Part 1: Social Media - The down low

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By the end of this five part series you should be navigating this topic with ease. But let's start off by learning a bit more about the rise of what has become known as consumer generated media and how it has marked the shift in the way we use the Internet.

The Internet and the software which has been developed to run on it has made it so simple for anyone to publish content and make this content accessible to millions of people. In effect, consumers have been given a voice to air their views to a massive audience. Long gone are the days when the Internet was merely for research, company websites and porn :) ... today the Internet is for every single one of its users - we can contribute, we can share our thoughts, our videos, our resources - in short we, as a people are shaping what is out there and no voice goes unheard.

Online conversations are taking place every day in the form of consumer generated media and while PR has traditionally focused on the media as written by journalists, the most trusted sources for modern consumers are ordinary people reporting their experiences. In a survey by Forrester Research, 25% of consumer respondents said they trusted the opinions of fellow consumers above all other forms of media referral or advertising. According to Edelman's latest Trust Barometer the most credible source of information about a company is... "a person like me".

It is for this reason that engaging in Social Media can be highly beneficial to both individuals as well as companies.

Social Media

Wikipedia defines Social Media as "the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves."

In recent years there has been the massive growth of blogs, wiki's, podcasts, social networking sites and moblogs - together they form what is loosely known as Social Media; the ability for anyone to publish almost any content without the typical costs and hindrances associated with traditional media. This new publishing freedom has resulted in an explosion of new content.

We see more and more instances of Social Media becoming integrated in the traditional media landscape. Journalists are blogging, YouTube and Facebook are making the newspaper headlines and several television adverts are examples of CGM to mention but a few. This new media is enveloping traditional media and borders are becoming hazy - in short a new challenge for media professionals has begun.

Over the last few years hundreds of Social Media type websites have been launched and over the next few weeks we will be looking into these various types as well as the major players within each field: