There has been quite a bit of buzz in the media recently about the world of social media. Have you’ve been feeling that even though you have some technology awareness you still can’t quite get a handle on things like Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and the rest? If you are new to the whole world of social media, as these web sites and services are known, there are a number of good starting points for an introduction.
Social Media Videos from CommonCraft
A company by the name of CommonCraft has done a series of “In Plain English” videos that can be accessed on YouTube and are very good at explaining a range of technology concepts. Their video entitled “Social Media in Plain English” is a good intro to social media using a small business analogy. In keeping with the social media theme Common craft also produced a video about the micro-blogging service Twitter entitled “Twitter in Plain English.” And in and earlier blog post and in our About section of the HTS Tech Tips blog I have referenced CommonCraft’s excellent “Blogs in Plain English” – a short introduction to blogs and why they matter.
Social Media In Plain English
Twitter In Plain English
Blogs In Plain English
Beyond video, much has also been written about social media. Instead of reinventing the wheel in describing the various web sites and services I’ll refer to a blog post written by Christopher Grant – “Social Media Primer” . This well written piece does an excellent job as an introduction to some of the many facets of social media.
Mr. Grant begins, ‘First off, what is social media? Wikipedia states “The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.” What does this mean to you? In short it means you can communicate with more people easier. These sites were originally used for entertainment purposes, but have been finding their ways into large enterprises as a core tool in facilitating business. Understanding these is important, not just to keep up with your teenagers, but to keep up with business in the new communication age.’
The Rapid Evolution of Twitter, Facebook & Social Media
Follow the link for the entire “Social Media Primer” blog post. Also remember that the world of Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, FriendFeed and the rest of social media is evolving rapidly and that like many other things on the web it can mean slightly different things to different people. So if you are not quite sure what social media is about, these are a few good starting points for an introduction. You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Mike_hts, on Facebook as “Mike Hts”, and on StumbleUpon at: http://mikehts.stumbleupon.com
