Comments on: The difference between social media and social networking

By: Taj Moore

Taj Moore — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:57:52 +0000

I like your metaphor of broadcast medium versus gathering places. However, one tiny distinction cries for attention when it comes to your definition of social networking as “people with some shared characteristics associating together”: it is the relationships (associating together) that make the network, not the characteristics. While people in social networks very often have similar characteristics, this is correlation not causality. The more diverse the network the less characteristics are shared, yet there remains the network.

The existence of a network does not suggest the existence of homogeneity within that network any more than homogeneity in a collection of people suggests that they are in any way connected.

By: JustinSMV

JustinSMV — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:58:09 +0000

Nice layman clarification you have here. Social Networking strives on Social Media which is the tools needed in order to succeed. JustinSMV’s last blog post..Why You Should Drop Twitter Tool Qwitter Like A Bad Habit

By: Sire

Sire — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:16:12 +0000

What you say is true, but you must admit that people like Obama, in the case of the election, had an unfair advantage as there were so many people looking for information on him and his beliefs. He was smart enough to tap into this quest for knowledge. For others such as ourselves, a great deal of marketing would be needed to create even a minute amount of interest in our services, products or whatever we are promoting. Sire’s last blog post..Does Google Control Your Blog?

By: Brett Borders

Brett Borders — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:05:48 +0000

This is a good distinction… media is the medium… the pipes and plumbing…networking is the action.

Social networking is fun and great for building relationships, as you mention…

I am most interested in social news, cause that’s where the traffic comes from

Brett Borders’s last blog post..Hollywood, Drugs & MLM: the Shadow Side of Startup Culture

By: Lara Kretler

Lara Kretler — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:58:17 +0000

At the Ohio Web Leaders session this morning (great event – we still miss you in Ohio!), the definition was given that in simplest terms, social media is just people having conversations, building relationships and sharing information online.

That said, I see social networking as the act of people doing those things – being social, sharing, interacting, relating. I see social media as the tools and sites we use to do those things. I also see social media as “shared media” – for example, on Delicious I may or may not interact with others but I am sharing links and sites of interest to me which may also be of interest to, and accessed by, others. That makes it social… even if I am not being particularly social with others on that site. Make sense?

You’ve posted a great discussion starter, and I look forward to seeing what other commenters have to say here!