Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space

Abstract

This introduction to the Special Issue of Social Media + Society discusses the key theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches needed to gain insight into how social platforms intervene in public space. It starts by highlighting how in the emerging platform society public and private communication is reshaped by social media’s commercial mechanisms, transforming the political economy of the media landscape. Given the complex character of this society, it is essential to employ different perspectives and approaches to trace the multifaceted forces at work in this new global system. Building on the seven contributions to this Special Issue, we show the need for multidisciplinary scholarship. More specifically, we consider the insights produced through historical–cultural, socio-technical, and techno-commercial inquiries into the evolving relationship between social platforms and public space. The introduction concludes with a reflection on the necessity to combine these perspectives in one analytical model.