What is Social Media? Part 3.5

By David Tonen • September 19th, 2008

Ah, thank you, Google Reader! I love to organize the information inflow of my blog subscriptions with Google Reader. I was reading through my new items from the past couple days and came across a timely post by my new friend Dave at Hard Knox Life (a fellow WordPress Marketing Bloggers Network member) who has written a post on recently published information that clearly indicates that Social Media doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. I encourage you to read Dave’s post because it dove-tails so nicely with this series of posts I am in right now to define Social Media.

Now, for my clients (and future clients), as you begin to understand what Social Media is, you can see that the platform trends are continuing to move forward with rapid upward growth. This “social media thing” is not a fad…it is not going away…it is not just a temporary band-wagon. Please take the emergence of Social Media seriously. This is important for your organization. It is important for your customers. So, please keep learning about the technology and its platforms. Then begin experimenting with implementation strategies to see what works best for your organization and your market. I know you will see positive results (you’ll be glad you did)!

What is Social Media Part 4…

Comments(5) Media, Ministry, Social Media, Technology, Twitter
  • http://www.basvaneijk.nl Bas van Eijk

    As i said yesterday i have found some definitions

    this one is from http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_social_media_Nov_2007.pdf

    Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online media, which share most or all of the following characteristics:

    * Participation: social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is interested. It blurs the line between media and audience.

    * Openness: most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting, comments and the sharing of information. There are rarely any barriers to accessing and making use of content – password-protected content is frowned on.

    * Conversation: whereas traditional media is about „broadcast? (content transmitted or distributed to an audience) social media is better seen as a two-way conversation.

    * Community: social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue or a favourite TV show.

    * Connectedness: Most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people.

    This one i found in http://www.universalmccann.com/Assets/wave_3_20080403093750.pdf

    The definition
    “Online applications,
    platforms and media which
    aim to facilitate interaction,
    collaboration and the
    sharing of content”

  • http://www.MarketingIntegrity.ca David

    Thanks Bas for providing these definitions. I particularly like the “Connectedness” piece in the first definition, which is essentially what you just did for us in providing the links you provided to material, thoughts, ideas, and information located elsewhere on the web. Social media helps people piece together the web of knowledge…in a respectful, helpful, community-building way!

  • http://www.hardknoxlife.com Dave Knox

    Thanks for link love. Social Media is a powerful force that I think brands and businesses are just starting to understand. For years we perfected the art of “talking at” consumers in a one way dialogue of mass advertising. Suddenly we need to learn the skill of “talking with” people through social media. This is one hell of a scary thing for marketers/business owners but it is now a fact of life that isn’t going away.

  • http://www.basvaneijk.nl Bas van Eijk

    Hi David,

    We just had another meeting and we are going to make the iCrossmedia definition measurable. I will let you know the outcome.

    Also i think after reading some papers.
    2006 – UGC
    2007 – Social Media
    2008 – Conversation
    Looks like a social revolution if you ask me.

    What do u think?

  • http://www.MarketingIntegrity.ca David

    Thanks Bas, I look forward to the outcome of your research. Many can learn from your insights. I agree, we have a new social revolution breaking out. It is different than many would anticipate, but it is social none-the-less. Yet personally, as much as I am loving social media, I still prefer the face-to-face social interaction more!

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