New, third edition: Christian Fuchs. 2021. Social Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage. Third edition. 448 pages. Preface, introduction, sample chapter, and more infos here: https://fuchsc.uti.at/social-media-a-critical-introduction-third-edition/ Social media are an integral part of contemporary society. From news and politics to language and everyday life, they have changed the way we communicate, use information and understand the world. So we have to ask critical questions about social media. We have to dig deeper into issues of ownership, power, class and (in)justice. This book equips you with a critical understanding of the complexities and contradictions at the heart of social media’s relationship with society. The revised and expanded Third Edition: * Explores populism, racism and nationalism in a new chapter on right-wing authoritarianism. * Introduces the phenomenon of social media influencers in the age of Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. * Explains how big data is central to social media in a new chapter on big data capitalism and imperialism. * Explores the growing prominence of platforms and platform capitalism. * Challenges you to envision and achieve a truly social media that serves the purposes of a just and fair world. * Analyses fake news and misinformation in the context of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. There are winners and losers in the age of digital capitalism. This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to critically understand how we got to digital capitalism, and what we can do about it. Table of Contents List of figures and tables, page ix About the author, page xiii Preface, page xv I FOUNDATIONS, page 1 1 What is a Critical Introduction to Social Media?, page 3 2 What are Social Media?, page 25 3 Big Data Capitalism, page 49 II APPLICATIONS, page 71 4 The Power and Political Economy of Social Media, page 73 5 Google: Good or Evil Search Engine?, page 109 6 Facebook and WhatsApp: Surveillance in the Age of Fake News, page 139 7 Influencer Capitalism: Reified Consciousness in the Age of Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, page 173 8 Twitter and Democracy: A New Public Sphere?, page 205 9 Right-wing Authoritarianism on Social Media, page 239 10 Weibo: Power, Ideology, and Social Struggles in China, page 265 11 The Sharing Economy of Airbnb, Uber, and Upwork, page 285 12 Platform Capitalism, page 309 13 Wikipedia: A New Democratic Form of Collaborative Work and Production?, page 327 III FUTURES 14 Capitalist Social Media’s Major Problems and Alternatives, page 347 15 A Manifesto for Truly Social Media, page 367 References, page 387 Index, page 413