If you ask me to define it, I would say that Social Media is what YOU control; it's what you CREATE; it's what you want to SEND to your 1,000 best friends, or your potential customers. Whether it's pics of your cute cat, question about how to get ink out of your silk suit, your rant of the day or your e-recipe that you are so eager it share, I would classify those as Social Media. Once you pick your platform to spread those awesomely adorable pictures of your baby walking for the first time (of course, I included a gorgeous baby as the icon picture to prove a point) that's Social Networking. That's when you want people to engage, interact, comment, So it makes sense that these two concepts may be mentioned interchangeably, but irregardles of which terminology you use, both can be powerful and effective methods of communication, because people use Social Sites A LOT.
How much is A LOT?
When a survey of over 100,000 random people were asked the following question, "Out of the total number of hours you spend onscreen, how much of the time is spent on social sites?" According to a poll on marketingcharts.com the average American spends 3.2 hours per day on social networks alone. Those who do not use social networks spend an average of two hours per day on social media. This excludes time spent watching TV, listening to music or surfing the Internet.
What does that mean?
As a person who feels that much of my business is through "word of mouth" I feel that posting regularly, commenting and engaging in Social Sites is crucial for its growth. Right now, I'm trying to grow my social media presence. I found this wonderful link that has some great tips....which one do you think I'm doing right now?