Definition of Terms

Okay, this is for the new kids. If you know social networking, skip this one.

But if you’re new, you might want to understand some basic terminology.

Social networking – This is a verb, an activity that describes the use of websites and social media to find and connect with individuals who may share your interests. These interests could include professions, hobbies, health, entertainment, likes, dislikes, politics, charities, sports—just about anything that you’d talk about with others at a networking event or the water cooler. The range of interests goes from the super-serious to the downright frivolous.

Social media – This is a plural noun, and it is the over-arching term for online mechanisms that facilitate social networking. The core of these mechanisms—blogging, video posting, audio posting, virtual world gaming, etc.—are important, but not the key definition of social media. For it to truly be social, the medium in question must provide a way for people to connect. For instance, if you can write a blog, but there is no mechanism to leave comments or interact with the author—or other readers, for that matter—you can challenge whether it is a social medium at all. The “medium” is there, but the “social” is not.

Web 2.0 – This is the so-called “state of the art” of social media. It refers to the advanced capabilities of the media, and we’ll discuss some of those later. Sure, you can think of things like video—now a rather simple capability—but it refers more to things like mashups (combining data sources to provide something new altogether), Short Messaging Service (SMS), texting and virtual worlds.