THE SOCIAL MEDIA

In this era,hundreds of millions of people use applications such as facebook as their

primary tool to link with friends,relatives and increasingly even businesses.As well all
know,facebook is a prominent example of social media.
Social media is considered as the largest area within web 2.0 applications.Social media
facilitates the practice of social networking and is based on the premise that people are
profoundly communal and have a need to interact using voice,gesture,and written language.

Definition of social media

Social media is a term used to describe a variety of web-based
platforms,applications,and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one
another,create,share,or exchange information,ideas,and pictures/videos in virtual communities
and networks online.
It is described as websites and applications dedicated to forums,microblogging,social
networking,social bookmarking,social curation,and wikis.

EXAMPLES
Facebook Twitter And other sites
YouTube Digg
Del.icio.us Blogs

SEVEN FUNCTIONAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

1.Identity- this block denotes the extent to which users reveal their identities in a social media
setting. This can be included disclosing information such as name,age,gender,profesion,location
and also information that poetrays users in certain ways.
2.conversations- this block describes how users communicate with other users in a social media
setting. Many social media sites are designed primarily to facilitate conversations among
individuals and group.
3.sharing- it isthe block that defines the way users exchange,distributes,and receive content.
The terms ‘social’ often implies that exchanges between people are crucial. Sociality is about
the objects that mediate these ties between people- the reasons why they meet online and
associate with each other.
4.presence- this block represents the range to which users can know if other users are
accessible. It includes knowing where others are,in the virtual world and/or in the real world
and whether they are available.
5.relationships-the block that shows how the users can be related to other users. Two or more
users have some form of association that leads them to converse,share objects of
sociality,meet up,or simply just list each other as a friends or a fan.
6. reputation-it characterizes the scope to which usres can identify the standing of
others,including themeselves,in a social media setting. Reputation can have different meanings
on social media platforms but in most cases,it is a matter of trust.
7. groups- it is the block that shows the range on how users can form communities and sun-
communities. The more ‘social’ a network becomes,the bigger the group of friends.followers
and contacts.

EXAMPLES OF PROMINENT SOCIAL MEDIA

●FACEBOOK is a popular free social networking wedsite that allows registered users to create
profiles,share ideas,upload photos and videos,send messages,and keep in touch with
friends,family,and colleagues.
●TWITTER is a free microblogging sercvice that allows registered members to broadcast short
post called tweets. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users tweets by
using multiple platforms and devices.
●GOOGLE +(pronounced google plus)is a google’s social networking project,designed to
replicate the way people interact offline more closely than is the case in other social
networking services.
●LINKEDIN is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The
goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document netoworkof peolple
they know and trust professionally.
●REDDIT is a social news website and forum where stories are socially curated and promoted
by site members. The site is composed of hundreds of subcommunities, known as “subdredits”.
Each subreddits has a specific topic such as technology, politics, or music.
●PINTEREST is a social curation website for sharing and categorizing images found online. This
requires brief description but the main focus of the site is visual. Clicking on an images will take
you to the original source. For example, if you click on a picture of a pair shoes, you might be
taken to a site where you can purchase them.

WHAT IS MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA?

Mobile social media refers to the combination of mobile devices and social media. This
is a group of mobile marketing applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-
generated content. Due to the fact that mobile social media run on mobile devices,they differ
from traditional social media by incorporating new factors such as the current location of the
user (location sensitivity) or the time delay between sending and receiving message (time
sensitivity).

FOUR TYPES OF MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATIONS

●space-timers (location and time sensitive)-exchange of message with relevance for one
specific location at one specific point in time(e.g.facebook places,foursquare).
●space-locators (only location sensitive)-exchange of message,with relevance for one specific
location,which are tagged to a certain place and read later by others
●Quick-timers (only time sensitive)-transfer of traditional social media applications to mobile
devices to increase immediacy(e.g.posting twitter message or facebook status updates)
●slow-timer (neither location,nor time sensitive)-transfer of traditional social media
applications to mobile devices (e.g.watching a youtube or reading a wikipedia entry).