Share

Share (noun/verb): In social media, a 'share' is the act of taking content—be it a post, video, photo, article, or link—from another user, page, or platform and redistributing that content to one's own followers, friends, or network. When one shares content on a social media platform, it typically broadcasts the content to many more people than the original post was shown to. For even more brevity, when an influencer or prominent account shares content, it is common for that content to be understood as going 'viral.

' Indeed, on most social media platforms, sharing is not just a part of how content is consumed but, fundamentally, a part of how it is understood. If something is not worth sharing, then it is not really worth anything at all. Social media is so fundamentally about sharing that several platforms have even replaced their thumbs-up icon for liking something with a picture of a hand that is in the act of sharing.

Sharing—of content, ideas, or even oneself—has become the very currency of the social media world.