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Do you consider Lemmy/Reddit (and similar platforms) to be social media? (dubvee.org)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by ptz@dubvee.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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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.

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[-] 9point6@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

It's all social media as the content of the site is generated by users interacting with each other.

The difference you've identified is between individualist & content-focused social media.

Most networks are the individualist kind, you follow people and they post about their lives for the most part

Reddit & lemmy are primarily content focused social media as you follow topics and post about them

this post was submitted on 10 May 2024

123 points (92.4% liked)

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