So what is Social Media and why do I need it?

Here are some examples…

Really what is Social Media?

Social media is online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content(UGC) or consumer-gernerated media(CGM).

Huh?Basically think of it this way. Social Media is also called Web 2.0. Web 1.0 is what we are all used to and is one way. You put the information on your website and people view it. Web 2.0 everyone is able to add information.

Do I control it?You do somewhat, but not completely… but this is the point of Web 2.0. The online world controls the direction and content.

Examples include social blogs, weblogs, wikis, forums, pictures, video, chat rooms, instant messaging, music sharing, wall-posting, and even email can be considered Social Media.

The big boys in the social department…

New comers growing quickly…

Where do I start?Start here… Twitter

Twitter is by far the simplest. What to do:

•Setup account with a user name•Add picture and background•Add URL•Add a description (160 characters)•Tweet•Re Tweet•Follow •Get followed

What is?@www.tinyurl.comTwitPic

Then to…

Simple to load pictures and picture albums. You can then post a caption to your pictures.

Send a link from your Twitter account.

What makes it Web 2.0?

People can view and comment on your pictures.

Where to next?

Why?

307,100,000+ users is good enough for me!

What is different?•Much more…

•Applications•Postings •Picture albums•On and on…

Join your business as a “Page” which will allow you to have “fans”.

So why Social Media?

•Engaged customers/members/clients•Exposure to so much•Sense of community

Is this going away or here to stay?

In December 2006 Facebook had 12 million users. By October 2007 it grew to 47 million. Today over 307.1 million use Facebook. Many check Facebook before their email!

Twitter grew faster than any other Website in May 2009, when its unique visitors rose almost 1,500 percent year-on-year to 18.2 million, according to Nielsen Online.

LinkedIn went from 19 million to 32 million in just one year. It now has over 90,000 groups!

NOT LIKELY…

In January 2009 the 100 million US YouTube members viewed over 14.8 billion videos!

Get involved!

There is a solution for just about everything out there.

Feel free to email me jason.r.diehl@gmail.com or visit your local www.google.com