What are social media? Are they the same websites we used to call social networks? Why did we start calling them social media? 

5 Questions About Social Media

1. WHAT ARE SOCIAL NETWORKS?

A new type of website. Or just a new word. "Community" was the word used to describe The WELL and later Geo Cities.  "Web2.0"  –  coined  by  O'Reilly  to launch a conference and the idea that the web was back after the Bubble – was used for the first  generation  of  "new"  services,  like  Flicker, del.icio.us  and  Last.fm.  But when Friendster, MySpace and  then  Facebook  and  Twitter came along, they were all immediately called "social networks". The notion of social networks comes from academia. In the 1920s, the idea that the world was "shrinking" due to the ever-increasing   connectedness  of  human  beings  became popular.  The  Hungarian  Frigyes  Karinthy  went a step further and said that any two individuals  could  be  connected  through  at  most five acquaintances  –  hence  the  famous  6  degrees  of  separation  –  starting  from  their  "social network".

2. WHAT ARE SOCIAL MEDIA?

 social-media-questions

Social  media  are  what  social  networks start  being  called  the  moment  investors  start thinking about how to recoup the money they invested in these ventures. Please bear in mind that the term “media” is not neutral. First,  it  implies  the  idea  that  everything (“content”, as they call it) is created – even if it were created by users, in which case they call it “user-generated content” (UGC) – so that it will be “monetized”, rather than “just for fun”. Second, it implies the long-held idea that every place  is  a  place  where  companies  are welcome, even if that were not the case. And it implies ads or, in any case, paying for visibility of some kind. As we shall see, this is exactly where social media are headed: ad land.

3. WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?

According  to  Wikipedia,  social  media marketing is: "The process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites, with efforts aimed at creating content that at ‐ tracts interest and encourages readers to share it  with  their  friends  across  their  social  net ‐ works".  That would  make  a  lot  of  sense, wouldn’t it? Be  interesting!  Share  useful  information. Have an original point of view. Don't lie. Admit  your  faults  and  your  shortcomings. Recognize  that  there's  life  beyond  whatever your product does. Especially if it's tooth pastor mayonnaise. Do these things and, if you're lucky, people  will  talk  about  you  and  spread  the  word. Oh, if only it were that simple! It is, or at least it could be. But look around, and it’s clear that there’s not a lot of that going on.

4. ARE COMPANIES DOING IT RIGHT?

No, they're not. I see exactly the opposite of  what Wikipedia  calls  social  media  marketing. Not  companies  earning  traffic  to  their websites  because  they  do  interesting  things that  eventually  get  shared  on  social  media, but  rather  companies  that  send  their  customers away from their websites and over to Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Pinterest and Vimeo and Vine etc. But obsessively telling people who are visiting  your  website  “We’re  on  Facebook” or “Follow  us  on  Twitter”  must  be  the  dumbest thing of the decade. They’re  already  on  your  website.  Why send  them  away?  Does  anyone  in  marketing really think that their big and boring companies will magically look cool and hip on social media?

5. WHY ARE COMPANIES SENDING PEOPLE OVER TO SOCIAL MEDIA?

First,  because  most  companies  don’t  like their customers, whom they usually call “consumers”,  and  don’t  want  them  bumming around on their web properties, leaving comments or asking questions on their pixel-perfect websites.Second, because most companies are boring  and  would  have  a  hard  time  doing  social media  marketing  as  described  by Wikipedia,i.e. in being interesting and getting their customers to spread the word about them. Third,  because  of  the  hype  cycle:  they're told  that  it’s  a  new  world,  that  things  will never  be  the  same  again,  that  it’s  land-grabbing  time,  and  that  you  need  to  get  in  early and  make  a  killing.  The  same  nonsense  we heard  when  the  pundits  were  extolling  the wonders  of  the  New  Economy,  in  case  you forgot. Which you probably did.

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• Social media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.
• The 'social' part: refers to interacting with other people by sharing information with them and receiving information from them. The 'media' part: refers to an instrument of communication, like the internet (while TV, radio, and newspapers are examples of more traditional forms of media). 
• Social media refers to websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time.

Thank you very much.