I Too Hate The Term ‘Social Media’ – But Here’s A Definition

Josh Bancroft is starting to hate the term social media. I too feel like John, that it’s the most overused and abused term these days. Well, then as an Internet Professional with 11 years of experience, can I attempt to define it myself. At least I can try.

John, Steve, Robert & others ….please correct me if I am wrong. I will spam you on twitter when I am ready with my post

Definition of Social. (Oxford)

Social a. 1) Living in an organized community; of society or it’s organization.

Definition of Society (Oxford)

Society n. organized community; system of living in this; people of the higher social classes; mixing with other people; group organized for a common purpose.

Definition of Media (Oxford)

Media  see medium, – n.pl. the ~, newspapers and broadcasting as conveying information to the public.

What is Social ?

Anything associated with a group of people can be termed social. So the traditional producers of the mainstream media are not outside the scope of society. Though we like to blame the politicians and media for everything, they are the part of the very society that we live in. With that scope anything would be social media. Wait a minutre….

No, sorry !!! that can’t be. Because there are two ‘social’ words in this world, when scientists and anthropologists use it, it becomes a technical word and everyone is in it. But when a man on the street uses it in his (any form of ) expression, it means ‘social’ but ‘social’ which has ‘me’ in it or ‘people like me’ in it.

What is Media ?

Media is produced by two types of people Professionals & Amateurs. The sleepy MSM guys have always worried about ‘the generation’ or ‘the creation’ of the media, but have conveniently forgotten ‘the platform’. The harmless looking wordpress, drupal, wikimedia and so many others online platforms are the real social culprits. But also remember… anything amateur is not social and anything social is not amateur.

Now lets look at the definition of Social Media @ wikipedia:

Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning, as people share their stories, and understandings.

Sorry to say this is not the definition of Social Media. By this term even any form of Online Community can be termed as a Social Media. Any user generated content is not equal to social media. And if this is the definition of social media then anything and everything is a social media.

• Is publishing agent like wordpress – a social media ? By the above definition it is.
• If I produce random ‘Lorem Ipsums’ on my blog – is it a social media – By above definition it is.
• If there are no visitors to my blog, have a started becoming social or am I the part of social media – by above definition it is.
• Are sites like Digg or Delicious mean social media, By above definition it is.

Definition of Social Media.

Remember two things the definition should not just include the wide scope of ‘social’ but also the limited scope of the ‘media’

"Social Media is an alternative to mainstream media powered by public through social participation and interaction to produce content in various traditional & evolving forms and/or formats." - Santosh Maharshi’s very private definition (not yet socially accepted)

Now many of you won’t agree with me, so please feel free to discuss and dissect my definition. Let’s try to find a meaning. Why ? Because what’s the use of defining at all when you can put everything from twitter, to faebook, to wikipedia to youtube all on the same ‘social media’ table.

I have even tried to apply my definition to some of the categories :

• Online Answers – it’s an online knowledge community not social media. But still it gives threat to ‘Ask The Experts’ columns in newspapers
• Social Bookmarks – Not a Social Media – it’s social bookmarking service and act only as the distributor.
• Blog – When I am talking about my life and my friends, it’s personal and not a substitute of media . Only when I start entertaining or informing people and start getting visitors on my site then it becomes social media. So by my definition, a blog with no visitor is not yet social and not yet social media.
• Micro Blogging – Sorry it’s not a social media it’s a social media distributor and opinion agent. It’s like a cafe where you discuss today’s top stories.
• Social Networks – Social Network are a big platform threat to Media, it’s trying to become everything – it’s a cafe where you can publish and discuss both. So if you are just friending, it’s not a social media but when you are friending, entertaining and informing – it’s a social media
• Wikipedia - Yes it’s a social media. It has not just replaced the traditional encyclopedia publishing but it’s also a valid alternative source of information for dictionaries, newspapers, magazines and various other publication. No other web venture has displaced so many traditional publishers (/media)
• Online Video Sharing – Yes it’s a social media. You get entertained and informed that too socially. But guess what, if your newspaper starts publishing all the stories in video format – is it a social media – NO. When you start publishing all your recorded TV episodes, is it a social media NO.

Now I am really dissecting ‘online video sharing site’, let’s have a look. And I need just two more examples…

• Online Video Sharing site – without any social features (comments, forward this, tags, email this, etc, etc) -Open to public for posting. It is still Social Media if it informs or entertains as it would be a valid alternative to mainstream media
• Online video sharing site – with all the social features (comments, forward this, tags, email this, et, etc) – but only journalists can post their videos. Sorry this is not a social media site

Open Request To All :

You may be mad at me due to usage of ‘alternative to mainstream media’ or not being able to include Twitter, Digg or any forum or any blog or in the ‘social media’ circuit. But I have used the stricter version on purpose, otherwise what’s the use of defining something which is anything a definition of social media which cannot be distinguished from others. At the same time I admit, this may not be 100% perfect, so please challenge my (limited) wisdom and thrash it like anything. I would be more than happy and open to modify, so that I also have the clarity and smartly answer this question when I am asked to.

Related posts:

1. Why Indian Non-Profits / Businesses are not using Social Media
2. Clark Harris’s [Silent Clark] Social Media Experiment
3. Social Media Statistics in UK 2010 by Simplyzesty
4. Digital water coolers and the mass media
5. Pew Report: Reputation Management and Social Media

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