Defining Social Media

Darika Ahrens

January 23rd 2009

Darika Ahrens

• darika@grapevine-consulting.com• Mobile: 07960 528 480• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/darika• Blog: www.grapevine-consulting.com• Twitter: www.twitter.com/darika• Skype: darika.ahrens

• http://www.slideshare.net/darika • http://friendfeed.com/rooms/westminster-uni-digital-pr

• http://delicious.com/darika

Defining Media

me·di·a 1 (md-) n. A plural of medium.

• a. A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.

• b. media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the communications industry and profession.

Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/medium

Media is changingTRADITIONAL MEDIA NEW MEDIA

Mediafragmentation

Mass consumer media Consumers become influencers

Niche audiences

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SOCIAL MEDIA?

Traditional Media definition

me·di·a 1 (md-) n. A plural of medium.

• a. A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.

• b. media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the communications industry and profession.

Traditional Media definition

me·di·a 1 (md-) n. A plural of medium.

• a. A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.

• b. media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the communications industry and profession.

Defining Social Media

communication

social elements

WHAT ARE THE “SOCIAL” ELEMENTS?

Social ElementsCOMMUNITY• Interaction

– 1st person, comments, editable• Collaboration

– Wikis, groups• Dialogue

– Comments, links, [Updating articles],

SHARING• Public or Group Collation / Bookmarking• Speed• Creative Commons

DEMOCRATISATION• Creation

– Self-publishing• Non-commercial / Transparency

Traditional Media definition

me·di·a 1 (md-) n. A plural of medium.

• a. A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.

• b. media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the communications industry and profession.

Media is changingTRADITIONAL MEDIA NEW MEDIA

Mediafragmentation

Mass consumer media Consumers become influencers

Niche audiences

“...for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital

democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's

Person of the Year for 2006 is you.”

Source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html

They also said...

“Sure, it's a mistake to romanticize all this any more than is strictly necessary. Web 2.0

harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube

make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the

obscenity and the naked hatred.”

IS IT A GOOD THING HAVING NON-PROFESSIONALS BROADCASTING?

FOR...

• YouTube’s Citizen News Channelhttp://youtube.com/citizennews

• CNN’s citizen journalism effortshttp://www.ireport.com/index.jspa

• Trusthttp://www.reviewcentre.com http://www.trustedplaces.com

• Passionhttp://www.catwalkqueen.tv http://www.shoewawa.com/play_the_shoe_s/

• 22,000 e-mails and text messages• 300 photos - 50 within an hour of the first

bomb

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5142702.stm

7th July 2005

AGAINST...

http://andrewkeen.typepad.com/

• The internet as the “Wild West”

• “News aggregators like Digg.com let readers choose the best stories of the day. Citizen journalists and bloggers pursue their own stories and disseminate them for free on the Internet, bypassing the mainstream media altogether.”

Podcast Debate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=5&entry_id=9761

Perspective

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4774429.stm

Social media landscape

WebsitesPortals

ENGAGE / DEBATE

DISTRIBUTE / CONSUME

CREATE / SHARE

Blogs

Social networks

Content communities

MicrobloggingForums

Wikis

Communication “Channels”

WebsitesPortals

Blogs

Social networks

Content communities

MicrobloggingForums

Wikis

Communications “Platforms”

WebsitesPortals

Blogs

Social networks

Content communities

MicrobloggingForums

Wikis

Old meets new

Old meets new

Old meets new

Old meets new

Task

Find examples of:• A blog• A traditional media site with Social Media features• A wiki (not Wikipedia)• A niche community social network• A video community (not YouTube)

Optional: Share in our room on FriendFeedhttp://friendfeed.com/rooms/westminster-uni-digital-pr

THANK YOU!Find this presentation on Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/darika