Library guides
Subject: Information and Communication SciencesMultidisciplinary
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Social media
Learn about the most popular social media, others that you've probably never heard of and will surprise you, and platforms for connecting with people in your field of work. You will also find a bibliography to reflect on the risks and benefits of social media.
How they are and how social media works
A teaching module on social media with lots of information about the subject.
A documentary about social media. It explains what social media are and the power they potentially have, both to do good and to do the opposite.
Wikipedia entry that explains what social media are. The article contains the definition of social media and explains the different types, their history, which ones are the most popular, etc.
A YouTube compilation of all the TED talks related with social media.
An article published in La Vanguardia that talks about social media and how they have revolutionized the way we communicate with each other.
This book helps us understand social media so that we can acquire critical knowledge about these platforms. The book explores the subject in depth and assures us that it will radically change how we view social media.
Chapter of the book Social Media Security, which introduces us to social media and presents certain concepts related with risks and benefits.
Generalist social networks
Instagram is a photo and video app in which users share images or videos with their friends or followers.
YouTube is a platform where users upload their videos on any subject so that they can be viewed by their subscribers. We could say that it is like an à la carte TV channel, in which each user chooses what they want to see.
Facebook is a social networking site; we could define it as a tool that helps its users establish links with other users.
Twitter is a microblogging and communication site. What makes it different is the fact that its messages are limited to a maximum length of 280 characters. Its users can engage in two-way interactions.
Instant messaging platform for sending and receiving texts, images, videos, audio messages and other files. It allows you to create large groups of contacts and subscribe to news channels so you can keep up with your favourite content.
Pinterest is a photo app. The distinctive feature of this networking site is that each user has a whiteboard on which they post the photos they like the most, with the goal of generating an interaction with the other users.
Snapchat is a photo app. This app's objective is to motivate natural communication between users by sending short-lived images or videos which last a maximum of 10 seconds.
WhatsApp is a messaging app. Its goal is to enable users to exchange messages and multimedia files.
WeChat is a messaging app. Its goal is to enable users to exchange messages and multimedia files.
TikTok is a video app. This app allows users to create, edit and share short videos on any subject.
Twitch is a video streaming platform in which users make live broadcasts on any subject and interact with them.
Emerging social networks
Byte is a video app. Its goal is to enable users to share videos with a maximum duration of 6 seconds.
Caffeine is a video streaming platform. Its goal is to enable users to stream live content.
FaceCast is a social networking site for videos. Its goal is to enable users to share videos with a maximum duration between 15 and 60 seconds; the videos can also be broadcast live or take the form of random videoconferences.
Houseparty is an app that enables us to interact with our friends on video calls and chats; what makes it different is the fact that it includes entertainment content, for example, games.
Mastodon is an open source social networking site that has a decentralized federation of servers. Thus, its users can create servers for posting messages that can only be seen by this server's members.
Medium is a blogging site with no limits on the number of characters; its users can post publications and comment on them freely.
We could say that MeWe is exactly what its name says: an app designed to enable its users to establish links with other users. What makes this networking site different is its privacy; nowadays, it is difficult to get any privacy on social media.
MyRealFood is a food app. Its objective is to help users ascertain the quality of what they eat and also to encourage healthy habits among its community of users, who can interact and chat with each other.
NextDoor allows users to communicate with people who live nearby, whether to solve local problems or simply to talk about something.
Steemit is a social networking site that rewards its users with its own cryptocurrency based on their publications or interactions with other users.
Vero's purpose is to recommend places, books, restaurants or films, with publication of images or videos and interaction.
Bibliography and tutorials
A scientific paper that explains the development of Twitch, the video streaming platform. Today, it is the platform showing strongest growth, with an expanding community of active users and streamers.
An article that puts us in context about the WeChat messaging app and the path it has followed to achieve its current popularity.
A scientific paper that tells us about the huge impact that WhatsApp has had in our society; the study focuses on a particular audience, university students, as WhatsApp has become their main communication tool.
A magazine article about WhatsApp that explains what this platform is, what it is used for and why it has become so popular, to the extent that it is used by literally everybody.
A scientific paper that compares the YouTube platform with the traditional cultural industries and explains the reasons that fuel its unstoppable growth.
A scientific paper about Snapchat, which explains its aims, evolution, methodology, features, and also its privacy issues.
A newspaper article that explains what TikTok is, how it works and the privacy problems that affect its users.
A scientific paper about Instagram that explains what this social networking app is, what it is used for and its user profiles.
