Meaning & use
social media
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
Websites and apps where people post their own words, photos and videos and respond to what others share.
Grammar: Usually singular with no article: social media is popular, not a social media.
Patterns
- on social media
- through social media
- use social media
She shared the news on social media before calling her parents.
Social media has changed how people follow sports.
The school teaches students to use social media safely.
Common combinations
- on social media
- The video spread quickly on social media.
- social media platform
- Each social media platform has its own rules for posts.
- social media account
- He deleted his social media account to focus on studying.
- social media campaign
- The charity launched a social media campaign for clean water.
- social media influencer
- A social media influencer promoted the new trainers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- social networks
- Social networks refers to the individual sites where people connect, while social media also covers the sharing of content across them.
- social platforms
- Social platforms stresses the technical service, and is more common in business and tech writing than in casual speech.
- social networking
- Social networking names the activity of building connections online, not the sites themselves.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: social media or mass media?
social media vs mass media
Mass media means traditional outlets such as television, radio and newspapers that send content one way. Social media lets ordinary users create and respond.
Practice
Which sentence uses social media correctly?
Choose one answer.
Social media is normally an uncountable noun with no article or plural form. The other options wrongly give it an article, a plural or a plural verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “social media”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.