Social Media vs. Social Marketing

I wanted to clear up the confusion that commonly surrounds the terms 'social marketing' and 'social media'.  I sometimes forget that not everybody tosses around advertising lingo on a daily basis.  Since I am planning to formulate this blog around the effects of social media and social marketing on HIV/AIDS, it might be a good idea to define what these two ideas incorporate, for the edification of my non-advertising readers as well as for myself!  

Social marketing is the use of ordinary marketing tools and principles to achieve a certain behavior or to sell an idea (for a social good), rather than push a product.  The main goal of social marketing is to benefit society, rather than an organization. Social Marketing has been used for years in the medical field for health programs and awareness, particularly birth-control/condom use.  

Social Media, although similar in name, is completely different.  Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. are examples of social media.  They are primarily internet based platforms that allow for discussion, sharing and communication with a number of friends.  

There is no need to go into too much more detail about these terms, but hopefully this clears up any misconceptions.