Notes of Introduction of Social Media

Social media is the media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and Web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. 

In nutshell, Social media describes websites that allow users to share content, media, etc. 

Social media networking is really important for people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. 

Social interaction has been always considered as human to human interaction. On Internet, social interaction indicates a phenomenon through which you can collaborate, learn and share your ideas and opinions with others on Web. People are increasingly demanding the convenience of interacting with others in a self-paced environment where they can contribute effectively. 

Components of Social Media

Social media can be said to have three components: 

• Concept (art, information, or meme)
• Media (physical, electronic, or verbal)
• Social interface (intimate direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print

Common Forms of Social Media

There are many forms in which we can describe social media but the main and common forms of social media are: 

• Concepts, slogans, and statements with a high memory retention quotient, that excite others to repeat.
• Grass-Roots direct action information dissemination such as public speaking, installations, performance, and demonstrations.
• Electronic media with 'sharing', syndication, or search algorithm technologies (includes Internet and mobile devices). 
• Print media, designed to be re-distributed. 

Examples of Social Media Tools

Some examples of social media software applications include: 

• Publication Tools:
• Blogs: WordPress, Typepad, Blogger etc.
• Wikis: Wikipedia, Wikia, Wetpaint etc.
• Citizen Journalism Portals: Digg, Newsvine, Livejournal etc.
• Sharing Tools: 
• Videos Sharing: YouTube, Metacafe, Blip.tv etc.
• Picture Sharing: Flickr, Zooomr, Smugmug etc.
• Links Sharing: Digg, delicious, StumbleUpon etc.
• Music Sharing: Last.fm, Pandora, Odeo etc. 
• Social Networking:
• Social Network: Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 etc.
• Niche Social Network: LinkedIn, Boompa, Ning etc.
• Micro Publication: Twitter, Seesmic, Plurk etc.

[The notes above were taken from Anders Ross' blog entry@iShift]