What is this phenomenon called social media?
If you want to really understand how social media works, there’s no better way than to participate!
Defining characteristics of social media include the exchange of content through peer-to-peer conversations, and building relationships by first listening to and then participating in online conversations. The key to social media is human interaction – we are still hunters and gathers and nowadays we collect and share information, which is as essential for survival as food and fire. Digital technology and the internet has made it easy for human beings to share ideas, communicate and create their own content at dizzying speeds. Are you connected?
Social media comes in many shapes and sizes through words, images, video and audio.
Popular examples include:
* social networks (Facebook and LinkedIn) – build personal web pages and connect with friends to share content and communicate
* blogs – online journals
* wikis (wikipedia) – websites allow people to add content to or edit the information on them, communal document or database
* podcasts (audio & video) – files available for subscription
* forums - areas for online discussion, usually focus on specific topics and interests
* content communities (like YouTube)- communities which share specific content and common interests like photos and video
* microblogging (twitter) small amounts of content (‘updates’) are distributed online, social networking combined with bite-sized blogging
Become a smarter company by opening your eyes and ears to the marketplace.
Social media is a two-way conversation – listen first, then participate
