synonyms: social medium, social

1. pluralplural of social medium