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Introduction
Today’s society is full of symbols, signs and media so that everyday life and communication are increasingly integrated with the media space. Before the advent of the internet, mass media such as television, radio and newspapers were the most effective media (Oftade, 2012), but with the advent of the internet, its use has grown increasingly and has become a powerful global communication method (Korp, 2006).
Research studies indicate that internet access and usage is increasing. Statistics state that in 2017, 3.6 billion people had internet (Dosemagen and Aase, 2017), and there are currently more than 4.5 billion internet users worldwide (Internet Live Stats, 2020). Pew Internet and American Life Project data shows that 85% of American adults use the internet (Center, 2012b). The use of the internet is 88% among teenagers (Center, 2012a).
Meanwhile, we are witnessing the emergence of tools such as smart-phones and tablets. The mobile and (internet-enabled) smart-phone market had reached 96.2% globally (internet IWSM, 2017). In total, 3.2 billion people have access to mobile phones (Dosemagen and Aase, 2017). According to the latest Pew Research Center study in early 2018, approximately 91% of Americans years of age 18–29 have smart-phones (Hitlin, 2018). A cultural norm of young people being constantly connected to the internet has been established. It is estimated that people 18 to 24 years old, look at their phones more than 80 times per day (Bratu, 2018).
Today with the internet expansion, social media has also been identified as a factor in evolutions. Social media is the title used to refer to the set of sites and tools that have been born and developed in the space created by modern media such as communication networks, the internet and mobile phones. Social media can be classified into seven groups, namely, social networks, blogs, wikis, podcasts, forums, content communities and micro-blogs, among which social networks are the most important social media.
Social networks are databases that provide users with the opportunity to share their interests, thoughts and activities with others. In other words, a social network is a set of web-based services that allow individuals to create public or private descriptions for themselves, communicating with other members of the network, sharing their resources with them and using this platform to find...