Define social networks, social networking, and social media, and discuss their relevancy to the practice of public relations

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The theoretical concept of social networking was examined in a telecommunication journal by David Isenberg, a former employee of AT&T Labs Research. He saw the Internet as a "stupid" data network that relied on "dumb transport" to provide that data to "intelligent user-controlled endpoints." He contrasted his "stupid network" with the outmoded "intelligent network" that had relied on a technological hierarchy dictated by others. Thus, he conceived the "dumb transport" of social networking sites, including those like MySpace and Facebook, where communities of participants could interact with others and manage messaging, e-mail, video, file sharing, to mention just some Internet vehicles. He conceded that the network could be "stupid," but the end user became "smarter" as the information sharing technology improved. Social networks have grown and evolved initially into what became known as Web 2.0. Now there are iterations of social software and vehicles that have become part of the social media. It behooves public relations practitioners to be aware of the social networking, social networks, and social media and how they can help achieve communications objectives.