Social What?

A lot of people think social networks are the same as social media, but… that is not true. Social media can be described as online platforms where users create and share content with other people. This makes social media a dynamic and up-to-date tool.

Social media is divided in a few specified areas, and just one of them are the social networks, which are for instance Hyves, Facebook and LinkedIn.

The image below shows all the categories (publish, share, discuss, social networks, microblog, livestream, livecast, virtual worlds, social games and massive multiplayer online) within the social media landscape and some examples.

In my opinion, one of the most important strengths of social media is the fact that content can be spread very quickly. This is the so called “snowball effect”. It all starts with just one person who spreads some content. When his connections like it, they will be the ones who spread it further and further. There is a theory, the six degrees of separation, which claims that everyone on our planet is connected through a network with six levels. So, this should mean that one needs only six social media connections to spread content and reach the whole world with it.

Thus, a lot can be done with social media, but don’t forget it is more than just the social networks…