Social media is a phrase being tossed around a lot these days, but it
can sometimes be difficult to answer the question of what is social
media. If MySpace is a social media site, and Mag.nolia is a social media site, and Wikipedia is a social media site, then just what is social media? Is it social networking? Is it social bookmarking? Is it wiki?
What is Social Media?
The best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an
instrument on communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social
media would be a social instrument of communication.
In Web 2.0
terms, this would be a website that doesn't just give you information,
but interacts with you while giving you that information. This
interaction can be as simple as asking for your comments or letting you
vote on an article, or it can be as complex as Flixster recommending movies to you based on the ratings of other people with similar interests.
Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a
newspaper or listen to a report on television, but you have very limited
ability to give your thoughts on the matter.
Social media, on the other hand, is a two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate too.
A Guide to the Social Web
Is Social Media and Social News The Same Thing?
It is easy to confuse social media with social news
because we often refer to members of the news as "the media." Adding
to the confusion is the fact that a social news site is also a social
media site because it falls into that broader category.
But social news is not the same thing as social media anymore than a
banana is the same thing as fruit. A banana is a type of fruit, but
fruit can also be grapes, strawberries, or lemons. And while social
news is social media, social networking and wikis are also social media.
What Are Some Social Media Websites?
Now that we have answered the question of what is social media, we
can move on to social media websites. Because social media is such a
broad term, it covers a large range of websites. But the one common
link between these websites is that you are able to interact with the
website and interact with other visitors.
Here are some examples of social media websites:
- Social Bookmarking. (Del.icio.us, Blinklist, Simpy) Interact by tagging websites and searching through websites bookmarked by other people.
- Social News. (Digg, Propeller, Reddit) Interact by voting for articles and commenting on them.
- Social Networking. (Facebook, Hi5, Last.FM) Interact by adding friends, commenting on profiles, joining groups and having discussions.
- Social Photo and Video Sharing. (YouTube, Flickr, Instagram) Interact by sharing photos or videos and commenting on user submissions.
- Wikis. (Wikipedia, Wikia) Interact by adding articles and editing existing articles.
And these websites are not the only social media websites. Any
website that invites you to interact with the site and with other
visitors falls into the definition of social media.
