Recently, a close friend of mine had to present her thoughts on social media to a tribunal of influential people in the hospitality industry. Like many organizations, many of them are still figuring out what to do with social media and how to use it as an advertising and revenue-raising tool. However, when she brought some questions to me and a friend involved in the new media industries, it led to a really great question: what is social media, really?

The problem, we quickly discovered, is that most companies still expect social media to be an investment they can make with a reasonable 'Return On Investment' (ROI). In their eyes, a staff of three people, each paid $60,000 a year, should be able to generate net earnings based on the way they use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even blogs—or so the thinking goes. But strangely, in all the talk the industries made about social media, they failed to recognize it for what it really is: community.

This is not an easy topic to peruse and sift through. It's one thing to say that social media is about community, but another thing to know what it means. It's about building a brand through community, certainly, but in my grandfather's day, he was quick to call a brand a "reputation." And reputations are inherently social—they create community.

So, what is social media? It's our reputation. That's why VSCO has a beautiful and well-maintained blog about photographers. The photographers all use VSCO's filters, but the primary focus is on the art—not the tool. VSCO has a reputation as 'artists first and developers second'; the blog reinforces the reputation.

But for all that, the blog doesn't necessarily create an immediate ROI. In fact, the ROI of a publicly visible brand isn't necessarily measurable in months or even years, but likely in decades instead. Most people can't taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke, but Coke sells more. Why?

It's because Coca-cola makes you feel something. That's their brand; their 'reputation' (one of the most valuable in the world, in fact). Their most recent viral video success was this popular security camera commercial. Coke's viral marketing creates a reputation for them as dreamers, a company that believes in the good in people.

But even that commercial doesn't add ROI. It simply creates brand value—which might have more value than simple dollars and cents.

What can you take away from all this? For starters, you should know that social media isn't a money game. You won't make any money off your Twitter account, and making a lot off your blog is rare—not all of us are Jon Gruber. That being said, the way you use social media can inspire a reputation—that's your brand!

For many of us, we live to inspire people. Others want to tell stories. In its ultimate form, social media should do all that (without going so far as to end a headline with "and what happened next will shock you").

Community is created by reputation, and business is made by reputation and referral. Social media is online networking. It is branding. It is reputation. I got my start thanks to Twitter (that's a story for another day), but I can safely say that an online reputation can be everything. When used properly, social media's ROI may not be money, but rather a stronger network of people who support you and your brand, be it personal or corporate. Using it in any other way would ring untrue.