ABSTRACT
In describing social media, McConnell and Huba (2007) suggest that it is ‘the sum total of people who create content online, as well as the people who interact with it or one another ’ (it is the element of interaction that gives grounds to the term conversational marketing ). In more tangible terms, ‘ social media ’ is generally applied to sites where users can add their own content but do not have control over the site in the same way as they would their own website. For example, I can have my own FaceBook page on which I can add my own content and a blog on blogger.com where I write my own thoughts and opinions. However, I do not own the domain name, nor do I have any infl uence over how the site is run. Indeed, at the click of a mouse the host could delete my content – or they could close down the whole site. Social media, therefore, is not normally used to describe any content that is on my own website (there is an exception covered in section 9.3, cyberbashing sites). Once again, in the dynamic – and still developing – world of the Internet terms, defi nitions and practices are not quite as fi nite as in traditional environments and media.
