I recently posed a question to my friends on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and on LinkedIn to better understand how different people view the “meaning of social media.” The way I worded the question was deliberately confusing, as “meaning” can be interpreted in so many different way. For example, simply search for “social media definition” in Google and you will get Wikipedia’s answer. In short:

The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue.[1] Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”[2] Social media are media for social interaction, as a superset beyond social communication. Enabled by ubiquitously accessible and scalable communication techniques, social media substantially change the way of communication between organizations, communities, as well as individuals.[3]

So, how did my friends across social networking platforms respond? This simple word cloud provides a fairly straightforward answer to that question.

The most common words expressed include share, relationships, communicate, and people. Communication is the only word that matches the definition provided by Wikipedia.

I postulate that perhaps social media is viewed in two distinct ways. The first being a series of technological platforms that serve handle inputs and outputs. The second being a personal interpretation of how social media and networks are used to facilitate varying types of conversations amongst a larger subset of individuals.

I could be interpreting the data incorrectly, but it appears rather straightforward. Please feel free to comment, photo reply, or ask a question.