What is Social Media?
What are its Basic Forms?
‘Social Media’ is a raging word which has been a common word among people these days. We are surrounded by social media be it on a computer or a mobile and it has become an integral part of the society. So what exactly is Social Media and who creates the buzz around social media????
Social media is a very broad term and accumulates several different types of media on the web such as videos, blogs, photos, networks, etc. It is a two-way communication channel which is totally different from the traditional one way media (newspaper, radio, TV). It lets everyone share content that other people can share, in turn, with their online connections. Its YOU that creates the buzz around social media.
“Social media envelopes web-based and mobile-based technologies to share and discuss information between organisations, communities and individuals”.
There are many categories of social media and many of the websites have become a mixtures of these categories. However lets look at the main categories:
1. Blogs: Blogs are the earliest form of social media and are still very popular form among many people. Blogs are websites where people write articles and share it for other people to read. Most of the blogs are written by individuals but many companies too have started have a separate blog. People from all over the world can comment on the posts and build connection with other users. Most popular blogs are WordPress,Tumblr and Blogger.
2. Collaborative websites: These sites rely on joint and simultaneous creation of content by many users and allow it to share it other users. Popular websites includeWikipedia, Slideshare, Prezi, Google Docs, etc.
3. Image-sharing: These websites allow the users to upload an image or view an image uploaded by others. It also allows to comment, like and share the content with others. Popular choices include Instagram, Flickr and Pinterest.
4. Micro-blogging: A shorter version of a blog, micro-blogs allow authors to share quick bites of information rather than long articles. One of the most popular and the only dominant website in this category is Twitter which limits its posts to 140 characters.
5. Social Networking : It is one of the most preferred social media categories by the users. A social network is an online service, platform or a website that allows users to create their own profile and develop relationships with other users. Interaction on these websites includes online communities and people share information through posts, links, photos, video and other multimedia. The best examples include Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.
6. Video-sharing: These websites allow the users to upload a video or view a video uploaded by others. It also allows to comment, follow people of the similar kind. Popular websites include YouTube, Vimeo and Blip.
7. Podcasts: These are websites which allow users to share their audio files with other users and allows them to comment, like and download the posts. Famous website for this category is Soundcloud.
Thus there are a lot of other websites which form a part of Social Media but the main categories and the popular websites buzzing around the past few years in Social Media have been listed above.
