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As a sibling said, I'm not sure WhatsApp is "social media". To me (a very occasional user), it's just a messenger (which may come with strings attached since it

As a sibling said, I'm not sure WhatsApp is "social media". To me (a very occasional user), it's just a messenger (which may come with strings attached since it belongs to facebook, but still). Am I missing something? Other than that, on what do you think you'll miss out, especially since whatever you're looking at leaves you angry? As someone who never really got hooked into facebook nor twitter [0], I don't get the impression I have a harder time reaching people than before these were a thing. Yet, most of my peers seem to always need to check something on the phone, scroll whenever they get a second, etc. The only "social media" I've used is Instagram, by "following" some photographers whose art I enjoyed. Maybe a month or so ago, it started showing me random new crap once I "caught up" with the people I follow. Short videos, tik-tok style, not related in any way to the content I follow. This really pissed me off, since it seemed so... useless. I get trying to get me "engaged", but maybe show me some content which you've already seen my browse for? If I wanted to see practically naked girls jumping up and down, I'd just go to some porn site. Needless to say, my time spent browsing Instagram practically vanished. --- [0] I've never "quit": I never got hooked in the first place, since they never managed not to bore me to tears in more than 2 minutes flat.

rightbyte 4y ago
> I'm not sure WhatsApp is "social media" Until Zuckerberg starts pushing "recommended oneway groupchats" or whatever I would not see WhatsApp as social media any-more than ICQ.
contravariant 4y ago
There's probably some linguistic confusion surrounding the word 'media'. WhatsApp is without a doubt a medium for social activity, in the same way that telephone lines and the postal service are. However 'media' has kind of stopped being the plural for 'medium' and is now a term on its own. This means you can interpret also social media to mean the social exchange of information media, though perhaps it is more accurate to consider them an extension of the other broadcast media as social media seem to be increasingly in the grips of media magnates who fill it with advertising.
- d_watt 4y ago
  Moreover, I'd say "social media" has also stopped being a term where the component words matter. I'd argue in today's society "social media" itself is a standalone noun referring to many-to-many internet platforms where you are able to see other's content without an active subscription (as opposed to messengers, RSS, etc).

rightbyte 4y ago

> I'm not sure WhatsApp is "social media" Until Zuckerberg starts pushing "recommended oneway groupchats" or whatever I would not see WhatsApp as social media any-more than ICQ.

contravariant 4y ago

There's probably some linguistic confusion surrounding the word 'media'. WhatsApp is without a doubt a medium for social activity, in the same way that telephone lines and the postal service are. However 'media' has kind of stopped being the plural for 'medium' and is now a term on its own. This means you can interpret also social media to mean the social exchange of information media, though perhaps it is more accurate to consider them an extension of the other broadcast media as social media seem to be increasingly in the grips of media magnates who fill it with advertising.

d_watt 4y ago
Moreover, I'd say "social media" has also stopped being a term where the component words matter. I'd argue in today's society "social media" itself is a standalone noun referring to many-to-many internet platforms where you are able to see other's content without an active subscription (as opposed to messengers, RSS, etc).