SMI-5: Five Dimensions of Social Media Interaction for Platform (De)Centralization

TL;DR

This paper introduces SMI-5, a framework with five dimensions to analyze social media decentralization, emphasizing that decentralization impacts user interactions across multiple layers beyond just the network infrastructure.

Contribution

The paper proposes the SMI-5 framework to comprehensively describe social media decentralization across five interaction dimensions, extending beyond physical network considerations.

Findings

User interactions vary across different SMI layers.

Decentralization influences social media engagement patterns.

A case study demonstrates the importance of multi-layer analysis.

Abstract

Web 3.0 focuses on the decentralization of the internet and creating a system of interconnected and independent computers for improved privacy and security. We extend the idea of the decentralization of the web to the social media space: whereby we ask: in the context of the social media space, what does "decentralization" mean? Does decentralization of social media affect user interactions? We put forth the notion that decentralization in the social media does not solely take place on the physical network level, but can be compartmentalized across the entire social media stack. This paper puts forth SMI-5: the five dimensions of social media interaction for describing the (de)centralization of social platforms. We then illustrate a case study that the user interactions differ based on the slices of the SMI layer analyzed, highlighting the importance of understanding the (de)centralization of social media platforms from an a more encompassing perspective rather than only the physical network.