I'll start with a quote from one of our readings, from A New Literacies Sampler (New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies): "The logic is of use rather than participation; of reception and/or consumption rather than interactivity and agency."* The authors are describing the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0, although I think this definition can be used in a broader sense to cover the entire evolution of the internet to where it exists today. It's now open for a two-way conversation (or three, or four, or infinite!); an interactive experience, a democratic one in which your voice is 'heard'.
Social media describes those interactive sites, particularly the ones built around the concept of socializing. I would also say, however, that because of the interactivity of most sites today, that the definition of social media widens to include sites not only created specifically for social interaction (like Facebook and MySpace) but also any that encourage collaboration, as collaboration is inherently social in nature. As the article in Time Magazine's 2006 Person of the Year (that was You, i.e. anyone reading/posting a blog right now) read, this is "a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before."** A community and collaboration that is instant and borderless (both in the traditional definition of space and also in medium - audio, video, text, etc..). But it's social because the computer isn't 2006's Person of the Year, You are; behind all of this communication and collaboration are people, socially interacting (not your mom's social interaction!).
It is worth noting here, that when googing 'social media' the first definition that comes up is wikipedia's...
So what does it mean for me? Or for You? I expect to learn in this class how to utilize the opportunities presented in Web 2.0 for collaboration and communication. My area of study is arts administration, and my specific area of interest is arts marketing, so I approach this subject of social media from a slightly different background than those in education.
I've included this quote below, because of the phrase "democratic notion." I'm intrigued, maybe not so much in reference to us all as stars (or People Magazine's Person of the Year), but to the idea that online the playing field is leveled. Can you truly be whatever you want to be? Online you can. On YouTube you can, or MySpace or Facebook, and that is a very democratic, and American, notion. And that's the lure...
