All social media should have a large sticker with the text Don't Jump for the tool ! Especially as a communications consultant, the temptation is great to see social media exclusively as an easy-to-use communication tool. There is always an appealing example lying around that can be embraced and driven into the ground as a stake with the words 'something like that'. And if such an example does not unexpectedly present itself, there is always the client himself who puts social media on the agenda with the winged words 'shouldn't we do something with Twitter'. Try to resist that.
You can still maintain that Twitter is a tool, but it is more difficult to characterize social media as a general term as just 'tooling'. Without ending up in the quicksand of definitions, you can at least say that social media is a collection of online activities with specific characteristics. And what are those characteristics? Social media can be characterized as a change within the media chain, morocco phone number list namely as the change to 'highly accessible media' - or low-threshold media. Low-threshold because barriers within the 4 phases of the media chain - production, aggregation, distribution and production - are lowered to such an extent that consumers, who previously had limited access to this media chain, are now able to actively participate in this process.
The internet has provided a cheap distribution channel. Web 2.0 tools have lowered the barriers within the aggregation phase to such an extent that anyone can manage and publish content on the internet in a relatively simple way. And cheaper digital (video) cameras, smartphones with internet capabilities and more user-friendly software make it easier for consumers to produce and consume content. Social media are a direct expression of this, because it has become much easier to communicate with each other online and to exchange information.