Social Media???!!!??? – April 2, 2008

Social media is a term that gets thrown around more than a midget in a frat house. What exactly is this social media? Is it user generate content? Is it a social network? Is it YouTube? I’m here to end the conversation. After a brief chat with Jeremiah Owyang last week, I’ve confirmed my suspicions about the definition of social media.

Ready……….

Social Media is participatory media - content that is created by users and intended to entertain and inform the public in the confines of designated spaces.

That’s it! So basically social media is any of the following: blogs, wikis, video, wall postings, podcasts, social networks, pictures, Internet forums, message boards, etc. See the picture for some specific examples.

So why are people participating in social media? Well there are several reasons, but these are the most prominent:

- To express oneself (Flickr or Yahoo Live)

- Persuaded by a behavioral or emotional trigger (Join MySpace)

- Because they were influenced by someone else (“poked”)

- There was a deep amount of content to wade around in (YouTube)

- It was easy, only one click away (Leave a Comment)

- It had a level of novelty or utility (Stumble Upon)

I’ll be posting a presentation to SlideShare later about Web 2.0 and how it plays into social media and marketing/advertising. Stay posted. I’ve got to present it to my teams first, then you guys can get it.