<p>Exploring questions of both exploitation and empowerment, <strong>Understanding Social Media</strong> provides a critical conceptual toolbox for navigating the evolution and practices of social media.</p><p>Taking an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach, it explores the key themes and concepts, going beyond specific platforms to show you how to place social media more critically within the changing media landscape.<br/><br/>Updated throughout, the <strong>Second Edition </strong>of this bestselling text includes new and expanded discussions of:</p><ul><li>Qualitative and quantitative approaches to researching social media</li><li>Datafication and algorithmic cultures</li><li>Surveillance, privacy and intimacy</li><li>The rise of apps and platforms, and how they shape our experiences</li><li>Sharing economies and social media publics</li><li>The increasing importance of visual economies</li><li>AR, VR and social media play</li><li>Death and digital legac