Google scholar comes up with 14 uses of the term "social media" before 1920 and this one look as fairly relevant to current usage. It is fairly general in terms of oral and written traditions where we have just added the digital form of those communication forms. [BOOK] The function of socialization in social evolution google.com [HTML]EW Burgess - 1916 - books.google.com ... socialization. Word of mouth and oral tradition, the written manuscript and the printed book, the church and the school constitute the social media in which the achievement of one generation becomes the social heritage of the next. ... Cited by 32 - Related articles - All 3 versions -- Distinguished Professor Emeritus Information Systems, NJIT homepage: http://is.njit.edu/turoff