The media has changed dramatically with the times and improved its methods of reaching the masses. The world now infers news, entertainment and more through two dominant forms of media: Traditional Media and Social Media.
Traditional media is the oldest form of communication. Its main components are Newspapers, Magazines, TV, and Radio.
Social media is a form of electronic communication that enables users to create and share information, ideas, messages, and content via social networking websites and applications.
Similarities
The similarity between both media types is that they both communicate information to massive audiences.
Let us know the differences between the two types of media to get a clear idea of each in detail.
Communication
Traditional media delivers a single message to the masses through one-way communication on networks like television and radio. In this form of media, only the sender or source of the information decides what to publish, telecast or broadcast and the receiver has no role except to view or listen to the information. In contrast, social media allows for two-way communication. The receiver can share the information with others, express his views on the same, comment, like and react in many other ways and exercise a lot of freedom.
Engagement
Social media focuses on engagement, while traditional media focuses more on reach. Social media’s sole purpose is to get a response and interaction from the masses. It requires one to create appealing content that delivers the message and keeps the viewers connected to the brand. Traditional media is a one-way street that aims to broadcast messages to audiences across the globe without any engagement from them.
Communication
Traditional media is aimed at reaching mass customers; hence, the marketing material is designed with the masses in mind, with the message being simple, crisp and precise. On the other hand, social media can be targeted at both the masses as well as a group of customers or even individuals. The marketing material of social media is thus creative, quirky, attractive and engaging.
Type
Traditional media usually support a single format for communication. A newspaper can only be in the form of a static sheet of paper with text and pictures. While Social media uses various types of formats to communicate, such as documents, text, video, graphics, etc.,
Reliability
The information disseminated through traditional media undergoes multiple checks about the facts and information it conveys. The information is produced by authorised personnel only. Thus, all information shared on this type of media is true and reliable.
Information on social media is created and disseminated by users. The reliability of the information is not 100 percent reliable.
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