For the uninitiated, social media seems like a bit of a challenge.  The internet was intimidatingly large before, and internet giants like Google rose up to organize it by search.  Now masses of internet users are contributing their thoughts, discoveries and experiences to the web, changing yesterday’s relatively static experience to a more dynamic and human one.   This new way of organizing information (dominated primarily by recommendation, sharing and user participation) can be described broadly as “social media.”  So how does a new user start exploring this brave new world?

Social Media as a Cellphone

At one time not many people had cellphones.  The argument against them was that they were not only ugly, but that nobody needed to be available by phone in their car if they had voicemail at the office and at home.  Clearly the trend rolled right on past the objections — cellphones are now so popular that they are beginning to crowd out residential landlines.  The power of connecting to the telecom grid from anywhere empowered people to stay more informed and socially available than they ever were before.   As our method of communication changed, so did we.   Today we have similar skeptics doubting the viability of social media as a long-term change in the way we communicate.  The trend however, suggests just the opposite.

The big change that social media brings is more far-reaching than society’s gradual adoption of wireless telecom.  That was still centered around talking to another person over the phone.  Social media has changed our entire internet experience.  Before it was all about Search n’ Surf: you were either so specific that you could find what you needed with the right search query or bookmark, or you surfed links exhaustively until finding something interesting.  Today web browsing is more of a team effort: social media provides a river of information, recommendations and shared links that are likely to interest you, because other people found them interesting.

How it Works

Getting started with social media means you have to start participating in the conversation streams that are important to you.  Each type of social media is a tool, just like a cellphone, although there are many different purposes you might use them for.  Here is a brief summary of the basics.

Blogs (web logs) allow you to start public conversations about interesting subjects online, usually in the form of short articles posted in a series.  A blog is like an editorial, where a perspective is illustrated with references to relevant events and images.  Readers can then respond by posting comments.  If a blog is particularly influential, it has many return visitors and is mentioned on many other websites to improve their credibility.

• Main point: blogs are a rich form of self expression in multimedia format that anyone on the web can see.
• When well done: blogs can improve credibility, demonstrate expertise, and are widely shared and talked about.

Micro blogs like Twitter are a bare-bones version of a full blog, where your “articles” will be no more than 140 characters long.  These short messages are ideal for identifying worthy information sources on the web.  Credible and influential microbloggers tend to have very relevant, interesting information to share.  The short nature of micro blogs makes them a faster, leaner space to rapidly communicate information.  There is little room for discussion however, so links are used ubiquitously to direct people to sites that have adequate space to explore the issues introduced in a micro-blog.

• Main point: micro blogs are short messages that act as previews of how larger issues and ideas are developing.
• When done well: micro blogs are paid attention to by many people, and describe cutting edge developments.

Social Networks are online communities (like Facebook and MySpace) users join to connect and share information with people they know, or would like to know better.  This community revolves around shared content, whether in the form of media, relationships, messages or events.  The interactive element is the flow of your network members’ responses to the shared information.  Popular social network users are more in touch with what is “going on” in their network.  Networks can be friendship based (Facebook), romantically oriented, or strictly professional (like LinkedIn).

• Main point: social networks make you more available and connected to a particular group of people.
• When well done: social networks strengthen your connections to people, and make it easier for people to communicate with you.

Many other forms of social media exist, like ladder-format sites (Reddit, Digg) that rank content based on popularity, and the increasingly popular Wiki that lets many people collaborate and author one document.  If you are uninitiated, the key to social media is to try it out and see for yourself.  For the experts out there, keep inventing new ways to connect and communicate!