You are right. According to the definition of social media, Lemmy is social media. However, “social media” would by definition fit any kind of digital communication media. A forum, or a blog, or an IRC channel are also, by definition, social media.
I would argue that the social media has a distinct association with Facebook, Instagram and the diverse spawns of those, and by association doesn’t fit anything else. At best, we simply lack a different term, which splits “old-school” stuff like forums and blogs. I view lemmy more like a forum. You have categories, and users can go into categories to start discussions. You don’t follow anyone. People also don’t create and post their own content, but rather seek discussions or share other stuff from the internet. Your goal is not reach, follow count or like count.
It is social media, but it’s definitely nothing like Facebook.
We simply lack a better term.
No. I am reading an aggregation forum, and getting clarity and insights from the comments. I barely am interacting with anyone.
Look, this term didn’t even exist until the mid 90’s and didn’t take off in common use until the mid 2000’s.
The difference is Lemmy is topic centered thread first, discussion last, where social media is basically a self publishing, identity first platform. People put shit on instagram and facebook because it is about them (mostly). Here it is just news/stories with comments. And anonymity, which is what makes it all work.
I consider everyone here the same way I did when I was on a bbs: they are liars. Modern twist: they are liars and bots. Everyone is bullshitting and saying whatever they want, this is hardly a social event.
Social networking is about connecting people, which Lemmy as a forum does. You could argue that the function of Lemmy as a link aggregator is more social media like, but I doubt people would consider an RSS feed reader to be social media either.
Social media is like TV, a one-to-many medium, usually with some sort of feed curation to promote certain topics.
I have never heard anyone refer to TV as social media, I have always heard it in context with facebook, twitter and co.
a better objection, which makes me uncertain whether lemmy is social media, is that this is a pseudonymous forum where its not common for users to become friends or know each other, and discussion is not around a specific news site or a specific person, but around specific topics
I didn’t say TV is social media, I said social media is like TV is the sense that it is a one-to-many medium. I could have also used TikTok to explain the difference, but people here are clearly confused about the destinction and it would have been less clear.
pseudonymous forum where its not common for users to become friends or know each other
This isn’t really true for regular commenters. There are even feuds between specific users and so on. I agree though that there are constant attempts by some people who try to make Lemmy more like social media by advocating for dissolving the destinction between communities and instances to turn Lemmy into a dumb meme and news posting app for entertainment purposes.
Of course it is an pseudonymous online forum, so it isn’t about making friends in real-life, but you can make plenty of connections with people online via it.
That isn’t a problem, it is by design. I don’t want to follow you or anyone else. I don’t want to promote myself either. I absolutely do not want to make any connections with people here. I read the aggregated subject feeds, I get clarity or insights from the comments. And that is where it ends. Anonymity makes this all work.
That’s a totally made up definition from your part. Media is the plural of medium, which means “intermediary”. A social media is just the middleman that allows people to socialize. Lemmy is a social media, as well as a social network.
There are lot of synonyms, people just choose some words in different contexts based on how they sound. Why use the word “begin” when the word “start” exists?
It would be great if people could stop using Meta services and software.
It would be great if people stop using social media in general.
Lemmy is social media
You are right. According to the definition of social media, Lemmy is social media. However, “social media” would by definition fit any kind of digital communication media. A forum, or a blog, or an IRC channel are also, by definition, social media.
I would argue that the social media has a distinct association with Facebook, Instagram and the diverse spawns of those, and by association doesn’t fit anything else. At best, we simply lack a different term, which splits “old-school” stuff like forums and blogs. I view lemmy more like a forum. You have categories, and users can go into categories to start discussions. You don’t follow anyone. People also don’t create and post their own content, but rather seek discussions or share other stuff from the internet. Your goal is not reach, follow count or like count.
It is social media, but it’s definitely nothing like Facebook. We simply lack a better term.
I would definitely call a forum or IRC channel social media.
I wouldn’t consider blogs social media unless they had a very active comments section.
Media is more audio, video, image. Which fits social media.
Most forums and blogs are text-based or primary text. There is no blog sharing only images/videos/audio as posts. Also no such forum.
That would be my key differentiation - forums and IRC is social, but not really media.
Printed media is definately media, and so are blogs. The social part of it is how people can interact with it.
What is the social part? I change my name daily, and dont really give a shit about people following me.
Its social because you’re interacting with other people
No. I am reading an aggregation forum, and getting clarity and insights from the comments. I barely am interacting with anyone.
Look, this term didn’t even exist until the mid 90’s and didn’t take off in common use until the mid 2000’s.
The difference is Lemmy is topic centered thread first, discussion last, where social media is basically a self publishing, identity first platform. People put shit on instagram and facebook because it is about them (mostly). Here it is just news/stories with comments. And anonymity, which is what makes it all work.
I consider everyone here the same way I did when I was on a bbs: they are liars. Modern twist: they are liars and bots. Everyone is bullshitting and saying whatever they want, this is hardly a social event.
So is twitter not social media if you just use it to read hashtags, and get clarity and insight from the comments?
Other social media sites can very much be topic centered
deleted by creator
No, it is a social network. That’s different from social media.
Its not a car, its a vehicle!
There is a difference between the two terms as well, so thanks for supporting my point /s
What would you define social media as?
Oxford says.
That definition certainly matches Lemmy.
Social networking is about connecting people, which Lemmy as a forum does. You could argue that the function of Lemmy as a link aggregator is more social media like, but I doubt people would consider an RSS feed reader to be social media either.
Social media is like TV, a one-to-many medium, usually with some sort of feed curation to promote certain topics.
I have never heard anyone refer to TV as social media, I have always heard it in context with facebook, twitter and co.
a better objection, which makes me uncertain whether lemmy is social media, is that this is a pseudonymous forum where its not common for users to become friends or know each other, and discussion is not around a specific news site or a specific person, but around specific topics
I didn’t say TV is social media, I said social media is like TV is the sense that it is a one-to-many medium. I could have also used TikTok to explain the difference, but people here are clearly confused about the destinction and it would have been less clear.
This isn’t really true for regular commenters. There are even feuds between specific users and so on. I agree though that there are constant attempts by some people who try to make Lemmy more like social media by advocating for dissolving the destinction between communities and instances to turn Lemmy into a dumb meme and news posting app for entertainment purposes.
Well Lemmy is not about that at all. I know absolutely Zero people from lemmy.
That seems to be a you problem.
Of course it is an pseudonymous online forum, so it isn’t about making friends in real-life, but you can make plenty of connections with people online via it.
That isn’t a problem, it is by design. I don’t want to follow you or anyone else. I don’t want to promote myself either. I absolutely do not want to make any connections with people here. I read the aggregated subject feeds, I get clarity or insights from the comments. And that is where it ends. Anonymity makes this all work.
That’s a totally made up definition from your part. Media is the plural of medium, which means “intermediary”. A social media is just the middleman that allows people to socialize. Lemmy is a social media, as well as a social network.
Every definition is “made up” 🙄
What I explained is how these terms are commonly used on the fediverse.
And anyways, if “social media” and “social network” is the same, why have two different terms for it?
There are lot of synonyms, people just choose some words in different contexts based on how they sound. Why use the word “begin” when the word “start” exists?