I had this discussion with a friend, and we really couldn’t reach a consensus.

My friend thinks Lemmy (and other Reddit-like platforms) is social media because you’re interacting with other people, liking/disliking submissions, and all the content is user-generated.

I think it isn’t because you’re not following individual people, just communities/topics. Though I concede there are some aspects of social media present, I feel that overall it’s not because my view of social media is that you’re primarily following individuals.

In my view, these link aggregator + comment platforms are more like an evolution of forums which both my friend and I agreed don’t meet the criteria to be considered social media (though they maintain that Reddit-like platforms are social media while I do not).

So I’m asking Lemmy now to weigh in to help settle this friendly debate.

Edit: Thanks everyone! From the comments, it sounds like my friend and I are both right and both wrong. lol. Feel free to keep chiming in, but I have to go do the 9-5 thing that pays my mortgage and cloud hosting bills.

  • originalucifer
    1•8 months ago

    Most create content, and post it publicly for other social circles to see their media. It’s social media lol

    this isnt even kind of true. most users of these systems post nothing. the content posters are a very small, valuable contingent compared to the lurkers/viewers.

    • @RedditWanderer
      0•8 months ago

      Yeah that’s a badly written sentence. “Most post for other social circles to see their media when they create content”.

      Doesn’t change the arguments that this is social media. Lemmings and reditors just like to feel special

      • originalucifer
        1•8 months ago

        so the term social media involves any written word where more than one person can see it. got it.

        • @RedditWanderer
          1•8 months ago

          Essentially , but that wouldn’t be totally correct, youre framing it that way to make a strawman. The definition is:

          Social media websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

          So written words, shared on a platform made to exchange words and images publicly for others to discuss/comment on, if you really don’t want to use the dictionary.