What Is Social Media?

Social media is a broad term used to describe all sorts of services that people use while interacting with others. These different services can be used on computers and mobile phones. The vast majority are web-based, as opposed to using software that you install on your own computer. The key to social media is that it is interactive and requires community participation in order to operate effectively.

Forums and blogs have been part of the Internet for many years now, but more and more people are making use of them. Forums and blogs are not as instantaneous as other forms of social media, since generally people using them post a blog post or a forum post and then wait for a response from others.

Wikipedia is another type of social media in that it is collaborative and interactive. One person posts an encyclopedia entry on a topic and others are free to edit the content according to the information they have about the topic.

Games have also become a form of social media in that they offer interaction while people play. Games such as World of Warcraft and Runescape offer participants the opportunity to talk or chat with other players as they go about the game. Second Life is another example of games and social media combining.

Most people are familiar with Facebook and Twitter but may not recognize them as social media. These are the more instant forms of social media available, since followers and friends are able to see status updates in real time. Companies are using social media, particularly LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, to connect with their customer bases and advertise their products.