Social media are basically interactive digital technologies which allow the generation or sharing/ exchange of information, stories, careers, concepts, and many other types of creative expression through social networks and virtual communities. They include everything from blogs to Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn to Facebook Live and more. The main advantage of social networking is it allows us to interact with people we would otherwise never be able to meet or connect with. This has led to the growth of a new class of media – the’social media’ industry. Here’s a brief look at what social media can do for you.

The most exciting aspect of this emerging industry is the fact that social media allows us to reach new and targeted audiences. Take Twitter for example. Twitter is an excellent tool for engagement and community building. It allows the creation of micro-blogging communities, where users can share short snippets of what they are doing, who they are with, or what they are interested in. The users then vote on these micro-blogs and create trending topics that encourage others to join in discussion. This is essentially viral marketing, because as other users start to take part in this activity, the topic becomes popular, thus making it more likely that it will gain momentum and reach a broader audience.

Another aspect of the social media landscape that is quickly gaining traction around the world is the use of video. Millions of people are now watching high quality videos on their mobile devices, thanks to high-end smartphones and tablets. With this rise in viewing comes a need for more video sharing services and platforms. Major players in this space include YouTube, Vimeo, Videoegg, Flipboard, Metacafe and many others. All of these companies promise to provide unique opportunities and functionality to the individual video maker and to the larger community of internet users.

In order to make use of all the potential of the social media landscape, it’s important to understand how each of these platforms work. As previously mentioned, Facebook is the largest and most successful social network, offering an interface for user-based applications. One of its most useful features is the Like feature, which allows users to easily share anything they have posted with the entire Facebook platform. This includes anything from text to photos to video. The Like feature allows for users to encourage their friends to like their posts, helping the post gain more exposure and generate organic traffic to the post. For business, this is a great way to increase visibility and traffic to your website.

Many other social media networks work in similar ways to Facebook. Many allow users to leave comments, add and read blogs, and create bookmarks. Twitter uses hash tags to allow conversation about posts across the platform; this allows users to post new information that they have discovered while searching the web. LinkedIn provides a similar function to Facebook, as users can search the network for professionals that have information relevant to their current careers and use social media to share information that they have uncovered.

The future of social media looks strong. The largest social media network, YouTube, is constantly adding new content, hosting its own original TV shows, and experimenting with mobile video viewing. While a smaller social media platform like MySpace still has a smaller audience than Facebook or Twitter, it seems that the trend to consolidate audiences and build communities online will continue.