What is social media?
Social media is a broad term used to describe different types of web based services and mobile applications that enable people with common interests to communicate and share information and resources with each other in real time.
There are different types of social media used for discrete purposes.
Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn allow people to connect with those they choose to, by invitation.
Social bookmarking tools, such as Delicious, allow people to bookmark web pages they like and share these with others.
Social referral tools, such as Digg and StumbleUpon are like online popularity contests. People denote web pages they like and the more people who like them, the better ranking the web page gets.
Micro blogs, such as Twitter, allow people to convey their ideas, link to websites, share pictures and communicate with one person or all people with a limited number of characters. Twitter messages, called Tweets, must be 140 characters or less.
Action for Blind People's digital community
Action for Blind People have a variety of ways for our service users and site visitors to communicate with us, each other, and the wider community in and around visual impairment.
In addition to signing up for Action Connect and UP Central, we also use a range of social media tools.
Become a fan of Action on Facebook at www.facebook.com/actionforblindpeople.
Follow Action on Twitter at www.twitter.com/actionforblind.
You can also use Easy Chirp, which has been designed as an alternative to the Twitter.com website for people who require a more accessible interface. Easy Chirp can be found at www.easychirp.com.
