Archive for Social media
An Interpretation of Social Media
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By now you’ve certainly heard the buzz surrounding the terms “social media” and “Web 2.0“, but what do they really mean?
There doesn’t seem to be a definitive one-line answer for either of these terms. If you were to ask 20 people you would likely get 20 varying responses, as everyone has their personal perception of their meaning. The definitions of these terms have no hard boundary.
This is my interpretation of these terms, which could be discussed for hours on in, but I will attempt to keep this as plain and simple as possible. I do however; hope to stimulate some conversation in the comments section below.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is not the latest software upgrade for the internet but rather a transition to a system where content and sites have integrated the use of various formats and tools. It’s a community of people who are content producers as well as consumers of content, products and services. It’s all about how people now use the internet.
The landscape has now changed forever as the web is now perceived as having reached it’s second generation of development and design. The old model was about content production from one to many; today’s model observes content production from many to many. Static web pages have been replaced by dynamic sites with sharable content and social networking capabilities.
The term “Web 2.0″ was actually introduced in 2004 to characterize the new generation of web apps which began the movement toward a more dynamic environment, as we have today. Tim O’Reilly has stated that he first encountered the term in the name of a 2004 web conference.
Social media
This term is not, in my opinion, mutually exclusive from Web 2.0. There is much similarity and crossover in terms of what they each represent. Social media is really the methods, tools and platforms used to drive the web 2.0 experience.
I find both terms fascinating as if nothing else, they always stimulate a conversation. Many have seen these as just the latest computer jargon, but if these topics are explored, you’ll find that they are far from that.
For instance, publishing technologies have made it easy for people to satisfy the need for online social interaction and the result is nothing short of amazing when you consider the enormous amount of content being shared all over the world in today’s digital environment.
Look at the various forms of content sharing available to us today. Here are just a few examples:
Communication
- Blogs
- Micro-blogs: Twitter, Tumblr, Plurk
- Social networking: Facebook, Myspace, Ning
- Social and news aggregation: Friendfeed, Ping.fm
- Conferences and other events
Collaborative Efforts
- Social bookmarking: Stumbleupon, Delicious
- Social news: Reddit, Digg
- Wikis: Wikipedia, Wikispaces
- Opinion and reviews: Eopinion, Cnet,
Multimedia
- Audio: itunes, Pandora, Soundboard
- Video: YouTube, Vimeo
- Photo: Flickr, Zooomr
- Livecasting: LiveCast
Conclusion
As you can see, this is not your Daddy’s internet. Social media is part of the Web 2.0 experience and will continue to be for years to come. The internet has changed in way perhaps not envisioned a couple of decades ago. It has become a living, thriving digital world full of knowledge and interaction.
So what is your interpretation of these terms and how have they affected your online experience?
Readers of this article may also find interest in:
Social Networking Sites – They’re in Your Business
Managing Your Social Networking Activity
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Social Media – Where Are You With Building Your Blog?
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This article will serves as a brief overview of social media and the opening to a series of articles that will cover the subject in greater detail.
As anyone who has launched a blog knows, the building process can seem somewhat daunting during the early months. Traffic numbers rise at a snail’s pace, but you’ve got to press on with the mission.
You’ve honed your writing skills and continue to build an archive of articles, which is good, but there must be something else to incorporate into the building process that will help with your overall results.
Enter the use of social media tools.
The strategy is to expand your internet footprint , broaden your horizons and build your brand in many locations. The greater your reach the more your message will be heard and the more traffic that will eventually lead back to your blog.
The use of social media tools and technologies are an essential part of obtaining that well connected web presence. This is what will get you in front of more people, thereby drawing an increase in the traffic and readership that you desire. This is what Web 2.0 is all about, the social aspect of things.
Here are 4 things that you can do to move closer to your goals.
1. Use social networking sites – sites like Facebook, Twitter and hundreds of others are designed to bring people together in a community or group setting where information on a wide range of topics is shared and relationships are built.
There are millions of people actively involved with social networking sites, which goes to illustrate how popular the use of this valuable resource has become. A broad reach can easily be achieved using social media tools and the right strategy. Where else can you reach so many people with a few clicks of the mouse?
This activity has grown continually with 4 out of 5 U S adults now using some form of social media at least once monthly, and as you can imagine, many are daily users.
Once you join a few of these sites, you will have the ability to promote your blog on a much larger scale, while establishing relationships with others. If you haven’t as yet, sign-up with Facebook and Twitter, two of the hottest social networking sites on today’s internet.
2. Share content – There are numerous sites where you can share content like photos, videos, and your actual blog posts. Flickr, YouTube and Ezine Articles, respectively, come to mind. You retain full control over the content in terms of what you want to submit or display, which can be shared with anyone, anywhere in the world.
3. Use social bookmarking – Much like content sharing, there are numerous sites where you can bookmark a particular article and “spread the love”. Social bookmarking sites like Reddit and Del.icio.us are places where you can search, organize, and generally manage bookmarks that lead to pages on the internet. These sites use a system where the bookmarks can be saved publicly or privately if you choose. Most are stored using tags, which makes sorting quite convenient. Like everything else associated with social media, these sites have grown tremendously over the past couple of years.
4. Signup to social recommendation sites – Sites like StumbleUpon and Digg combine social bookmarking and networking and create a list of recommended sites for you depending upon your interests. Stumble, as it’s affectionately known, is one of my favorites as it’s sometimes spooky how the recommended sites are so in tune with my own personal interests. When you submit to these sites, others have an opportunity to vote on your input. Without a service like this you would likely never discover much of the highly valuable content on the internet.
To make the most of your blog building efforts you must utilize today’s Web 2.0 tools, and social media usage is a fun and effective way to build your business.
In future posts I will cover many social media techniques in greater detail. After taking action, you may find yourself amazed at some of your results.
Remember, the success of your blog can only be helped by instituting a social media strategy that builds your brand and enhances your online presence.
So where are you with building your blog?
To your blogging success!
If you found this article interesting you should also read Social Media Strategy – Some Thoughts on Building Your Brand
