What does the phrase “social media community” actually mean?

There are thousands of communities on many different platforms within social media, yet the single phrase persists.

Being apart of the social media community means several things to me:

Listening. To what your customers are saying about you and to see if your brand promise matches the brand experience.
Responding. There’s what you say and where you are saying it: whether it’s in a social media press release, your corporate blog, your Facebook page or bloggers’ comments.
Showing up. Attending events,  being visible in search with a social media footprint and paying attention.
Giving back. As Guy Kawasaki mentions, an important part of the social media community is helping others who cannot help you.

I recently asked my community on Twitter whether using Twitter is synonymous to being apart of the social media community. Here’s what they offered:

Robert Scoble wrote: “Do you say you are part of the telephone community cause you use a phone? So, why do that with social media? I’m just a human, not a SM’er.”

He raises an interesting point—just because someone uses a technology does not necessarily make them a part of a community. However, if the telephone were used only by 1/3 of 1% of the US population (like Twitter) and those who used it shared similar political and social ideas, and they often met up and celebrated the way they were using the telephone, I would call them a part of a community. Would you?

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