The key differentiator between traditional media and social media is: YOU.

Social Media consists of platforms that most probably make you uncomfortable.

If your goal is to capture and maintain an audience / fan base / following through the acceptance and popularity of whatever it is you want an audience around there are no other free and fully accessible platforms aside from social media.

More and more entrepreneurs and businesses are getting shut out from mainstream media and web based marketing and the use of social media is now part of practically every publicists and marketers strategies.

Social networks have become integral platforms for engaging fans and consumers who according to surveys are expecting to be engaged more and more as time rolls on.

Mobile has been buzzed about for the past several years as a highly effective way for reaching audiences of engaged fans by allowing promotions and marketing and offers now to take place literally inside of peoples pockets on smart phones that are getting smarter everyday.

Social media causes new quandaries for those of us who don’t want to feel like carnival barkers, and those of use who are weary of stripping our mystique away.

The upside of social media is: if the mainstream print media rejects you (or you can't afford access) you now have more power than ever before to take matters into your own hands and connect directly.

And you can do so with little barrier to entry thanks to multiple platforms that millions of people are using such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and Pinterest.

Online The key differentiator between traditional media and social media is: YOU.

Traditional media works like this: You get reviewed in a newspaper or in a magazine, or interviewed on radio or TV. It's broadcast out into the world. People read the magazine or newspaper, watch TV or listen It’s ONE WAY or PASSIVE.

Social media, is completely different. It’s a TWO WAY, INTERACTIVE street. You are not only invited to participate, but also encouraged to do so. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs facilitate easy participation, which is completely transparent and you (and all who are connected) can see, react and participate with you.

If you are used to the “Traditional Model” this TWO WAY street is foreign, unfamiliar, overwhelming and not what you signed up for when you decided you wanted to share your vision with the world.

For those still in that mindset I have three words: adapt or die.