What is Social Media?

Maymester is the best semester at GCSU and this one is going to be even better because of the class that I'm taking... Social Media with Dr. Ginger Carter Miller and many of my mass comm friends!

The blog will be a space for me to share what I'm learning, ask questions and post interesting things we discuss in class. I'm expecting that it will be updated daily to fulfill my homework requirements.

My first assignment is to define social media. Since I've gotten this assignment, ideas of how to explain the websites, etc. that we use daily have been running through my mind. I didn't expect it to be so tricky to really nail down things such as Twitter, Facebook and Blogger that we as a society use everyday.

College has taught me many things.. one of them being "When in doubt, use Wikipedia." I expect that I'm not alone in this. I didn't want to steal any ideas, though. As convenient as Wikipedia is, it wouldn't be fair to use someone else's ideas.

I think convenience is a major factor of social media, though. Social media wouldn't really work if it wasn't convenient. Social media are convenient, easily accessible, easily used methods of sending messages, communicating and networking. Social media can be used for businesses, advertising, advocating or for keeping up with your grandparents in Cleveland. Social media occurs and exists digitally, but have become highly influential in "the real world."

I'm really looking forward to the next three weeks of class! It will be interesting and beneficial to learn about the world of social media!