These terms are thrown around quite frequently with the rise of web 2.0 and social media but often they’re mistakenly used to describe the same thing when, in fact, the differences are rather important, particularly for marketers. Although these terms are the latest buzzwords to join a long list of industry terminology, it is important to understand them.

Ultimately it comes down to the distinction between ‘media’ as a channel of communication and ‘content’ being the communication itself. And ‘users’ being general participants whereas ‘consumers’ are a subset representing those who have purchased or are considering the purchase of a product or service . Here’s how we define each:

UGM – User Generated Media: A channel or platform of communication that facilitates the creation of content by the users. Examples: YouTube, Flickr, MySpace

CGM – Consumer Generated Media: A channel or platform of communication specifically related to the purchase or purchase consideration of a product or service. Example: www.consumerist.com

UGC – User Generated Content: A specific piece of communication in the form of text, audio, video, illustration, or animation created by a general user. Example: a sneezing panda on YouTube

CGC – Consumer Generated Content: A specific piece of communication in the form of text, audio, video, illustration or animation about a product or service. Example: cancelling AOL

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