A friend disagrees that social media is just another channel and what I would like to know is, how different is it from direct mails, tv, radio etc.? A channel is a platform used to either deliver and or receive a message. It can be one way or interactive. A channel is not a message, which can take the form of text alone, images alone, sound alone or all of the above.
Everyone seems to think twitter is social media and social media is twitter. *Facepalm* right? Then again, it’s also not limited to Facebook, Plurk, Digg, YouTube etc. Social media existed way before that buzz word came along. Chris Pirillo had a good example. He said even dogs are into social media. When they are taken to the park to mingle with other dogs, the park is their social media. Closer to home, a game of mahjong is social media. That is because it is another channel of communication.
Have you got a different point of view? I’d love to hear it.
