The Social Media Dictionary
Posted by Mark Campanale on Mon, Jul 20, 2009 @ 10:16 AM
By Andrea Little, Marketing Intern
Social Media - it's a term you most likely hear every day. But do you really know what it means?
This short list is meant to clear up basic questions about what social media is, and what the various platforms are that Triumvirate uses. If you have any questions that were not answered here, email me at alittle@triumvirate.com.
Blog (abbreviation for "weblog")
• A frequently updated online journal usually written in a casual, conversational tone.
• A place to publicly share thoughts and ideas.
• Usually displayed in reverse chronological order, with more recent entries at the top of the page.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
• A global social networking site.
• Over 200 million unique users.
• Allows users to customize their own profile page with personal information varying from Favorite Music to Educational History. Users can "friend" each other and write on each other's profile "wall" or message board.
• Important features include uploading and sharing of photos and videos, instant messaging, and thousands of available specialized applications.
• Similar network: Myspace.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
• A global social networking site for professionals.
• Over 40 million unique users.
• Allows users to customize their own profile page with work history and areas of expertise. Users can "connect" with other users and form professional networks.
• Important features include getting recommendations from other users and joining "groups." For example, Triumvirate has a "Troubled Waters" group, meant to connect LinkedIn users who attended our roundtable on the subject.
Social Networking
• The platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) and tools that people use to "publish, converse, and share content online" (blogs.aquent.com).
Social Marketing
• Using social media to directly interact with customers and humanize marketing efforts.
• "Social Marketing eliminates the middlemen...provides a unique opportunity to have a direct relationship with customers and to both listen and talk" (Bryan Weiner, "Social Marketing Playbook").
Social Media
• The content shared through online platforms including text, video, images, photos, audio, and other media.
Twitter (www.twitter.com)
• A global social networking site.
• Over 23 million unique users.
• Allows users to create their own username and send brief updates (less than 140 characters). User profile pages include a short user biography that sums up interests and topics that the person may "tweet" about.
• Users can "follow" other users. This simply means that user wants to see the other user's updates or "tweets." Users can also reply to or repeat the updates of users they are following, thus starting a conversation.
YouTube (www.youtube.com)
• A global social networking site centered on video sharing.
• Over 16.6 million visitors a day, with 20 hours of video uploaded every minute.
• Allows visitors to watch, comment, and share videos. Visitors can create free accounts, subscribe to their favorite channels, friend other users, and upload their own content.