The Blog Herald logo

  • News
  • Features
  • Guides
  • Editorial
  • Interviews
  • Blog Tips
  • More
    • General
    • Blog Conferences
    • Contact Us
    • Terms & Privacy
    • Disclaimer

Define Social Media

October 26, 2008 by Lorelle VanFossen

As I described in Learning Blogging and Social Media in Hawaii, I learned a lot about the future of the web at the Social Media Club Workshop in Honolulu this past week as part of Hawaii Geek Week.

One of the biggest problems facing those who consult and train others in social media, as well as business that need to know about social media, is defining social media. What is it?

Many simplify the concept and say that it is Twitter and blogs, especially blog conversations and comments. Others offer complicated answers that have to do with building your online identity and brand.

The last few workshops and conferences I’ve been to, including Podcamp and WordCamp Hawaii, battled with the definition of social media and the role it plays in today’s business and economy.

What does social media mean to you? How do you use it? What is it doing for you? How do you define social media?

Exploring Social Media Series

  • Define Social Media
  • Exploring Social Media Series
  • Social Media Tools
  • It Starts With One
  • Start With the Basics
  • One Size Does Not Fit All
  • The Motrin Moment Impact of Social Media
  • Social Means Personal
  • Do You Know How to Use the Social Web?
  • Establishing Your Online Credentials
  • Learning About Social at the Goodwill Outlet
  • Shortening Those Links
  • The Power of the Link Needs Content
  • Promoting Your Link Backs to You
  • Live Citizens Press Conference on Twitter
  • Measuring the Curse of Social Media Tools
  • Defining Twitter Demographics and Interests
  • Twitter Adoption Stats and Demographics
  • Exploring Social Media: LeVar Burton Passionate About Social Media
  • Twestivals in 175+ Cities Around the World Thursday, February 12, 2009
  • Do You Need The Best Things in Life to be Free?
  • Twitter Wins $35 Million in Funding
  • Exploring Social Media: Twitter is Broken, Now What?
  • Exploring Social Media: Future Tweets with TweetLater
  • Exploring Social Media: Time for a Web App Matching Service

Author: Lorelle VanFossen

The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.

Related

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: blog comments, exploring social media, exploring social media tools, hawaii, hawaii geek week, online identity, social blog, Social Media, social media club, social media workshop

Like & Share this Article

Comments

  1. Stephen Downes says

    October 26, 2008 at 8:21 am

    Any media that involves the participation of more than one person.

  2. Cass says

    October 26, 2008 at 12:23 pm

    I like Cone’s definition in its 2008 “Business in Social Media” study – “technology facilitated dialogue among individuals or groups, such as blogs/microblogs, forums, wikis, content sharing, social networking, social bookmarking and social gaming.” Basically it’s about enabling conversation and dialogue :)

  3. Simon Young says

    October 26, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    My favourite definition comes from the presentation “What the f*** is social media?”. It says social media is “people talking to each other online”. It’s elegant, and able to scale as the individual technology inevitably changes.

    In our consultancy iJump, we say it’s called social media because it’s social (like conversation) and it’s media (like broadcast), and then riff on the nuances of those two aspects.

    We also break the tools down into things that help you Create, Connect, Share, Define and Collaborate. But of course there are always overlaps.

  4. MikeTheBee says

    October 26, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    This question is worthy of some thought, and while I think, I will say that you might be mentioning the ‘good Hawaiin’ life too much for those of us entering a S.A.D. winter in Europe.

  5. Alistair Shaw says

    October 26, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    Tools that help connect people.

  6. Lorelle VanFossen says

    October 26, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    ooooh, Alistair, I like your definition. I like all of these definitions. But MikeTheBee is right. We have to really think about this because social media isn’t a shoe that fits every foot.

    As for the Hawaii good life, that’s part of the week long celebration of Hawaii Geek Week (do we need an S.A.D. European Geek Week? :D ) that I’ve been privileged to be a part of, learning about social the Aloha way. We have so much to learn from Hawaii when it comes to social on the ground so we can take it to the virtual and my head is exploding with everything I learned this past busy week.

    So what does Social Media mean to YOU?

  7. Roxanne Darling says

    October 26, 2008 at 9:46 pm

    I think social media is simple – any communication (the media part: blogs, twitter, podcasts, video, etc) that allows people do with each other (the social part – chatting back and forth, not issuing one-way soliloquies). [Wow – thank heaven for spell check on that one!]

    I must say I didn’t witness any “battles” in the midst of all the aloha of sharing and excitement of learning! Hehe, I’m just sayin’

    @MikeTheBee – I understand the S.A.D. season – it is part of why I moved to Hawaii, and can confirm that for me the sunshine factor does make a difference.

    I invite you to join us at Beach Walks with Rox, our mostly daily video. I would have thought envy would be a dominant experience, but most viewers from cold northern countries tell me they actually get a mental boost from the visual and virtual sunshine plus the sound of the waves. Your experience may vary; we’d love for you give us a try.

  8. Sandeep Arora says

    October 27, 2008 at 3:25 am

    Here is a interactive FLASH defining Social Media.

    http://vizedu.com/2008/10/social-media-explained-visually/

  9. Alistair Shaw says

    October 27, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Sandeep, thanks, really good. Great slide where it describes the fusion of technology and human behaviour.

  10. VlogHog says

    October 27, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    Any website that promotes social interaction. Also, one where REAL people are active with one another not spammers.

    I use Stumble Upon and MyBlogLog to try to connect to like minded bloggers and find potential traffic to my blog.

    To date, I have use them to find sites such as TechCrunch and Small Fish Big Money to help learn how to blog correctly.

    Sometimes you have to weed through the spam to find what you’re looking for.

  11. Beth Kanter says

    October 29, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    With nonprofits, we’ve defined as:
    Using the Internet to instantly collaborate, share information, and have a conversation with people about ideas, causes, or programs we care about.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Top Posts

  • 30 Blog Disclaimer Examples
  • 15 Great Sites for Legal, Free Content
  • 19 Free Email Templates for Your 2021 Newsletter
  • 5 Court Cases Where Social Media Played a Part
  • 6 Domain Buying Strategies to Skyrocket Your Digital Revenues
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

The Blog Herald © 2021 Splashpress Media