We're using social media more than ever before and its influence was clear in some of the major events of 2017.
Social media has inspired people with viral police videos and united others in protest movements.
Social media commentator Jess Maloney says in the last 12 months social media usage has grown by 14 per cent in New Zealand.
"We're talking about, on average, two hours and seven minutes every day, which is a third of your time online, is now on social media channels," she told 1 NEWS.
High profile campaigns, such as the #metoo movement, have highlighted the scale of sexual harassment, as well as confronted discrimination.
Auckland University senior lecturer Neal Curtis says the way social media has been used in 2017 has brought it to the centre of "political discourse".
The US President used social media to channel his unfiltered opinions, while it gave New Zealand politicians a platform to engage younger audiences.
"For weeks and weeks leading up to the election, we could see that Labour and Greens were very much in that strong position, whereas National were lagging behind when it came to that sentiment," Ms Maloney said.
Mobile video has been able to take us into the centre of some of the year's most horrifying events, such as the Las Vegas shooting.
As a dependence on social media grows, its vulnerability is also being exposed.
Mr Curtis said that's why social media became such a mainstream news story.
"Social media was being used to such an extent to circulate fake news."
He said it's not the same "fake news" Donald Trump talks about.
"This is actually completely made up stories."
Investigations have been launched into fake profiles, blamed for spreading lies and misinformation.
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