From private messaging to personal media streams: Understanding valued features in social media’s third phase

Social media has changed tremendously in its quarter-century existence, yet little is known about individual-level use of these services today or the aspects users find most valuable. Drawing from 37 in-depth interviews with an indicative sample of Australians aged 18+, this article adds revealing depth to the survey research and study of young adults that has been the foundation of understandings of social media use. The study’s qualitative, inductive method revealed varied and deliberate use of what are now multifaceted services. Its key findings contradict some common perceptions of social media use: participants value ‘Following’ features that enable them to curate a ‘personal media stream’ tailored to their interests and overwhelmingly choose private messaging tools for personal communication and post sharing over public posting. The article argues that the range of use identified suggests a need for conceptualization of ‘social media’ use that better accounts for the variety of features and also addresses the common use of different services to different ends by a single user. Key concerns of the field, such as the nature of platform power, operate inconsistently across social media service features in ways that are not addressed by singular categorization of social media.