A book that explains the evolution of Twitter, from its birth to its current use as a communication tool.
A book that tells us the full story of Facebook, from when it was just an idea to the powerful giant it has become today.
A small selection of seven short video tutorials on Alexander Street about YouTube.
A small selection of seven short video tutorials on Alexander Street about Snapchat.
A small selection of seven short video tutorials on Alexander Street about Pinterest.
A small selection of seven short video tutorials on Alexander Street about Facebook.
A manual that explains what Facebook is, its settings, its profile types, how it is used on mobile devices, etc.
A manual on Twitter that explains aspects such as what it is, what it is used for and its visual layout on the mobile app.
Books on Pinterest, the third social network United States that lets you organize and viralize your content through images and virtual boards.
Specialized social media
Arts and humanities
DeviantArt is a social networking site that groups a worldwide community within its platform. DeviantArt allows users to display their art online and use the site's possibilities to receive comments and criticism from other artists.
Goodreads is a platform for people who like reading. It is the world's largest social networking site for readers and recommending books. Goodreads' objective is to help users find new books and share their experiences with books they have read with other users.
Lecturalia is a community whose objective is to enable readers to communicate with each other and share opinions about books and also to keep up to date on the latest book releases.
Health Sciences
Esanum is a specialized social networking tool for doctors. Within this site, doctors are able to contact professionals in any specialty and share experiences on any medical subject.
Sermo is a platform for doctors that encourages collaboration to share experiences or settle doubts, as they can share cases of complex patients or ask other doctors difficult questions, in real-time chats.
Doximity is a specialized social media tool for doctors. This site offers its users the latest news about their field, enables professionals to work together to find solutions for cases and even talk with each other through chats.
HealthUnlocked is a health-focused social networking site. It uses artificial intelligence to help users manage their own health better, recommending relevant, customized content, information and services for patients.
PatientsLikeMe is a health community that allows its users to share treatments and symptoms of their diseases with the goal of monitoring them and learning from other medical results.
Communication and Design
POJO is a tool that facilitates communication between Spanish-speaking freelance journalism professionals. Its main goal is to put journalists into contact with communication media that need to cover events in places where their in-house staff cannot go.
Behance is a platform whose goal is to help its users promote themselves, either through consulting or by putting their dossier online.
Domestika is a creative networking site, on which users share their work and knowledge.
500px is a platform specialized in photography. Its users are usually photographers and they use this platform to discover and share incredible photos, obtain significant exposure, take part in photo contests and get licenses for their photos.
Flickr is a website that allows its users to store, classify, search, sell and share photographs or videos online.
EyeEm is a photo app for all kinds of users, both amateurs and professionals. It is a place for sharing, interacting and learning about photography.
Law and Political Science
FoxwordyPro is a platform specialized in law and its goal is to connect law practitioners and legal professionals around the world, enabling them to share and find information easily.
Economy and Business
Ainder is a Spanish-language professional social networking site for entrepreneurs. Its objective is to facilitate connections and access to business opportunities between entrepreneurs at any level and boost their business's growth.
Computers, Multimedia and Telecommunications
NotasWeb is a specialized website for web developers whose objective is to bring together its members and create collaborative groups to work on different projects.
Coderawall is a community for programmers. Its goal is to enable programmers to network, give visibility to their work, their skills and their projects.
GitHub is a specialized forum for developers. This platform's objective is to enable developers to upload the code of their apps and tools. Users can not only download the app but also browse the developers' profile to find out about them or work with them in developing their apps.
Kaggle is a tool specialized in data science. Its users work in a range of fields, such as statistics, data science and machine learning.
Betabeers is a community of developers who organize monthly get-togethers to share knowledge about technology and start-ups.
Education Sciences
Edmodo is an educational website that enables communication between students and teachers in a private online environment.
Staffrm is an educational platform. Its goal is to connect teachers so that they can share material and experiences, and help each other.
Criticism on social media
A book that tells us about the data that we share without realizing or are almost forced to share before we can use social media.
A book that explains the changes that social media have brought about in our society and the dangers that these changes entail.
A documentary that makes us think about what social media actually do, how they change people and make them more aggressive, as they can now hide behind anonymity.
A book that presents the idea that internet is changing us, since using technology to do everything changes our neural responses.
A book that explains how social media have come to stay and how they have changed our lives and our habits.
Librarians responsible for this library guide
Neus Malagarriga
Operative subgroup: Librarian for Information and Communication Sciences Operative group: Library for Learning