What are social media platforms?

Social media has a variety of forms, as it is social media and not social medium. Due to this it can be difficult to describe what social media is considering the differences in user culture and primary form of content posted. What can be done however, is a quick overview of a few starting with:

    1. Instagram _

    Starting with the land of influencers and pretty people living their "best lives", Instagram is a primarily visual social media app in which users upload images. This can be teasers of upcoming events and projects, things that have occurred in their lives or an expression of art. Users can in turn share these posts and comment.

Due to visual arrangement of Instagram, it leans into the superficial. As a primarily mobile application, users can easily scroll through their feed and accounts as images acts as flashpoints of information. The rapid nature of Instagram demands your best foot forward if you want to be of any interest to the community.

    2. Reddit _

    The website that claims to be "the front page of the internet" with it's large database of subreddits, Reddit acts as a forum in which users can share essentially anything and their posts can then be upvoted or downvoted by other members.

Within Reddit there are subcategories - or subreddits - based on topic. Reddit has a reputation of being almost toxic, despite it's strict rules against harassment. There are also community specific moderators to ensure that problematic content within subreddits are managed and administrators have the power to complete close a subreddit as needed.

Like any social media app, personal experience with problematic content can be prevented if the user takes the proper measures to avoid it.

    3. TikTok _

    The new generation's app of choice,  ✨TikTok.✨ TikTok is a primarily mobile experience, social media app wherein users post videos under a minute. Users can additionally use the audio or sound bytes of existing TikToks to recreate existing trends or add a fandom spin on it.

TikTok, unlike most social media, has two dashboards catered to the user. One is the For You Page (FYP) and the other is of the creators you're following. Those who don't use TikTok may claim it as "cringe" due to their preconceptions of it being tail-chasing with its trends and dances. However, TikTok tailors its experience specifically to the user with it's For You Page so if that is not what the user wants to see, it won't appear.

    4. YouTube _

    Started in 2005, staple of the internet and owned by megacorp Google, YouTube is the social media platform for video creators everywhere. Users can upload videos up to 128GB and comment underneath. Videos can be viewed starting from 144p to whatever was the resolution the uploader provided the video in. Livestreaming has also been added to their services so users can connect in a more immediate fashion.

YouTube has strict moderation on content including children to ensure child protection, hate speech (to varying success), pornography, copyrighted content, abuses and "shock videos" or anything users flag as inappropriate. Due to the large database of videos and 

    5. Tumblr _

    Known for being a chaotic hellsite by users and a place for oversensitive, social justice trash by non-users, Tumblr is a social media platform primarily used for fandom and - well - social justice. It is ideal for artists as its interface allows for the easy spread of posts (provided other users properly spread them) Users can post text in multiple forms (standard blog post, quote, conversation chat), photos, links, audio and videos.

Users have multiple ways to interact with posts that they come across on their dashboard or search:

• Reblog, which takes the post and puts it on their account, acting as a form of sharing to their followers by putting it on their dashboard.
  
  
• Like, which tells the creator that you like their post without adding it to your account or your follower's dash. Users can, however, see your likes if they were to view your account and you have the setting enabled.
  
  
• Comment, add a comment to the post without having it appear on your account. The creator and other users will be able to see the comment if they come across the post however, it will not appear on your or your follower's dash.

Tumblr's reputation has been gleamed from the lack of moderation and response from staff. Despite it trading ownership several times, the overall experience has not been altered overmuch outside from a few superficial aspects. Like any social media experience, majority of its community faults can be circumnavigated through use of blocking and user control.