2.2 Introduction to Social Media

Before going in depth on my topic, it is very important to have a good understanding on the very main point of my topic which is social media.

All of us know what social media is but do we really know about it in depth ? 

To start off, this is the definition of social media. According to WhatIs.Com , "Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration." Social media can be categorised by it's functionality to consumers. 

Below are a list of social media that have been categorised. 

1. Social networking sites– Facebook, Google Plus, CafeMom, Gather, Fitsugar
2. Micro-blogging sites– Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous
3. Publishing tools– WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace
4. Collaboration tools– Wikipedia, WikiTravel, WikiBooks
5. Rating/Review sites– Amazon ratings, Angie’s List
6. Photo sharing sites– Flikr, Instagram, Pinterest
7. Video sharing sites– YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler
8. Personal broadcasting tools– Blog Talk radio, Ustream, Livestream
9. Virtual worlds– Second Life, World of Warcraft, Farmville
10. Location based services– Check-ins, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Yelp
11. Widgets– Profile badges, Like buttons
12. Social bookmarking and news aggregation– Digg, Delicious
13. Group buying– Groupon, Living Social, Crowdsavings

( Myers, n.d )

In this digital age, there are so many social media around this day and it will never stop 
growing and it is fairly impossible to recognise every single site. It may be popular in certain country but unknown in other countries. 

On the other hand, not every social media is reachable in every country. China has banned a number of popular social network and also ban all foreign media publishing online. Why is that so? Their government believe that there is a need for filtering all media online that are from other countries before allowing it to de accessed by the Chinese. One of the reason is that the cyberspace is getting bigger and bigger now and it is fairly impossible to filter every single thing. Therefore, " the Chinese law required internet service providers to hold an operating license that can only be obtained in partnership with a Chinese firm." (Matharu, 2016) The Chinese government are sensitive towards the information that they feed to their citizens because there are a few cases that they tried hiding some information about their country but failed to do so as Chinese citizens updated the news through Twitter (TED-Ed, 2012) Furthermore, the Chinese citizen will not be worried on popular social network being banned as "a Chinese firm" will "copycat the produce and format it to a Chinese audience with their government's criteria " (International Business Times, 2011) For example, Renren as Facebook, Youku as Youtube, Sina Weibo as Twitter. (Meredith, 2013) 

Social media has become a part of a lifestyle. The amount of active social media users are " 2.3 billion ". (Smith, 2016) Today, almost everyone uses social media and you can't deny that most youngsters go onto their social media account once they get up from bed.

We are eager to know what is the buzz everyday. For example, when a celebrity has just passed away, the news spreads very quickly through social media even before they announce it in the news on television. 

Today, can anyone actually survive without the use of social media ? Whether you're a parent, businessman or just a kid 

In my opinion, as someone who do not use social media as a platform for business, it is possible to survive without social media but life wouldn't be as easy. 

Updated on 9 December (Week 6), after my lecturer shared a Ted-Ed video by Clay Shirky (How social media can make history) during class. I felt that there's was a relationship between the video and my topic

Reference

International Business Times (2011) ' Facebook, Twitter and now Google + banned: Why is China so anti-social network? ' Available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/facebook-twitter-and-now-google-banned-why-is-china-so-anti-social-ism-172042

Matharu, H. (2016) ' China set to ban all foreign media publishing online' . Independent [online] . Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-set-to-ban-all-foreign-media-from-publishing-online-a6883366.html 

Meredith, J. (2013) ' 10 Chinese Social Media Sites You Should Be Following'. Synthesio [online]. Available at: http://www.synthesio.com/blog/10-chinese-social-media-sites-you-should-be-following/

Myers, A. (n.d.) ' 13 Types of Social Media Platforms and Counting '. Decidedly Social [online]. Available at: http://decidedlysocial.com/13-types-of-social-media-platforms-and-counting/#comments 

Smith, K. ( 2016 ) ' Marketing: 96 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts for 2016 '. Brandwatch [online]. Available at: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/96-amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts-for-2016/

TED-Ed ( 2012 ) ' How social media can make history- Clay Shirky'. Youtube [video online].  Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZJE15E0SY 

WhatIs.Com (n.d.) ' Definition of Social Media '. WhatIs.Com [online] . Available at : http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media