• poVoq@slrpnk.net
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    3 hours ago

    No, that is not what “media” means. That might be what the original word in Latin meant, but in English it is used to refer to things like newspapers, TV channels and so on, and “social media” is a direct reference to that.

    A social network is social media that allows to form groups or communities. Two people communicating is not a network, the whole point of a network is interconnection between members of a group.

    Indeed, and that is why I don’t really agree to classify WhatsApp as a social network, but it has groups, so it is closer to a social network than social media.

      • poVoq@slrpnk.net
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        3 hours ago

        You are funny. That article links directly to what media typically refers to, i.e. “mass media”.

        Ask any typical person around you what they understand if you talk about “the media”, and they will confirm that this indeed refers to what I am talking about.

        The “social” qualifier is a direct reference to how normal media is a one way street and how publishing is only open to a selected few and that is what sets “social media” apart from it.