Publisher's Synopsis
In the beginning days, social media was limited to fundamental tools and websites used mainly by professors of technology and computer geeks. Over a period of time, social media changed into a behemoth that is changing the way how people connect and converse with corporations, governments, traditional media, and each other. The monopoly of the message held by the traditional media lost its reins with the advent of social media due to the domineering facts of social media over the traditional media. With the progression of time from mid to late 90s, slowly the conventional and traditional media started getting replaced by the social media. Various forms of social media like Internet forums, personal websites, advanced bulletin board systems and online chat ensured that the individual's voice reached to the mass audience. Many organizations still housed in monologue mode but started reckoning the need to adapt the new media in general and social media, specifically. This volume covers the research and reviews that examines the key issues and new challenges of the social media in detail. This work assesses the role of social media in social and economic development. The web and in particular, social media such as social network sites and microblogs, allows ordinary citizens to connect with one another and share information through computer-mediated networks. Numerous studies from around the world have provided evidence of the catalytic role played by the media in providing information that influences public opinion leading to social change. It also contains studies that suggest independent media play a critical role in improving governance and reducing corruption, increasing economic efficiency and stability, and creating positive social and environmental change. In the modern world, the social media has not only established its place in the field of mass communication, but also posed threat equally to the conventional mass media.
