{"id":21541,"date":"2020-01-30T10:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/social-media"},"modified":"2026-10-02T11:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:31:46","slug":"social-media","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/social-media","title":{"rendered":"Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-80683 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/social-media-glosario-600.jpg\" alt=\"Social Media\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/social-media-glosario-600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/social-media-glosario-600-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/social-media-glosario-600-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/social-media-glosario-600-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Social media<\/strong> is the collection of digital media that allows people and organizations to create, publish, share, and comment on content while building relationships within online communities. It includes social networks, as well as other participatory spaces such as forums, interactive blogs, video platforms, community messaging services, and collaborative sites.<\/p>\n\n<h2>What social media includes<\/h2>\n<p>The concept is defined by <strong>user participation and the circulation of content<\/strong>, not by a particular platform. Unlike a purely editorial digital medium, these services allow the audience to produce information, respond, and form connections.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Social networks:<\/strong> structure profiles and relationships among people, companies, or communities on professional or general-interest platforms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Content platforms:<\/strong> organize videos, images, live streams, podcasts, or other publications that users can follow, rate, and share.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communities and forums:<\/strong> bring together conversations about topics, problems, or interests and retain knowledge contributed by their members.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blogs and collaborative spaces:<\/strong> support comments, contributions, or collective editing and help distribute specialized content.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Social messaging channels:<\/strong> connect groups or communities through private, public, or semi-public conversations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Therefore, <strong>social media and social network are not exact synonyms<\/strong>. A social network is a type of social medium centered on connections among profiles; social media is the broader category that covers different participatory channels.<\/p>\n<h2>Use in marketing and communication<\/h2>\n<p>Within a digital strategy, social media can <strong>combine publishing, conversation, distribution, and listening<\/strong>. An organization selects channels according to its objectives and audience rather than trying to maintain a presence on every platform.<\/p>\n<p>Common applications include the following activities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Content and awareness:<\/strong> distributing useful information, creative formats, and brand messages to reach relevant communities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Audience relations:<\/strong> answering questions, moderating conversations, and gathering feedback about products, services, or topics of interest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution and promotion:<\/strong> extending the organic reach of a publication or using targeted advertising to reach specific groups.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Social listening:<\/strong> monitoring mentions, questions, and conversations to identify needs, issues, and changes in perception.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Traffic and conversion:<\/strong> directing people to content, forms, stores, or other destinations when the action supports a defined objective.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/market-segmentation\">Market segmentation<\/a> helps define audiences, but platform targeting options do not replace customer knowledge or guarantee results. It is also important to distinguish between <strong>organic activity and paid advertising<\/strong> because they require different resources, measurement, and expectations.<\/p>\n<h2>Benefits and limitations<\/h2>\n<p>Social media supports <strong>more direct and measurable communication<\/strong>, although outcomes depend on the content, management, and competitive context. Its main contributions include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Reach and discovery:<\/strong> helping a brand, project, or piece of content be found and shared by new audiences.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Interaction:<\/strong> enabling responses and conversations more quickly than many one-way channels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Audience insight:<\/strong> providing signals about interests and behavior that can inform decisions when privacy and data quality are properly considered.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Community:<\/strong> supporting lasting relationships among people who share a brand, cause, profession, or interest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measurement:<\/strong> providing data on reach, views, interactions, clicks, and other actions connected with each objective.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are limitations as well. <strong>Reach depends on third-party algorithms and policies<\/strong>, visible metrics do not always represent business value, and public conversations may require a rapid response. Misinformation, harassment, account security, copyright, and data processing are part of day-to-day management.<\/p>\n<h2>Managing a social media strategy<\/h2>\n<p>An effective strategy begins with <strong>specific objectives, clear responsibilities, and measurement criteria<\/strong>. The process can be organized into these stages:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Define objectives and audience:<\/strong> specify what the organization wants to achieve, for whom, and how it relates to communication or business strategy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Select channels:<\/strong> assess where the audience participates, which formats each service supports, and what resources it requires.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plan content and conversation:<\/strong> establish topics, schedule, tone, moderation, customer care, and procedures for handling incidents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Publish and distribute:<\/strong> adapt each item to the channel and coordinate organic content, collaborations, and paid campaigns where appropriate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measure and adjust:<\/strong> connect platform indicators with useful outcomes and periodically review formats, frequency, and resources.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/social-media-manager\">Social Media Manager<\/a> commonly defines and coordinates this framework, while a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/community-manager\">Community Manager<\/a> focuses primarily on daily execution and community relations. In small teams, both functions may be assigned to one person, but <strong>strategy and operational management remain distinct responsibilities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Social media brings together participatory digital media. Learn what it includes, how it is used in marketing, its benefits, limitations, and management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":80685,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1446,1448],"class_list":["post-21541","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-social-media-interactions","encyclopedia-tag-social-platforms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/21541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=21541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}