What Is Social Media?

Social media is a network of websites and tools based on user-generated content. The web is no longer the one-way communication tool it used to be. It is now transparent, community oriented and interactive. Sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are general social networking sites where users can create a profile, upload content and connect with other people.

Sites that offer news like Digg, where news is made popular by the people and Reddit, with user-generated news links.

Social Media Niches

There is a growing number of social media websites that cater to a specific niche. For example: All Recipes, a recipe exchange, a social network for people with MCS and LinkedIn, which is geared towards employment.

Social Bookmarking

Del.icio.us, which allows you to share and access your browser's bookmarks online.

Social Media is one of, if not the fastest growing form of media, moreso than radio, television or the internet itself. Social Media websites are seeing growth in the hundreds of millions and even billions in very short spans of time. Newspaper presses are shutting down in place of online news sites. Blogs are sprouting up everywhere.

It means the new marketing domain is now Social Media. 78% of consumers trust peer reviews and only 14% trust advertisements. There are people blogging about anything and everything, affecting the way consumers behave. If you want your business or project to be successful, you need to start networking with Social Media.

The internet is no longer the static, one-way information medium it once was. It is moving now towards actually being a global network of people with opinions, businesses, products, families, photos, questions, answers, friends, ideas.....

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