I think social media can be called an industry, but from a quick peek around the ‘net I’ve found that people will call just about anything an industry – so this seems like saying “gold is a commodity.”

Generally, companies are in the “industry” they make the largest portion of revenue from. How do you sell “social media?” I think people make money using social media, but not directly from the sale of social media.

I would say “Web 2.0″ is the design pattern that enables social media, and an “industry vertical” is a more specific grouping of businesses with a similar target market, essentially (whether one existed before or not). My theory:

Web 2.0 companies form a new industry vertical within the technology market.

You can sell “Web 2.0″ – the code, design, etc. whereas selling “social media” suggests (to me, at least) that you have paid accounts – which apparently Twitter is considering. For now I’ll just lump everything into the “technology industry” so I don’t have to change my mind so often. If anyone can find an actual (updated) list of industries in this sense (not manufacturing) please share!

Do you think the sale of a product or service is required to be considered an industry?