I’ve been thinking about what social media means to those of you out there looking at this buzzword and wondering how you can be a part of it. Guess what? You already are and have been for a long time. In fact, maybe even since Al Gore invented the information super highway. 

Social media is all about conversations… conversations that are enabled via the internet. There is very little that we do now on the internet that isn’t part of a conversation. Whether we are just listening in or are actively involved in a conversation, the internet is about conversations. Ideally, this is a 2-way conversation but even a static corporate webpage is a conversation, albeit 1-way. Why did MySpace grow so quickly? Because it aggregated an audience that had a lot to say and listen to. Same with Friendster, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, and on and on.

We were so accustomed to 1-way conversations that once we realized the possibility of 2-way or multi-way conversations, our behaviors changed forever and our desire for a richer, relevant conversation became insatiable. Its like Audrey from the Little Shop of Horrors screaming “Feed me, Seymour, feed me!”

Whether you blog, tweeet, instant message, write a wiki, join a community, subscribe to a RSS feed, share a photo, etc., you are part of a conversation regarding a subject that is relevant to you.

Social Media = Relevant Conversations = The New Internet