Social Media(n): forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)
Social media are web technologies that allow people to interact with others via the Internet. It allows them to share ideas, images, text, videos and audio to create networks and communities of interests.
Following the development of Web 2.0, an asynchronous means of updating web pages, users are able chat and communicate via differing hardware including personal computers, mobile devices, and tablets in real time.
Through sharing, information on particular topics are recommended and comments are made. This brings bring people together who have similar interests and backgrounds.
As of May 2013, Facebook is by far the most popular platform globally, with 70% of the marketshare using this site. Surprisingly, the order in global popularity of the other social media platforms is Pinterest, StumbledUpon, and YouTube.
Social media has been attributed to significant changes in cultural development with such things as the Arab Spring, the Middle Eastern countries fight for democracy and change.