What is Social Media?
Social media is certainly the buzz of today, but what is it, how can it benefit you, and why do you really care? Glad you asked. First, lets stress that if you think social media is a fad thats going to disappear you couldnt be further from the truth. Social media is a phenomenon and its taking the internet by storm.
Those who were quick to jump on the bandwagon and take the time to understand social media marketing have already taken their businesses miles ahead of the competition. Over the next decade, we can expect social medias role in marketing and business to grow by leaps and bounds.
So what is social media? By definition (Wikipedia), social media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.
So how big is social media? Its huge! To give you an idea of how huge here are some recent stats.
There are more than 750 million active users on social networking site Facebook.
There are more than 156 million blogs.
There are more than 490 million YouTube videos.
Social Media by Characteristics
The best way to understand social media is by grouping by characteristic.
Openness: The majority of social media venues promote leaving comments, voting, sharing information, and removing barriers making content open to everyone.
Connectedness: Social media thrives on being connected with other people, resources, sites, blogs, etc.
Conversation: Traditional media is one way communication whereas social media is more of a two-way conversation.
Participation: Social media promotes everyone to contribute and provide feedback. Media and audience blur together.
Community: Social media sees communities quickly sprout up based on common interests.