An analysis of Social Media use in The SADC region - 2014 - 2020 autonomous development, interaction and liberty, a “private sphere” with or without interaction with others, free from State intervention and from excessive unsolicited intervention by other uninvited individuals23. In the digital environment, informational privacy, covering information that exists or can be derived about a person and her or his life and the decisions based on that information is of particular importance. internet) 24 and persistent channels of mass personal communication facilitating perceptions of interactions among users, deriving value primarily from user-generated content”25. In other words, social media can be any form of computer-mediated communication where individuals not only set up profiles to present ‘who they are’ but also generate content of their own, see, and interact with content of their friends or other users online26 . The paper is structured in five interconnected parts: Firstly, it introduces key concepts, principles and literature within the regional context; secondly, it looks at key social media statistics and data from the region; thirdly, it focuses on specific country case studies. It then addresses issues of access, affordability and availability of social media and lastly, proffers recommendations and gives a conclusion. Social networking sites, a subdomain of social media, have been defined as a networked communication platform in which participants: have uniquely identifiable profiles that consist of user-supplied content, content provided by other users, and/or system-provided data; can publicly articulate connections that can be viewed and traversed by others; and can consume, produce, and/or interact with streams of user-generated content provided by their connections on the site27. Social media context Social media are generally defined as “Internet-based (though some platforms can be accessed without the It is important to note that there is no authoritatively accepted definition 28 23 see, for example, A/HRC/13/37, Para. 11, and A/HRC/23/40, paras. 22 and 42 24 https://newsable.asianetnews.com/technology/unlimited-access-to-facebook-without-internet 25 Carr & Hayes, 2015, p. 49 in https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305117691544 26 ibid 27 Ellison & Boyd, 2013, p. 157 in https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305117691544 28 https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Who%20is%20connected%2C%20Social%20Media%20 and%20the%20Digital%20Divide_0.pdf 9 https://zimbabwe.misa.org