Businesses may refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.

企业可参考社交媒体作为用户生成媒体【CGM指：任何人都可以在网上创建内容，通过数码技术被其他消费者应用】。融合技术和社会互动的价值的共同创造是贯穿于社交媒体所有定义的一个共同的主线。

People obtain information, education, news and other data from electronic and print media. Social media are distinct from industrial or traditional media, such as newspapers, television, and film as they are comparatively inexpensive and accessible to enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information. Industrial media  nerally require significant resources to publish information.

人们从电子和印刷媒体获取信息、教育、新闻和其他数据。社交媒体不同于商业或传统媒体,如报纸，电视，电影，因为他们相对廉价而且可以使得任何人（甚至个人）发布或访问信息。商业媒体则需要大量资源来发布信息。
 

One characteristic shared by both social and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach no people or millions of people. Some of the properties that help describe the differences between social and industrial media are:

社交媒体和商业媒体的一个共同特征是它们影响的受众范围或大或小，例如，无论是一个博客帖子还是电视节目，它们或许影响不了任何人，或者就是影响了数以百万计的人。以下是一些帮助描述社交媒体和商业媒体区别的属性：
 

1. Reach – both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and are capable of reaching a global audience. Industrial media, however, typically use a centralized framework for organization, production, and dissemination, whereas social media are by their very nature more decentralized, less hierarchical, and distinguished by multiple points of production and utility.

   1.传播性：商业媒体技术和社交媒体技术都可以为全球的受众提供标准而且可以惠及全球的受众。不过，商业媒体通常使用一个集中的框架结构来组织生产、宣传，而社交媒体本质上具有更多的分散性和更少的层次性，而且社交媒体凭借多点化的生产和效用而杰出。

2. Accessibility – the means of production for industrial media are typically government and/or corporate (privately-owned); social media tools are generally available to the public at little or no cost.

   2.普遍服务的原则：通常情况下，商业媒体的生产资料是由政府和私企业主共同持有;社交媒体通常是低费用或者（甚至）免费向大众开放。

3. Usability – industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Conversely, most social media production requires only modest reinterpretation of existing skills; in theory, anyone with access can operate the means of social media production.

    3.可用性——商业媒体生产通常需要专门的技能和培训。相反，大多数的社交媒体生产只需要对现有的技能做出适当的改进；而且理论上，任何能够接触社交媒体的人都能掌握它的生产方法。

    4.Immediacy – the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses). However, as industrial media begins adopting aspects of production normally associated with social media tools, this feature may not prove distinctive over time.

  4.即时性——相比之下，采用商业媒体进行的通讯时滞有时会长于（几乎能够瞬时反馈的）社交媒体（几天，几周，甚至几个月）。但是，随着商业媒体开始允许产品的某些方面和社交媒体工具正常连接，长此以往，商业媒体的时滞问题就不没那么明显了。

  5.Permanence – industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.

  5.永久性——商业媒体一旦被创建就不能被更改。（就像杂志中的一篇文章如果已经印刷和发行，便不能改动了。）反之，社交媒体就能够通过近乎瞬时的评论或编辑来改动。

    Community media constitute a hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radio, TV and newspapers are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks.

 社区媒体由商业媒体和社交媒体的融合构成。尽管社区媒体是集体所有的，但其广播、电视和报纸有一些是由专业人士运作的，也有一些是由非专业人士运作的。总的来说，他们都是使用社交和商业媒体框架。

Social media has also been recognized for the way in which it has changed how public relations professionals conduct their jobs. It has provided an open arena where people are free to exchange ideas on companies, brands and products. As stated by Doc Searls and David Wagner, two authorities on the effects of Internet on marketing, advertising, and PR, "the best of the people in PR are not PR Types at all. They understand that there aren't censors, they're the company's best conversationalists." Social media provides an environment where users and PR professionals can converse, where PR professionals can promote their brand and improve their company's image, by listening and responding to what the public is saying about their product.

社会媒体也被公认为已经改变了公共关系专家工作的方式。它提供了一个开放的舞台，在这里人们可以交换关于公司、品牌、产品的一些想法）并且不用缴纳费用。正如研究网络对营销，广告，公关的影响的两位权威——Searis博士和David Wanger所说：做公关最好的人是不分公关类型的。他们深知没有审查存在，因此它是他们公司的最健谈的人。而社会媒体提供了一个环境,在这个环境下用户和公关专家可以交谈,公关专家也可以通过倾听和回应公众对他们的产品的想法，以此来推销自己的品牌,提高公司的形象。