When you hear the term "Social Media", what comes to mind? Well whatever it may be, what should come to mind is the culmination of everyone's lives in one place, the internet. It isn't too hard to have some experience with social media, especially if you have ever met a social butterfly in real life, who loves to talk about themselves and their lives to everyone, whether they enjoy it or not. Because that is exactly what social media is about, sharing experiences from one's own life, with the rest of the world.

Sharing and interactivity. These two words are the essence of social media and what it is about. These two concepts allow web pages to be more than a document filled with information and pretty images. Instead of having a bland article that just states information, you now have an article in which people may publicly respond, and discuss it. Do they like it? Then there may be a way to share the same article with peers and thus get more visitors. Having this interactivity with what used to be one way conversations now create two conversations, which are far more productive and useful.

The largest social media platforms generally do not have a narrow focus. With Facebook (640,000,000+ Registered Users), Qzone (480,000,000+ Registered Users), and MySpace(100,000,000+ Registered Users), all of these sites allow people to share everything they want with whomever they want. Pictures? Blogs? Stories? You can tell the world all of this through these sites. Even now, many social networks are becoming involved with each other, partnering up, allowing people to post one item in multiple sites, extending and quickening their reach to their peers.

Social Media can manifest itself in many forms. The Find Friend > Befriend them > Share stories formula of course is not the only way social media works on the web. Anything that allows users to share content with each other fulfills the idea of social media. Wikipedia (User Created Encyclopedia), World of Warcraft (Massively Multiplayer Online Game), and 4chan (Imageboard website) all have one thing in common. Users are encouraged and enthusiastic about sharing experiences and ideas. From corporate sites that encourage resume building and career advice, social media marketing, to casual sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and even massive online games and collaboration products, all of these encompass the idea of social media and what it is.

What does this mean for the world as we know it? Well, in one case, with the integration of Social Media in our lives, one may say we will eventually know where our social media friends are, what they are doing, who they are with, all the time. With those futuristic glasses of yours, you may have news feeds from BookFace and Rettiwt running along your vision. Unsettling in some ways, huh? On the other hand, Social Media will bring innovation and a giant vat of ideas that may rival technological and ideological advancements seen in past revolutions. Social Media, in my eyes, is the start of bringing the world together like we haven't seen before, where we may transcend language and geographical barriers.

Imagine what the boat, plane, phone, and internet did for furthering world communication. Social Media is doing exactly that, bringing us closer than before at a very alarming pace. Social media platforms may one day take over the world.