What is the difference between social networks and social media

Social Networking Once you decide what media you are going to use, begin with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to engage with your audience. Having a Facebook business page for you and your brand is essential because, as you know, people on Facebook read books and will tell their friends and colleagues about your book.

Facebook and Twitter also provide you with numerous opportunities to connect with your prospective audience through web links, posts, news stories, notes, photo sharing, blog posts, direct messages, questions and comments.

Eventually you may want to branch out with other social networking platforms like LinkedIn and Pinterest. Social networking is all about engagement -- creating relationships, communicating with your readers, building your following and connecting with your online audience. If you treat social networking like social media, you will come off as someone using a bullhorn.

It's important to listen as much as talk with social networking. Your social networking goal and strategy: Your social networking goal is to interact, converse and create conversation: search conversations, begin new conversations, set alerts to monitor your name, find new ways to connect. Realize social networking is a marathon and not a race as it will take time to build relationships and grow your following.

Work for buzz and excitement on your book, product or service. Remember that people naturally gravitate towards people who they find relatable and who have similar experiences and interests. One thing that social media and social networking have in common is that they both depend on viral marketing to become truly successful. If the content goes viral, more and more people will be paying attention and the more online traffic you have, the better your chances are of increasing your business.

A simple way to look at the basic difference between social media and social networking is that social media helps people to make the connection and social networking enhances that connection. People get together because they have common interests, passions, and causes and they continue to strengthen their relationships as they get to know each other through interaction over time.

It is very important to understand that social media and social networking are not one and the same but that they are both of critical importance to your business and you should take full advantage of both for the greater success of your business. We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Let's have coffee.

He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility.

Tags: Social Media Social Networking. BTW, If you ask people involved with social networking in the offline world to define the difference, their view is more likely along the lines of "social waste of time" is what we do here:- Posted by Marco.

I may be wrong, but I see things in a very simple way: social media noun is the 'tool' and social networking verb is what you do with that tool, and how you use it. The difference between social media and social networking is the difference between a car and driving..

Posted by Dina. Good definitions there. I still think social media is somewhat unclear for some people. Would you say it's a medium you can use for social interaction on internet -"On internet" being the key phrase? Otherwise it could be anything you can write or carve words onto, like a piece of paper or wood. Or any communication tool, like a phone or megaphone. I see things a lot like Dina does. Social media is the tool and social networking is one way to use the tool. It's just like offline business networking groups — the groups themselves are the tools and the networking is how you use them.

This is a great post and a great distinction. It's true that we tend to use the terms interchangeably and I'm not sure that many people consider the differences. Good points Michael. A friend recently went to a consultants meeting and was asked what was her first form of social media.

Her reply …. Posted by Jennifer. The interesting part is both social media and social networking have the word "SOCIAL" but the context of it in both the words is quite different. Social networking is " what " whereas social media is "how". Social network helps in discussing coming out with better solutions whereas how to do it is answered by social media.

Posted by Shubhangi. Looks like an idea that could produce many doctoral theses. Definitions are something that science requires a lot. There are quite a few practitioners around by now but few academics yet. Posted by Ingo. Referral Marketing Guide. Best Practices and Guides. Contact Us. CandyBar — Digital Loyalty Cards. Visakan Veerasamy.

When they made a movie about Facebook, they called it The Social Network. Defining social media: A few blogposts ago, we set out to define social media. Other posts in this sequence: What IS social media? Why is it so hard to define social media, and why should we care? Why are people so annoying on social media? How did online social networks disrupt traditional media?

Understanding that they are two separate marketing concepts can make a difference in how you position your business going forward. As a marketer, you should know that, no matter personal or business purposes, human interaction cannot be ignored. Both social networking and social media come in handy in boosting the interaction between you and your audiences.

Through communicating and building relationships with potential customers, you can tell them that your brand is active, and then drive their loyalty. The choice of whether to focus on social networking or social media ultimately depends on the scope and business goals. However, they are both of critical importance to your business, and you should take full advantage of both for greater success. And one more thing to remember, once you successfully have your social networking and social media strategies working in harmony, you will be more connected with your audiences, and be actively increasing your brand value to reach the right people with your unique message.

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