Social Media

Social Media

Social media is an umbrella term that refers to all online communities or publications that foster and encourage conversation between users and allow them to develop, critique, publish, and interact with a vast array of online content.

Social media is an umbrella term that refers to all online communities or publications that foster and encourage conversation between users and allow them to develop, critique, publish, and interact with a vast array of online content.

Social media is an umbrella term that refers to all online communities or publications that foster and encourage conversation between users and allow them to develop, critique, publish, and interact with a vast array of online content.

Regardless, for a posting, program, community or publication to be considered social media, it must be online and it must be interactive.

Social media in general can be subdivided into a number of different categories: social sharing, social blogging, social bookmarking, social news, wikis, forum and opinion sites, and social networking.

Social media in general can be subdivided into a number of different categories: social sharing, social blogging, social bookmarking, social news, wikis, forum and opinion sites, and social networking.

While the underlying elements are indeed the same, the varying types of social media serve different purposes and offer a range of outlets of expression.

While the underlying elements are indeed the same, the varying types of social media serve different purposes and offer a range of outlets of expression.

Such sites enable self-expression, conversation, and socialization.

Such sharing sites are not limited to video and photo communities; many blogs and Web sites made with frameworks like Wordpress or Blogspot are also examples of social sharing sites.

Social bookmarking sites also allow for self expression and user interaction, as they provide an opportunity for users to tag or bookmark sites and pages that they find particularly interesting, humorous, striking, or informative.

Social bookmarking sites like Digg or Del.icio.us are examples of such sites that let users sift through a list of pages that have been deemed the best by the community of users as a whole.

The idea is to combine the knowledge of all users—often, as in the case of Wikipedia, a whole lot of users—into an easily accessed and navigable database.

Simply searching the Internet for terms like "the best hotel in Buenos Aires," isn't likely to yield an unbiased answer, as many hotels' Web sites will claim that they are the best.

A similar idea underlies shopping sites like Amazon.com, where users can post and read product reviews; the idea is to create an environment where users can read honest reviews—the good and the bad—so that they can make an informed decision about their purpose.

Such community-oriented sites foster a give-and-take relationship where community members can answer questions and in turn be rewarded with answers to their own questions in the event that they have them.

These popular behemoths are huge communities of users who join the site for the opportunity to express themselves; share stories, links, photos, and videos; and meet and keep in touch with other users.

There are a number of theories as to how the social media craze has become so pervasive.

Social media allows users to entertain themselves and virtually socialize, creating the illusion that they are not actually alone, but a part of a greater, densely populated community.