Numerous Web sites and dictionaries offer their own definitions for the term social media. If you find yourself with a few spare moments, you may want to use Google to search for definitions.
For Edventures in Social Media, the term refers to various sites and services where the users create the content. The service is the social media platform; the content is made up of entries from everyday users… folks like you and me.
It is important to remember that even though you and I create the content on social media sites, we are not really the customers for those sites; we use their sites, and in doing so, we provide the content that makes people want to visit those sites. The real customers for social media sites are the advertisers who want to grab our attention and sell us something.
Major social media platforms
The major examples are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Blogs, and so many others. Even services like TripAdvisor and Yelp are becoming quasi-social media platforms.
What is the difference?
Let’s start with just two of the majors. The differences can be quite involved.
Facebook began on college campuses and quickly became a platform for college students to connect with one another and make friends. Through the early years, Facebook opened itself up to larger groups of people, and now anyone is welcome to set up a profile, and many younger uses deem it uncool and have moved on to other platforms.
Facebook is the long-time biggest player. Today it is often the social media platform where people first dip their toes to test the waters, largely because it is one of the easiest to use. Its massive popularity makes it the platform Edventures in Social Media uses for examples.
Twitter is referred to as a microblogging site. It allows uses to craft messages of up to 140 characters. As Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Brevity is also the soul of Twitter. Enforcing the character limit in Twitter can be challenging, but generally results in better-crafted messages. Similar to the restrictions of a Haiku poem, Twitter messages can become brilliant because of, not despite, the limitations.
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