A Beginner’s Guide To Social Media (by a beginner): Lesson 3

Posted: Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 5:20 PM | By: Jonny Rose

Lesson 3: What is Social Media?

Revisiting the findings of my last two posts:

Social = People + Conversation

Media = Tools that deliver information

So quite simply, Social Media is about the exchange of information between people through conversation. We already do this in real-life on a daily basis. People share:

Views, news, fact and opinion…

Photos…

Music…

Video…

The only difference is that with Social Media this takes place on-line. The internet is the medium through which information is delivered to and shared between people.

SUMMARY: Social Media is all about sharing and conversing on-line. It’s all about interaction with other people.

Or as a wise man once said: It’s the two-way Web.

In my next post I will be looking at the various ways people who use Social Media share information.

WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY THE PHRASE ‘SOCIAL MEDIA’? HAVE I MISSED ANYTHING OUT?

Published in Blog
  • tombrichards
    So is 'social media' exclusively about the Internet, then? I guess both of the definitions for 'social' and 'media' were a bit wider-reaching. But when they come together and we speak of 'social media' we are not speaking of every act of communication through every medium, but specifically the communication that occurs through the multiple mediums provided by the Internet? I guess this is good to be speaking of something substantial, otherwise the whole notion of 'social media' can stay very abstract.

    I guess we can't ever really isolate 'social' interaction and the 'medium' through which it is carried out. The social impulse communicates itself through a medium that spreads a social impulse to the people that are addressed which leads to the creation of more media to communicate further social impulses. It's kind of a never-ending and unstoppable process.
  • Hey Tom

    It's not just about the internet - but it is about media (content and channel) that is two way and connected - the internet being the outright winner here.

    Social Media is essentially social and media. When people say that talking face to face without a medium is social media, they are just describing social.

    I've got a model to illustrate this: http://scottgould.me/the-social-broadcast-matrix/
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