The '''social media bubble''' is a hypothesis stating that there was a speculative [[boom and bust ]] phenomenon in the field of [[social media]] in the 2010s, particularly in the United States. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' defined a bubble as stocks "priced above a level that can be justified by economic fundamentals,"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevehanke/2018/02/05/wall-street-correction-yes-bubble-no/|title=Wall Street Correction, Yes -- Bubble, No|last=Hanke|first=Steve|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> but this bubble includes social media. Social networking services (SNS) have seen huge growth since 2006, but some investors believed around 2014-2015 , that the "bubble" was similar to the [[dot-com bubble]] of the late 1990s and early 2000s. ▼{{for|the media effect|informational bubble}}
▲The '''social media bubble''' is a hypothesis stating that there was a speculative [[boom and bust]] phenomenon in the field of [[social media]] in the 2010s, particularly in the United States. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' defined a bubble as stocks "priced above a level that can be justified by economic fundamentals,"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevehanke/2018/02/05/wall-street-correction-yes-bubble-no/|title=Wall Street Correction, Yes -- Bubble, No|last=Hanke|first=Steve|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> but this bubble includes social media. Social networking services (SNS) have seen huge growth since 2006, but some investors believed around 2014-2015 that the "bubble" was similar to the [[dot-com bubble]] of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2015, [[Mark Cuban]], owner of the [[Dallas Mavericks]] NBA team and star of the TV show, ''[[Shark Tank]],'' sounded an alarm on his personal blog over the social media bubble, calling it worse than the tech bubble in 2000 due to the lack of liquidity in social media stocks.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://blogmaverick.com/2015/03/04/why-this-tech-bubble-is-worse-than-the-tech-bubble-of-2000/|title=Why This Tech Bubble is Worse Than the Tech Bubble of 2000 {{!}} blog maverick|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>. A year prior, however, Cuban told [[CNBC]] that he did not believe social media stocks were on the verge of a bubble.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/25/i-dont-see-bubble-in-social-media-stocks-cuban.html|title=I don't see bubble in social media stocks: Cuban|last=Belvedere|first=Matthew J.|date=2014-07-25|website=www.cnbc.com|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> In a letter to investors in 2014, [[David Einhorn (hedge fund manager)|David Einhorn]], who runs the hedge-fund [[Greenlight Capital]], wrote that "we are witnessing our second tech bubble in 15 years."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/einhorn-sees-tech-bubble-2014-4|title=DAVID EINHORN: 'We Are Witnessing Our Second Tech Bubble In 15 Years'|last=Roche|first=Julia La|website=Business Insider|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> He went on to write, "What is uncertain is how much further the bubble can expand, and what might pop it." Einhorn cited several factors supporting the existence an over-exuberance including "rejection of conventional valuation methods" and "huge first day IPO pops for companies that have done little more than use the right buzzwords and attract the right venture capital."<ref name=":0" />
Since those claims, services like [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Instagram]], and [[Snapchat]] have grown to become multi-billion-dollar corporations generating enormous revenues,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jjkinahan/2019/04/22/twitter-and-facebook-social-media-takes-the-earnings-stage/|title=Twitter And Facebook: Social Media Takes The Earnings Stage|last=Kinahan|first=J. J.|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> though some continue to lose money.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/02/06/snap-is-still-losing-a-ton-of-money.aspx|title=Snap Is Still Losing a Ton of Money -|last=Green|first=Timothy|date=2019-02-06|website=The Motley Fool|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>
== History of Socialsocial Networkingnetworking Servicesservices ==
Social networking services have grown and evolved with time since the launch of [[SixDegrees.com]] in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/|title=Then and now: a history of social networking sites|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=6 July 2011 |language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> Cutting edge at its time, [[SixDegrees.com]] allowed users to create a profile, invite friends, and connect within its' platform. At its peak, SixDegrees.com had more than 3.5 million users. Between 1997 and 2001 more social sites aimed at allowing users to connect with others for personal, professional, or dating reasons.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Boyd|firstfirst1=Danah M|last2=Ellison|first2=Nicole B.|date=2007|title=Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship|journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication|language=en|volume=13|issue=1|pages=210–230|doi=10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x|issn=1083-6101|doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[Friendster]] and [[Myspace|MySpace]] were next to enter the social SNS arena, followed by [[Facebook]] in 2004. Even though MySpace had a following of more than 300 million users, it could not compete with Facebook, which now has overtaken the social networking world. However, as development of SNS started to emerge, a market saturation began to take effect.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Ellison|firstfirst1=Nicole B.|last2=Boyd|first2=Danah M|date=2007-10-01|title=Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship|journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication|language=en|volume=13|issue=1|pages=210–230|doi=10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Some classrooms have begun to incorporate [[technology]] in daily learning as well as social channels specific to student's course work. Traditional social media sites are used, as are educational oriented sites such as [https://www.showme.com ShowMe] and [https://www.educreations.com Educreations Interactive Whiteboard].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Miller|first=Gary J.|date=2018-10-02|title=Technologies in the Classroom: Advancing English Language Acquisition|journal=Kappa Delta Pi Record|volume=54|issue=4|pages=176–181|doi=10.1080/00228958.2018.1515546|issn=0022-8958}}</ref>
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|[[QQ|QQ (relaunch)]] · [[Facebook]] (corporate network) · [[Windows Live Spaces]] · [[Cyworld|Cyworld (U.S.)]] · [[Twitter]] · [[Facebook]] (everyone)
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== Controversies ==
While SNS continue to play an influential role in helping people form real-world connections via the Internet, renewed concerns over the '''social media bubble''' have surfaced due to recent controversies. These threats include growing concerns about [[Data breach|breechesbreaches in data]], the rise of bot accounts, and the sharing of [[fake news]] on SNS platforms. There are also concerns that [[big data]] figures associated with these SNS are inflated or fake,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://junkcharts.typepad.com/numbersruleyourworld/2018/02/bursting-of-the-social-media-bubble.html|title=Bursting of the social-media bubble|website=Big Data, Plainly Spoken (aka Numbers Rule Your World)|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> as well as worries about the role the platforms played in national elections (see [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections]]). These issues have resulted in a lack of trust among the sites' users.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/07/29/consumer-trust-in-social-media-is-declining-heres-how-brands-should-change-their-strategies/|title=Consumer Trust In Social Media Is Declining: Here's How Brands Should Change Their Strategies|last=Arnold|first=Andrew|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-04-26}}</ref>
== See also ==
*[[Echo chamber (media)]]
*[[Dot-com bubble]]
*[[Web 2.0]]
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