What is social media and how is it different from social networks?
What is social media and how is it different from social networks?
What is social media? What are its main elements? And, above all, is it synonymous with social networks? In this content you will see that they are different, and each one makes up a group of very effective Digital Marketing strategies, find out more by reading this content! Dive into the evolution of social media with our in-depth exploration. This article examines its history, key developments, and the vast impact on society and business practices.
What is social media and how is it different from social networks?
What is social media? And what about social networks? It seems that they are the same, but if we look closely we will see that they are two different concepts.
Come on, in this content we lend you our magnifying glass so that you can check with certainty what their differences are; You cannot let this go if you are looking to improve your Marketing strategy.
Keep reading!
What is social media?
Social media is the practice of using a dedicated online platform to maintain contact, interact, and collaborate with like-minded individuals, peers, friends, and family.
The sites where this is done are known as “social networks” or RRSS and, among the most popular we find Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok. These allow people to maintain social connections, stay informed, and access, as well as share, a wealth of information. They also allow Digital Marketing specialists in social networks to reach their target audience.
Social networking sites have come a long way since the first one launched: SixDegrees.com, in 1997. Today, the world is rapidly adopting new websites of this style. According to DataReportal, a Kepios analysis from January 2022 indicated that there are more than 4.62 billion social media users worldwide.
Now, how does social media work?
The answer to what is social media also implies having connections in both the real and digital world. Currently, this term is mainly used to refer to online social communications.
The Internet has made it possible for people to meet and connect with others they would never otherwise have met; A platform like Twitch even allows users to interact with their favorite gamers while watching them play. Isn’t that amazing?
All this operation depends on technology and Internet connectivity; people can access it using their computers, tablets or smartphones. Most of these sites run on a searchable database back-end that uses advanced programming languages like Python to organize, store, and retrieve data in an easy-to-understand format.
For example, Tumblr uses products and services in its daily operations like Google Analytics, Google Workspace, and WordPress.
These are the 4 main objectives of social media
Social media has 4 key points to achieve, including:
1. Cultural and technological exchange
Geographically dispersed friends or family can connect remotely and share information, updates, photos and videos.
Social media, which is communication within social networks, also allows people to meet others with similar interests or expand their existing social networks.
2. Online learning
Social networks serve as great learning platforms .
Consumers can instantly receive breaking news, get updates on friends and family, or find out what’s happening in their community.
3. Interact between one or more people
This concept improves user interactions by breaking down the barriers of time and distance.
With cloud-based video communication technologies like WhatsApp or Instagram Live, people can talk face to face with anyone in the world.
4. Social Media Marketing
Businesses can take advantage of the services of this technology to do Social Media Marketing to improve brand awareness among platform users, improve customer retention and conversion rates, and promote brand identity and voice.
What is it and how are social networks different from social media?
To begin to differentiate, we must first conceptualize what social networks are, only then will we find more exact dissimilarities. So what is a social network ? Now I explain it to you:
When we think of the term media, it usually reminds us of traditional sites, such as newspapers, magazines, and television. However, when we find the word “social” up front, it takes on a completely different definition and environment—because we let go of physical contact.
Social networks add a technological component, as well as flexibility, when it comes to how a person consumes, shares and collaborates with what is presented. Therefore, they can best be described as an Internet-based way of publishing or streaming digital content that readers can fully interact with.
Anyone can post to social media, in fact, traditional news outlets like CNN and Fox News publish their own content for digital consumption. Companies and organizations also do it to connect with their buyer persona or potential customers.
Difference between what is social media and social networks
Let’s start by making it very simple:
- Social media: are the social media, which include social networks, blogs, forums, among others.
- Social networks: it is an adjunct within social media that we can observe as platforms for communication and information exchange.
Simply put, all social networks are “social media”, but what is social media does not necessarily have to be a social network. And, on the other hand, social media provides the content that social networks distribute.
Even with the description I’ve just given, there are nuances to consider.
Facebook as a social networking site is an example of how the terms can differ and still overlap somewhat. You register and post your profile, connect with friends and comment on topics in a generally interactive way. On that same social networking site, businesses establish a presence and use Facebook as a way to communicate their brand and gain a following; This is clearly a use case for both social media and social networks.
That being said, there is a clear difference between the two. Social media requires a social network to distribute content to those who wish to consume and interact with it.
Thus, the social media network is the underlying technology and human connections, while social media is strictly focused on what is posted and consumed.
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