In The Social Media Ecology: User Perceptions, Strategies and Challenges, Xhao, Lampe, and Ellison exemplify a multitude of ideas about the ways in which human beings perceive the different platforms of communication, specifically social media. In terms of social media and its platforms, people tend to consistently consider their audience and their content as a high priority, and sometimes even experience a sense of competition between which is of a higher significance for the current post.

The authors argue that while the average person may not think they control a significant amount of their social media platforms, they in fact, without realizing, use different platforms for different uses. To better understand the usage of different social media for different purposes, the authors undertook a study to evaluate how and why people approach these platforms in such different ways. With 29 participants, 18 female and 11 male, all ranging between ages 22-53, they were given a card-sorting task, in which each card represented a channel or platform. They used these cards to list their so-called “modes of communication” and were asked to organize them by the type of relationship they have with each. After reflection on this task, the authors found that people consider both desired audience and content norms when deciding how they should share their content. One participant reported that Facebook was her main mode of communication because her family and friends were most active there, but that if it is softball-related or for the girls, she posts on Instagram. This is just one example of the many instances in which the concept of audience and content clash, and why most people juggle between different platforms. To further evaluate, the authors used the concepts of tension across platforms, referred to as Separation vs. Permeation and Stability vs. Change. Separation vs. Permeation focuses on the conflict of keeping the platforms separate in terms of audience and content but also wanting to infiltrate them in certain situations depending on these two characteristics, while Stability vs. Change describes the desire to have a stable communication platform but the desire for change when introduced to new platforms. These two dimensions of tension are the driving conflicts between maintaining and handling the various platforms that most people partake in everyday.

After consideration and analysis of this study, it is clear that the world of social media and its platforms are much more complex than many would care to think or realize. Outside of the participants, the theories of tension and the high priority factors that go into a post, whether that be on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook or even LinkedIn, are different in the sense of how and why they should be shared. This study proves it, and it’s something to think about next time you want to post, but aren’t sure where and who you want to see it.