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The semantic web, social media and the amount of user-generated content continues to grow at a staggering rate. Social Media significantly contributed to the information flow during the Arab Spring, the Occupy and Wall Street movement continue to maintain a global online presence using social media technology. But is the social media information explosion really a unique event in media history? How did story telling evolve into social media? In order to place social media in its historical context and anticipate digital native expectations, we explore the origins of narrative and storytelling from the perspective of a documentary producer. How did past media technologies prepare the way for social media? How do digital natives perceive the world via social media and what do they expect from today's documentary producer? What are the viewing habits of digital natives? What do previous ‘information explosions' have in common with social and digital media? These are essential questions for media and documentary producers navigating their way through the vast maze of social media technology and the semantic web, in addition to traditional media.

This chapter reappraises social media. The corporate perspective promises a growth market based on user data exploitation. On the other hand, users expect emotional contagion and authenticity from their social media experience. They want to connect to friends and family. As a consequence, users accept corporate exploitation of their data. Users see social media as a human right. To users, the technology is key to global knowledge dissemination, with the potential to challenge traditional power structures resisting change. Building on Obar and Wildman, the chapter concludes with an improved definition of social media suggesting that user data tagged to user accounts, user generated content (UGC), and user behavior in the multi-device universe is the lifeblood of social media. Research suggests that social media has propelled mankind beyond McLuhan's global village into the global digital family.

Micro SME documentary producers are challenged to understand, adapt and apply social media technology in the creative economies. This paper examines the technological premise of social media, applications and limitations in documentary filmmaking. Drawing from other fields such as psychology, the author proposes a Real- and Virtual World Networking Model (RVNM), theorizing on how documentary producers can connect via social media networking to generate strong system support for their documentary project. RVNM helps documentary filmmaker make sense of the complexity of social media from development to distribution in order to further stimulate significant growth within the creative industries.

This chapter reappraises social media. The corporate perspective promises a growth market based on user data exploitation. On the other hand, users expect emotional contagion and authenticity from their social media experience. They want to connect to friends and family. As a consequence, users accept corporate exploitation of their data. Users see social media as a human right. To users, the technology is key to global knowledge dissemination, with the potential to challenge traditional power structures resisting change. Building on Obar and Wildman, the chapter concludes with an improved definition of social media suggesting that user data tagged to user accounts, user generated content (UGC), and user behavior in the multi-device universe is the lifeblood of social media. Research suggests that social media has propelled mankind beyond McLuhan's global village into the global digital family.