An Introduction to Social Media

Not since the first pitch letter was e-mailed or the first press release posted on the Internet has the public relations industry encountered as big of a paradigm shift as it is currently seeing with social media. A web search on the Internet for the definition of the term social media will populate hundreds or thousands of answers varying in terminology, length and detail making it difficult to narrow down a singular meaning or concept into one or two sentences. The experts of social media will each have their own definition and that will be different then the Average Joe’s who is using one social media platform to discuss the topic on another social media application.

Since there is no one particular, widely accepted definition, I will define social media for the purpose of my exploration into the topic as a person or entity using a Internet platform, application or website to communicate, connect, discuss or network with an audience ranging from a single person or group of people which may or may not be an intended or have a specified target. Or more simply, social media is a vehicle in which people communicate with each other publicly over the Internet.

An important aspect of understanding social media is that it does not consist of any one specific medium to communicate over the Internet. At the same time, social media does not include every medium or method of communicating over the Internet. A social media medium is using a platform over the Internet to communicate with a group of people that can continuously grow and evolve along with the platform itself and has public characteristics.

As the Internet continues to evolve, methods of communication through that medium expand anywhere from simple to more complex and many of these methods fall under the social media category. Furthermore, anywhere that communication exists is an opportunity for information to be exchanged, and as such, public relations professionals must not only be aware of what social media is, but how it effects their profession, how to utilize it to their advantage to get their message across and be aware of its benefits and drawbacks.