You’ll find many meanings of social media online, and there’ll never be one definitive explanation. For me social media is quite simply defined as:

“People having conversations online” (Kagan, 2008)

The internet used to be a one-way (broadcast) communication tool, websites were more like interactive brochures, a way of disseminating information. There were some exceptions to this, with traditional online forums/bulletin & message boards, and relay chat, but those formats were not mainstream, were not integrated into online communications and still only allowed for one-to-one or one-to-many communication.

The online/digital space has now become a many-to-many communication tool, with online dialogue or the ability to interact with others online. THIS is social media, it’s not necessarily separate to what the internet is, but a term coined to more easily define what it’s evolved into. It’s also sometimes called web 2.0 or new media. Email is becoming obsolete, as people use social networks and instant messaging to contact family, friends and colleagues. You can even communicate with businesses online, mostly via Twitter (a micro-blogging platform) and Facebook, who have a ‘Pages’ for businesses to set up their official presence on the social network.
A few of the most popularly used types of social media include:

• Social Networks – Facebook, MySpace, Bebo
• Blogs, Micro-blogs – WordPress, Blogger, Twitter
• UGC – YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr
• Online communities – forums, Whirlpool, Essential Baby
• Wikis – Wikipedia, WikiHow
• Social sharing – news, bookmarking & tagging – Digg, Delicious, Reddit
• Information aggregators – RSS readers, Google Reader
• Virtual worlds & gaming – Second Life, World of Warcraft

And that’s just a VERY small sample, Brian Solis’ Conversation Prism gives a more comprehensive overview of the myriad online communication channels and methods.

Social media has become very pervasive, for any business not yet using it as part of their marketing, communications and customer service mix, Social Media Revolution (YouTube video link) should act as a wake-up call.

“Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”

References:

Kagan, M What the f*** is Social Media, 2008

Solis, B Conversation Prism, 2009

Qualman, E Social Media Revolution, 2009

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