Can you relate to this?

Really new to social media?  If so, these 6 steps will help you get a handle on the bare basics of Social Media and it’s related term Web 2.0.

Step 1: Visit Wikipedia

Go to Wikipedia and read the Wikipedia Definition of Social Media and Wikipedia definition of Web 2.0:

• Wikipedia says:  Web 2.0 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the we. Read the whole entry at Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia says: Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. Read the whole entry at Wikipedia.

Step 2:  Watch This Video

This excellent and now-classic video “Social Media in Plain English” by Common Craft is a must-watch!

Step 3:  Visit About.com

Go to About.com and read these 2 articles  What is Web 2.0 and What is Social Media.

Step 4: Watch This Video

This video “Web 2.0″ was developed using the Web 2.0 write up in Wikipedia this video is to help teach educators about Web 2.0 tools:

Step 5: Watch This Video

This video “The Machine is Us/ing Us” is described as Web 2.0 in just under five minutes and was created by Dr. Michael Wesch, an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Digital Ethnography at Kansas State University.  It is really worth watching.

Step 6: Read Tim O’Reilly’s Classic Article on Web 2.0

The term Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O’Reilly of the O’Reilly Media Group. Read his article: “What is Web 2.0?“

Feeling Like a Social Media Wallflower?

You’re not alone. You may have heard all the buzzwords – Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, etc. – and lots of your friends have blogs. But truly understanding the range of social media and how you can use these tools to help your company achieve its goals is another story entirely.  I’ve noticed that there’s an awful lot of confusion and lots of questions:

Where do I start?
What social media tools work and which ones are a waste of time?
How do I build a blog?
What should I put on my blog? (I have that question too!)
Is Twitter really a business tool?
What is Twitter anyway?
What are other companies doing?
Isn’t Facebook just for kids?
How do we integrate a blog into our website?

And on and on.

Many of my posts over the next couple of weeks will focus on providing quality links to basic information and advice about social media in all it’s forms.  Over the past few years, I’ve gathered a gargantuan number of bookmarks on this topic.  I’ll do my best to select and organize the most useful resources and provide them here.  I’ll also add information from these posts to various sections of our Resources section (see the right hand sidebar at the top of this page):

• Social Media Beginners Guide
• Del.icio.us bookmarks. If you don’t know what Del.icio.us is yet, keep coming back and reading
• Our YouTube Video Channel- Videos we’ve hand-selected about social media
  

And yes, they’ll be more comics too (Courtesy of Bitstrips.com – a fun social media website).