Connecting to Homophily in Social Media Assignment | Custom Assignment Help

This is your second discussion blog post in this course. Remember to create your post as a Microsoft Word document so you can paste your work into the blog platform.

For most people, it is comfortable to associate with others who are “like me;” as the old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” We may have similar values, interests, appearance, behavior, or concerns, and being around similar people contributes to homophily, or “love of the same.” The effects of homophily have been researched in diverse areas, from dating to drug use to social media.

In social media, we tend to “like” and follow others to whom we relate in some way. Social media platforms recognize the value of homophily and use algorithms to introduce news, products, or other people to whom we might relate and expand our preferred social network. If you read or “like” stories about landscape photography on Facebook, you will see more ads and articles for landscape photography in your newsfeed. Connecting gets us started, homophily may develop, and algorithms fuel the process even further.

The influence of homophily and social media algorithms that encourage homophily can result in our feeling very much connected, understood, and even appreciated for our similarities. These may be potential benefits of social media.

For this initial discussion blog post:

• Develop an attention-getting title related to the subject of connecting and developing homophily in social media.
• Locate a copyright-free image that grabs viewer attention for use in your discussion blog post.
• Divide your initial discussion blog post into three separate sections using headings of your choice with bold type to separate the sections of your post:
  • In the first section of your blog post, discuss factors that contribute to feeling connected in social media and why social connection is desirable. You may build on ideas presented in the description of this discussion. Remember your focus is on the psychologyof social media, not just social media.
  • In the second section, discuss the concept of homophily and how this may result from social media use. Discuss some of the benefits of homophily in social media.
  • In the third section of your blog post, discuss the contribution of platform algorithms to the development of homophily. Provide some examples from social media platforms with which you are familiar.
  • Finally, conclude your post with a references section. Your references should be in APA format and you should have references matching each of the in-text citations used in your post.