Of late, the word 'social' has become synonymous with the websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Whatsapp. Even a small child is acquainted with these names now.
Chats and blogs form part of the social media lore. Talkomatic, which was launched at the University of Illinois way back in 1973 is perhaps the first chat platform. A lot of chat rooms saw the light of day after that. The 90's saw blogs gaining popularity. With the internet being easily available, a lot of websites where people could share videos and photos came into vogue. The social media sites of the day make use of all this technology.
For many, Facebook defines social media. There are more than 100 crore Facebook users in the US. India comes second with about 12 crore users. By 2017, it is expected that India will surpass the US.
When Facebook was launched, it was restricted to just friends. Later, celebrities and famous institutions, including media houses started creating Facebook pages, which gained popularity. Most of the media houses are on Facebook these days. Once a user likes a page, the updates will show up on his newsfeed. This gives the reader a chance to read different updates and share it with his friends.
Malayala Manorama too has a Facebook page. Like Manoramaonline and Onmanorama to see the latest news as and when it happens.