I consider myself to be a social media enthusiast: I wrote my first programs at the age of 7, had my first web site in 1996, started a web business in 1998, and have been active in social media since the first chatrooms. And I have to constantly remind myself that there are a lot of people out there who no idea what social media are.

So what are they, really?
Social media are new ways to share, collaborate, and create communities. The amazing thing is that the principles of social media can be applied to *every* area, as long as two prerequisites are fulfilled:
  1. People are willing to share, collaborate and connect (culture)
  2. People have the tools to interact (technology)
Let’s take a look at what sharing, collaborating and creating communities means:
SHARING means
  • telling what you have heard from someone else
  • voicing your opinion about a topic
  • answering a question
  • showing what you have created, maybe even allowing others to use it

COLLABORATING means

  • creating something with others
  • solving a problem with others
  • reaching a goal with others

BUILDING COMMUNITIES means

  • getting in touch with someone
  • recommending someone to connect with someone else
  • creating opportunities for people can interact
  • defining a group of people as part of something bigger
  • invoking a sense of belonging and common purpose between people

All points on the list above were valid for a stone age hunter/gatherer society too. The only thing that differs from our own time is technology, and the speed, connections, and reach it brings. We’re all still sitting around the campfire, telling stories, sharing knowledge – only the fire has only gotten bigger and brighter (yes, there is a Billie Joel reference in here).

Social media helps us do all of the above things in new ways. We can share our news and opinions around the world using blogs, tweets, or videos, and give other people the right to build on it. We can react to other people’s news and opinions by commenting or remixing them. We can collaborate with a global community to gather knowledge, create maps, art, or software, or get answers to difficult questions by just asking them online. And we can create communities on social networking platforms, giving people the opportunity to meet (or reunite with) others who they would have never found otherwise.

I am convinced that social media will become an important part of our work and private lives and fundamentally change the world as we know it – whether we want it or not.

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