WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

Before I open up to Social Media, what exactly is it?

I do have some reservations about Social Media (SM) but before I ignore it completely, I need to learn more. I need to see what it is exactly. I need to get a little more educated on the subject.

l am going to ask the questions that may seem silly to some of the more tech savvy generation out there.

Let's step back and look at SM in layman's terms, in plain English, after all, that is the language I speak. 

Is Social Media Facebook? Is it Twitter? How do you use it? More importantly, is it something I need? or can I ignore it? What is 'the cloud' that everyone keeps talking about?

I intend to answer these as well as clarify buzzwords around SM like 'hash tags', 'tweets', 'likes' and 'follows' etc

I will also touch on my own personal reservations, like how it moves too fast. There is too much choice. And will it work for someone who has limited understanding of technology?

Obviously a lot for one post, so I'll break it down into bite size pieces.

Is Social Media Facebook?

Yes. From my research, however Social Media is not exclusive to Facebook, Twitter or any other Application (Computer software designed for a specific purpose). 

Facebook (FB) and Twitter are simply a platform for Social Media to be used.

According to Wikipedia (online dictionary) :

Social Media is, "interactive web platforms via which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content."

In English, SM is, "web platforms like Facebook and Twitter that allow people and communities to share, create and discuss content they created."

That makes more sense.

So it is a network of people connected by certain platforms like Facebook.

It's hard to ignore that SM is here, it's not going away. As a business owner I might as well face it, who know's it might be less scary than I think.