Wikipedia describes a social media as, “Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein also define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content."1 Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.”

A social media is basically the technological equivalent of two or more people in a social gathering. It differs in that all interaction is non physical. You can still converse in real-time without ever leaving the comfort of your home or office. Some well known social media sites are Facebook, Blackplanet, Mocospace, Twitter, Myspace, Tagged and many more that are being developed daily. Social media sites offer the ability to chat, view photos, blog and so much more through the use of advanced technology. Several of the above mentioned sites offer an electronic bulletin board of sorts that you can post to as well as a real-time messenger interface, which allows you to communicate without having to wait an excessively long period of time for a response from others.

My own personal definition is simply is Television, Newspapers, Movies, is the opposite of social media. without all the hype it just means people can talk and share online, like youtube or facebook or twitter, blogs etc.. It means being connected because in the past TV, Movies, and Newspapers were media that were broadcast at people. now people can talk back and to each othe, you know internet stuff... simple huh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/social_media.html

http://vodpod.com/watch/4561652-social-media-questions-and-answers