What is social media?

Social media is 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). –Wikipedia

If you are a living and breathing human being, it is highly likely that you are very familiar with the term social media and are also probably sick of it. I remember when the Ad Tech Conference was here in San Francicsco over a month ago…I couldn’t escape the term for the life of me. The social media environment changes so quickly and the pace of change is so fast that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for professionals to keep up, let alone small business owners like myself who have other things to do and worry about.

It was incredible to see what happened this past week after the disputed Iranian presidential election results. Authorities shut down text messaging, blocked Facebook and YouTube and cut off the BBC Persian-language service, but they forgot about Twitter. The simple microblogging service enabled Iranians to tell the world what was happening on the streets of Tehran in real time, and also served as a vital means of communication among themselves.

I’ve been told to focus on the Big 3: Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. Personally, this is all I can manage for the time being and think these are the most valuable social networks out there. I used to be an avid myspacer when I was younger, and do have a personal facebook page, but it has now all turned to business. It’s becoming more and more apparent each day that if you don’t keep up with this “social media era” per say, you will be left behind. The 90’s were about the World Wide Web of information and the power of linking web pages. “Today it’s about the World Wide Web of people and the power of the social graph. Online networks are fundamentally changing the way we live, work, and interact.” – Clara Shih, The Facebook Era.

For businesses, the opportunites are invaluable. Some of you may not like this, but it’s about turning strangers into friends and friends into customers.-@Bradleywill How often do you buy something from someone that you don’t know, like, or trust? Truth is, often sales are made after a relationship is established. Social media has already helped me source new business opportunities, target marketing messages, and transform communication with my prospects.

I’m still learning and have a feeling this is going to be a very long course that may never end. I’m learning all the rules on facebook and twitter etiquette (aka twitequette), reading books, blog’s, and PDF’s on the subject matter. I’m learning how to build my networks, community, and brand. I’m trying to create valuable content within my industry to engage others that are in my industry, and get my message across. I’m hoping that if I build up my networks enough on all these sites, the word of mouth referral process will take effect and I will never have to make awful sales calls again;)

With that said, hop on the bandwagon if you’re not already…

Become a fan of ABCey Events on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, and Join my network on Linked In

“Social media means consumers have been given a larger seat at the table. And they’re never going back.” -@bobinmotion