According to Wikipedia, social media

…is the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings.

But what this really means in layman’s terms: Social media is about socializing; it’s about finding various ways to connect with other people for the sole purpose of sharing information and building lasting relationships.

You’re Probably Using it Without Even Knowing it…

If you’re a subscribed reader to Create Business Growth, you may already know what social media entails and are perhaps an avid participant. However, for those of you who are just getting started and may not know or are a little unsure about what social media looks like, chances are that you have seen it and are probably using it without even knowing it! When it comes to social media, there is a plethora of information, programs and sites that are available at no more than just the click of a button.

Some of the more popular social media networking sites include:

• Facebook | social networking site where friends can connect & reunite; also used for sharing photos and videos
• Myspace | originally started as a way to discover new music; now a place where you can reunite with old friends as well as make new ones
• Digg | social bookmarking site where users can submit their favorite web sites and rate it by giving it “diggs”; The more diggs a site has, the better ranked it is
• StumbleUpon | popular social bookmarking site similar to Digg where users can “thumb up” or “thumb down” sites that other users submit or sites that are discovered.
• Flickr | photo sharing site where users submit original photography for others users to view and comment on

The Changing Face of Social Media

If you’re just beginning to get your feet wet with social media, all of the information out there can seem overwhelming. Just take a deep breath and take things one step at a time. For starters, it helps to remember what the three W’s of the World Wide Web are:

1. Who is your target audience? What is your niche?
   
2. What is it you are trying to draw readers’ attention to? Are you selling a product or service? Are you just looking for feedback?
3. Where are the best places or social media areas to focus on building relationships?

Social media is constantly changing and evolving. And while the primary goal of social media still focuses on connecting and building lasting relationships with other people, it seems to have shifted slightly. Social media is no longer just about talking to your best friends on Myspace and Facebook. It goes far beyond that. Today, social media is more centered around making connections with others in order to promote your own ideas (or services) with the hopes that someone else will find it useful. As you may have already seen, social media can and will continue to be one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, tools for driving traffic to websites and blogs.

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Tags: Marketing //