UC Davis

The present dissertation proposes a new way to think about social media in a way that flips the problem of platform diversification on its head: the Personal Social Media Ecosystem Framework (PSMEF). This perspective defines social media as a type of user-centric digital environment (i.e., personal social media environment [PSME]) made up of various types of generalized mediated spaces (i.e., user interface classes) that transcend platform updates over time. Chapter 1 introduces the PSMEF. Two studies are then presented that evidence the types of user interface classes that exist, how social media use is consolidated across certain user interface classes (e.g., Chats/Messages, Search Pages, Home Pages), and detail a methodological framework to quantify user interface classes themselves (i.e., Study 2). In conclusion, outstanding questions, strengths, and limitations of the PSMEF are discussed, in addition to novel methodological inroads to advance the framework moving forward (Chapter 4).