What is Social Media?
by Jim Overly of Cyber Works
Twitter, LinkedIn, Face Book, Blogs all part of Social Media, new forms of communication with the help of modern technology. Think everyday conversations with friends and family then broadcast to millions of potential readers. Traditional media, Newspapers, TV and Radio have major expense and time involved in the output of information. But social media has little and in some cases no expense and is instant communication to the same audience and in most cases a larger audience than traditional media.
Think about a news paper or radio, both are local to a city or small regional area. TV is only broad cast on a national level. But social media is worldwide the instant it is published. The technology needed to view most social media is a computer with access to the internet or a cell phone. This is one of the reasons social media is becoming so popular. Easy access and easy use of these sites continues to attract millions of users.
But with so many sites to choose from where dose a person start? There are many flavors each with its own personality and guidelines to proper etiquette. Most are easy to use and are free. Here is a description of some of the more popular sites.
LinkedIN is directed to more business use. Individuals with a goal of business networking for the purpose of job hunting, acquiring more clients, looking for vendors or simply finding out how other people handle situations in their professions. The etiquette is more formal, at least for the Web, and has general has a business purpose.
Face Book is about reconnecting with people on a social level. Conversations about what a person had for dinner or are building in their garage on the weekends, favorite foods, things to do, although seemingly trivial, but also part of everyday conversations. These conversations and information about a person can be posted for the world to see. Why does anyone care? People have a genuine interest in other people like themselves. You are all but guaranteed to find someone with your likes and dislikes on Face Book. You may even find that long friend or they may find you.
Blogs are articles or stories usually published by one individual on a somewhat regular basis that can be read by anyone with internet access. They usually are on a particular topic but can be free form and talk about a variety of items. Some follow the life of the person writing the blog others are commentary on the world around them. People tend to find follow a blog as one might follow a particular column in a newspaper or watch a certain show on TV for the next new episode. The information can be informative, thought provoking or simply entertaining.
Twitter is relatively new but has exploded in popularity, at least with the younger crowd. This form of communication can be done using a cell phone. It is an incredible fast way to disseminate information, at least to those using Twitter. Disasters or other breaking news stories are traveling the world in minutes do to cell phone users taking pictures or describing events as they unfold. They then are rebroadcast from one Twitter user to another around the planet.
Should one think this is all fun and games, take a look at the news. Much of what we see from Iran and the current unrest with the election has been coming through over many of the social media websites. It is very difficult to stop social media due to the technology being so widely available and the capability to be seen world wide the instant it is published.
Whether you use these new forms of communication or not realize that many people do and there is much to be gained. However, as with most communication finding the time and using it productively is a matter of opinion. Before making those opinions give one or more of these a try and enjoy talking in the 21st century.
