Social Media and Global Communities

Social media platforms, such as Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005) and Twitter (2006), let ordinary users publish to the world. This created communities organized around interests, identities and causes rather than geography. Fans of musicians and games coordinate across continents, diaspora members follow news from home, and campaigns can spread rapidly, as when the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raised large sums for research into ALS, a nerve disease. Social media also helped amplify movements such as #MeToo in 2017.

Yet critics warn that online communities can spread hate and misinformation, that likes and shares reward outrage, and that heavy use may affect young people's well-being, a question researchers still debate. Platforms are owned by companies whose policies shape global conversation. Social media show how globalization now happens through millions of personal connections, not only through governments and corporations.