I enjoy sorting things, it makes me feel more in control of the massive volume of information coming my way every day. it also helps me to explain things to others in a direct and simple manner.

In my opinion, there is nothing more in need of organization than the flood of social media tools and platforms that keep popping up.

In that spirit, last April I posted at Communication Overtones a list of seven major categories into which you could sort various social media platforms.

Geoff has decided to use this list in “Now Is Gone,” so am I republishing it here.

Social Media encompasses a broad variety of things. Better definitions can also help public relations and marketing professionals integrate social media into their public relations planning.

So, here is what I have come up with so far. Some of the examples I give cross over into other categories, but I have chosen the category in which I feel each example primarily fits. For instance, I put YouTube in “Social Networks,” but the site also allows the promotion of content and could technically fit into “Democratized Content.”

I did not try to exhaustively include examples, though I did try to showcase some of our marketing/PR resources (plus some of the more well-known platforms) to make this a useful list. Please feel free to add your own examples and categories in the comments section.

Seven Categories of Social Media

Publishing Platforms: These consist of platforms and tools that allow the author(s) to set the content of the initial offering. Most offer a way for others to comment on the content and include RSS feeds to syndicate the copy

• Examples: Blogs (Constatin Basturea’s List of PR Blogs), Podacasts (Shel Holt’s list of podcasts), and Vlogs or Video Blogs (Beet TV is one of my favorites).

Social Networking Sites: These sites allow users to interface by becoming friends and/or sharing favorites. They allow the individual user to have their own space, while also incorporating links and other connections to other users

• Examples: YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, MySpace, and Facebook

Democratized Content Networks: These sites allow all users to contribute equally, usually with some sort of ability to vote for the best content, or to override, in the case of Wikis, previously submitted content.

• Examples: Digg, NewPR, Wikipedia and old-fashioned forums of all kinds

Virtual Networking Platforms: These often require third-party interfaces to participate (though some can be accessed through the browser), and consist of a virtual reality experience with other users.

• Second Life (my avatar is Kamichat Watson) and There.com

Information Aggregators: These are publicly available, machine driven aggregators of niche content, usually with some human editing (such as adding RSS feeds) involved in the process.

• Examples: Techmeme and Power 150 Kitchen Sink

Edited Social News Platforms: These are sites where users recommend links and can make comments on the stories that make it through the human editors

• Examples: Fark and Spin Thicket

Content Distribution Sites:
Sites that allow the user create, collect and/or share content and distribute by providing RSS, code and/or e-mail options. Widgets would also fall into this category.

• Examples: Scrapblog, Del.icio.us and Clearspring

tags: Social+Media, Categories, Public+Relations, Marketing, PR

Part of participating in social media is sharing. Bloggers such as Todd Defren are rightfully calling for us to share more practical and successful social media case studies.

So, last week, I dug up a few case studies I had been saving as my own best practices guide and shared them at my main blog, Communication Overtones. This included one I had written up as well.

But it didn’t seem like enough. Geoff and I came up with the idea to start a running list of social media case studies here at “Now Is Gone.” It is the perfect venue to share and share alike. So you might notice the bright, shiny “Case Studies” tab in the top right corner. And selfishly, we can take a look at some great best practices on a regular basis.

So, consider this post a “call for entries.” Write up your case study on your blog and let us know so that we can link to it, and while you are at it, turn it into a pdf and send it to Jen McClure at the New Communications Review, where you can find a growing list of case studies as well. Better yet, enter the Excellence in New Communications Awards, which are due on September 28, 2007.

In a comment to this thread on David Jones’ blog, Brendon Hodgson made a comment that really resonated with me:

I also tend to think there’s way too much punditry out there and (still) not a lot of crunchy doing (for clients, and for ourselves)…I’m feeling less inclined to read those who talk, and focus more of my time on those who ‘do’….”

So, let’s show off all of that crunchy doing!

tags: Case+Study, Case+Studies, PR, Marketing, New+Media, Social+Media