Social Space….The Uncharted territory.

Wikipedia Explains Social Media as a media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction with technology, transforming broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).

Or let me put it in a simpler ways - Social media is content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies

The definition of Social Media could be as simple or as complex as we want. But its ability to achieve or disseminate a content is un-doubtfully behemothic or in simply HUGE. One of the recent reports by Nielsen Online suggest that Time Spent on Social Networking in U.S. increases by 83 Percent; Facebook Leads, top 10 sites’ list revealed.

It could be corporate’s that wants to leverage this new format or now in the “digital time span” medium age marketing to attract new or retain old customers. Aaron Uhrmacher provides 35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action. Irene Lizarraga provides examples of beauty sites in the social media space, building awareness about Swine Flu or most importantly Kareem’s friend trying to use this medium to free Kareen out through http://www.freekareem.org/.

Social Media can offer help to all, provided you know how to gracefully accept it. But then is this means that it is for all and can be done by all. To that I would say that it is certainly for all but cannot be used by all. Examples of Social Media Disasters are all over the Internet, in every forum, in every group, and probably in every digital space. But then I would say to that what I learnt in my mountaineering days could be implied for social - “You tend to make mistake when you enter an uncharted territory, but then don’t make such where you loose your life”.

Social Media is not a process, it’s a believe of marketer that plan to venture into this uncharted territory that would provide reaping benefits but offers a gigantic valley full of illusions(s) or mirage. Hence don’t learn the traits of social media, learn and believe in social media. It’s a climb of K2, you cannot afford to venture out without preparations. I encounter situations where we may believe its working, but then is it actually doing what it promised or are we looking through our illusionary glasses. The best part of digital media is that - its biggest strength of monitoring the space has become its biggest weakness – we don't know how effectively monitor it, and of course Social media carry the same genetic code.

Hence it’s important to you to analyze that Which Social Media Channels Should You Be Using? And how you can monitor or analyze the same.