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"Last week, we asked readers to define and submit answers to the elusive question, \"What is Social Media?\" To make it fair for readers submitting answers via Twitter, we limited the responses to 140 characters.\nDespite this limitation, we received some fascinating answers that ranged from the simple (i.e. \"Twitter.\" from Connor Jack) to the complex (Conduit collecting, catalyzing &amp; closed-circuit circulating collaborative citizen comments, contextual contributions &amp; co-created content\" from Tim Davis) and even the predictive (\"Currently a term for user-generated web content, but will soon become obsolete when the whole web becomes social\" from Dominick Soar).\nThank you to all who participated on our Google Buzz account, Facebook Page, Twitter using #whatisSM, and the comments of the post. We also encourage you to participate in celebrating Social Media Day on June 30.\nAlthough we said we would only feature 10 of the best reader responses, we decided to up it to 20 because we received hundreds of great submissions. We gathered up some of the most telling responses from our readers to highlight the key characteristics that embody social media. Which of these do you think really nailed it? What's missing? Let us know in the comments.\n\n1. Collaboration: Ask not what the Internet can do for you, but what you can do with other Internet users. \u2013 Jonny Rose\n2. Network: Social media is a phenomenon which creates a personalized network for sharing digital content among all people in the cyberspace. - Rohan Aurora\n3. Conversation: Tools or platforms that allow anyone/everyone to share information or engage in conversation. - Veena Mathew\n4. Sharing: Social media = Sharing information through conversation. - Scot Chisholm\n5. Relationships: Relationshipping on steroids. - Pat Graham-Block\n6. Multi-dimensional: Social media is a multi-dimensional communication information system connecting people to people. -Peter Feuersenger\n7. Inclusive: It's a conversation in an instant with anyone, anywhere, anytime that gives control back to the individual &amp; consumer in unpredented ways.\u201D - Charles Ubaghs\n8. Information: Information funneled to users from all angles. - Sarah Thomson\n9. Community: Set of updated communication tools that allow us to build new communities at a time when our local community had almost been lost. - Jerry Daykin\n10. Personalization: It is the ability to connect and see the world in your own way. The personalization of one of the greatest human achievements: communication! - Benjamin Fischbein\n11. Empowering: Social media is an online renaissance empowering people with influence to facilitate conversations around shared ideas. \u2013 Mark Blackman\n12. A Radical Shift in Communication: The radical shift from one-way broadcast type communications to dialog and conversation using web based tools. - Joe Buhler\n13. Real-time: \u201CSocial Media is on-demand, real time interaction, that uses technology to enable genuine engagement with others around media vs simply sharing data with them.\u201D - Corina Newby\n14. People: Social Media is the instantaneous aggregation and creation of content by the people, of the people, for the people, on the social web. - Eric Pena\n15. Content Distribution: Social media consists of online technologies that facilitate the creation and distribution of content. - David J. Perdue \n16. Self-expression: Social Media's my friend. I can finally broadcast my belief in God, my likes in music, my emotional state &amp; my dinner all from my fingertips - E. A. Freire\n17. Unity: The never ending drive for humans desire to unite. - Sean Farrell\n18. Dynamic: Social media is dynamic user-generated content coming from the bottom up, which bypasses static media forms through adding a social layer. - Anees Younis\n19. Discovery: Social media is communication, friending, family, media, learning and discovery at one click. - Glenn K. Bolton\n20. Power of the Crowd: Social media is the ability to put out a message and having worldwide responses via email, text, tweet, or whatever form in a matter of seconds. - Lilian Ongelungel\n\n\n\nFor more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2010/06/11/top-20-mashable-reader-responses-to-what-is-social-media/>