Social media is a way to share information between people on the Internet. Like traditional networking, it joins groups of like-minded individuals together to discuss relevant topics.  Unlike traditional networking though, social media enables you to spread ideas to a much broader audience much more quickly.

Social media sites differ in their focus and in the ways you can share information.

Social Bookmarking:

Social bookmarking allows you to store, organize, and manage bookmarks of web pages (including videos, articles, blog posts, etc.) just like you would bookmark the link on your own computer. You can view content from your social bookmarks from any computer anywhere, anytime.

Social bookmarking sites usually have you tag your bookmarked content, which means to include words and phrases that describe your content when you bookmark it.  Accurate, descriptive tags increase the chances that people looking for this type of content will find your bookmarks.

You can save your social bookmarks privately, or you can share them publically - either with anyone who finds your information or with only groups or people you specify.

Some social bookmarking sites focus mainly on showing information that their entire community likes.  Other sites focus more on networking between like-minded members who enjoy reading each other's content.

Content on social bookmarking sites is often user-generated content, which is content created by the community members themselves.

Social Networking:

Social networking sites focus on building online communities of people with similar interests. These sites allow members to follow each other and interact, most often through email and instant messages.

Social networking sites vary greatly in the amount of information you enter about yourself and in the amount of information you share with others.

When you register with a social networking site, you'll create a profile that describes you and your interests.  You can link your profile to others, often considered adding them as friends or including them in your network.

Once you have a profile, most social networking sites allow you to update others in your network about what you're doing, what you like, what you don't like, and more.  Many sites include ways to have a conversation either through private or public messages. Like social bookmarking sites, many of these sites allow you to post web content, but this feature is not the focus on social networking sites.

Like social bookmarking sites, social networking sites allow you to show your profile to the public or only to certain groups or individuals that you specify.