Social Media 101

Have been researching Social Media and trying to find a visual way to explain the subject. Some of these explanations may be useful to you too:

1. Scott Henderson of Mediasauce explains social media in terms of mountains, valleys, antennas and cables:

Mass Media: The first time someone climbed out of the valley to the top of the mountain and built an antenna; things changed dramatically. This antenna could broadcast and receive information and images to (and from) far away places. Bringing the world to us.

But this era had its limits, too:
-It took a lot of money, work, and resources to build and maintain these antennas.
-Because there were only so many antennas, they were only so many choices.
-You couldn’t talk back to what was being broadcast.
-You couldn’t talk with others about what was being broadcast when it was ‘on the air’.

Social Media: Slowly and steadily, we began to lay cables around the world connecting these groups of people. First these cables let us talk to each other directly one-to-one and in small groups. Then, we began to use these cables to share images and sound.

This changed everything…again - making it easier for us to find information and people faster. But it was still static and one-way. And we needed to know complex languages to make the images and sounds do what we wanted.

When we realized we could build tools that made it easy for anyone to create images and sounds in the way they wanted, this changed everything…yet again. People from across great distances could live, work, and play together without needing the antennas.

The focus shifted away from what was being sent from the mountaintop and back to what was happening in the valley – but in a different way. A person in one place can connect with people in different groups and valleys, who they previously would’ve never known about.

And even this era has its issues:
-Many people still are trying to figure out how they need to change.
-Some think the antennas don’t matter anymore.
-Others try to use the tools like they’re broadcast media, pushing their images & sounds out in a one-way monologue with no interest in ongoing conversation.
-The rest don’t even realize things have changed.

On Slideshare.net found the following that were useful:

1. Social Media is... by Lee White.

2. I am the media by Alain Thys.

3. Web 2.0 and Social Media by Shantanu Adhicary.

4. Web 2.0 by satyajeet_02

5.Crucial Conversations In Social Media by themoleskin

6. Social Media 101 by Jeremy Pepper

And on Squidoo:

7. Social Media 101: Comprehensive list of resources.

Also:
8.Free ebooks (right column) by Brian Solis.