Social Media - What Is It?

See also: Social Media Marketing for Business

Hopefully by now everyone knows what the internet is, everyone has an email account and likely everyone has used a Google search at least once in their lives.  Beyond this basic world of online click and search, there is a new trend: social media.

Traditionally consumers have used the internet to perform basic tasks such as searching content, reading news, watching shows, purchasing items, etc…  The new online trend is to use platforms to share and discuss online content in an instantaneous and collaborative environment – this is social media.

Social media has many different forms: websites that host blogging, social networking, photo sharing and wikis are just a few of the examples.  Unlike traditional media which is typically one source of output (such as the newspaper, radio, tv) reaching a large audience, social media is multiple sources of output (numerous interlinking websites and collaborators) reaching a large audience.  This large audience has the ability to instantaneously comment, respond and in the case of corporate social media, hopefully purchase the advertised product.

Which social media forum is the best?  Well that depends on who you are, how old you are, and whether you are looking for a personal or professional site.  In the constantly changing online environment Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram are amongst the biggest social media platforms while numerous sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, Google+, Pinterest, and Tumblr, to name a few, also exist.

Tips on Writing a Blog