Kauai Community College has asked me to present a 6-hour class entitled, “Social Media: An Introduction.” In preparing for the class, I turned to Websters II New Riverside Dictionary and looked up the word “social.”
The definition included:
1. Living in communities or groups.
2. Of or relating to the life and interrelationships of human beings in society.
3. Marked by friendly companionship with others.
Given this definition, unless you’re a hermit, what you do day-to-day is social, isn’t it? Think about it . . .
1. Living in communities or groups: You have your neighborhood, your work place, your child’s school, place of worship, local grocery store or post office.
2. Relating to life of human beings: As you go about your day, somewhere along the way you relate to others with a “How are you?,” “How’s work?,” or “How are the kids, family, etc.?”
3. Marked by friendly companionship with others: As you connect with others, build relationships, and engage with others more often, you develop friendly companionships – maybe life-long friends.
Networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn along with video sharing sites like YouTube, have given us a way to expand our reach around the world and engage with others we may have never met otherwise – getting social in a new way simply using our computers.
However, before social media exploded and became the latest medium used around the world, we’ve always been social creatures striving to know, like and trust one another. Now we just have another means of doing so online as well as off. Don’t you agree?
