Social Media has become a large part of the internet. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, WeChat, QQ and many other services provide areas for like minded people to communicate. YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr and other media services provide space for people to share their videos and photos. Social media is a technology that is based on user-based content.
To access these services you will need to register for an account. Once you have logged in with your personal username and password you can access the resources that these services offer. Though these service offer a wide range of different features, the most common feature is the ability to post your throughts, ideas and images so that others can see them.
News groups and discussion forums are discussion areas that allow people to exchange ideas. You can write a message and post it to a discussion group in the morning and come back to read a reply to the message in the afternoon. You can also reply to other's messages.
There are 10s of thousands of discussions covering as many topics as there are interests. Some are moderated, meaning that a person who has knowledge or an interest in a certain topic will receive the message and read it before posting it. This keeps the discussion on topic. Many are not moderated and the discussion can go anywhere but it can be a great way to get a quick reply to your questions.
As well as the public newsgroups many organizations and companies will provide discussion groups or bulletin boards which focus on areas related to their own topics. This can be a great spot to find out more about an organization, find a solution to a problem you are having and participate in the discussions related to that company or organization.
When signing up for a social media or discussion forum account you will need to provide personal information and usually an email address. It is recommended that you posting personal information to a public forum like social media or discussion groups. These services usually provide a way for people to communicate without having to provide your personal information, such as your email address.
Many news groups and discussion forums have a faq or help section. A faq is a collection of frequently asked questions that have been asked and answered already. You should always search through the site before posting a question as your question may have already been answered.
Social media and other free services pay for the service by collecting and selling marketable information from the information posted by their users and by selling advertising.
Last updated: March 4, 2021