I've just came across a post by Ben Carr, "It's time We Define Social Media", an invitation to clarify what we mean by "social media". I must say I don't totally agree with his definition of social media, but it's a nice starting point. Here is it :
" Social Media is the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings in more efficient ways."
I'm probably too Sociology-focused but there's something crucial missing there : the nature of human interactions. According to my humble definition, cities are social medias as well and what's happening with the web already happened with the emergence of metropolies to some extent.
Sociologist Georg Simmel wrote a very nice text in 1903 called "The Metropolis and Mental life" in which he notoriously defined the notion of blasé. But more interesting, he claimed that cities reshaped social interactions and had an impact on individual minds. Indeed, anecdotal things such as seeing hundreds of faces everyday, not knowing your neighboors, being anonymous, changed our perception of life, of others...and the way we think about action.
Now, that's also what's happening with the web. The web modifies social interactions and ties. Following your friends on Twitter and reading their status on Facebook stimulate your nervous system in radically new ways. It's changing the way we think about others.
We're just so aware of what everybody's doing it's insane.
" Social Media is the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings in more efficient ways."
I'm probably too Sociology-focused but there's something crucial missing there : the nature of human interactions. According to my humble definition, cities are social medias as well and what's happening with the web already happened with the emergence of metropolies to some extent.
Sociologist Georg Simmel wrote a very nice text in 1903 called "The Metropolis and Mental life" in which he notoriously defined the notion of blasé. But more interesting, he claimed that cities reshaped social interactions and had an impact on individual minds. Indeed, anecdotal things such as seeing hundreds of faces everyday, not knowing your neighboors, being anonymous, changed our perception of life, of others...and the way we think about action.
Now, that's also what's happening with the web. The web modifies social interactions and ties. Following your friends on Twitter and reading their status on Facebook stimulate your nervous system in radically new ways. It's changing the way we think about others.
We're just so aware of what everybody's doing it's insane.
So, Ok, the web is a technology, a city is not a technology. But both are Social Medias.
Let's try a first definition of my own :
A Social Media is a set of rules shaping social interactions both quantitatively and qualitatively. It defines the emotional or physical "distance" between each of us. Social Medias have an impact on the way we think about others and thus collective actions.
According to this definition, both cities and the web are Social Medias.
If you want to know more about Urban Sociology, check out the Chicago School on Wikipedia.
Let's try a first definition of my own :
A Social Media is a set of rules shaping social interactions both quantitatively and qualitatively. It defines the emotional or physical "distance" between each of us. Social Medias have an impact on the way we think about others and thus collective actions.
According to this definition, both cities and the web are Social Medias.
If you want to know more about Urban Sociology, check out the Chicago School on Wikipedia.
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