[UPDATE: Make sure to also check out my follow-up post with new and more of these fantastic eBooks – “9 Free eBooks on Social Media“.]

If you’re reading this blog, then you’re somewhat familiar with social media – the ongoing and ever-growing buzzword and phenomenon on the web today. And whether you’re keeping in touch with friends and family, growing your company’s brand, promoting your product or blog… social media and networks have become a major part of our daily lives.

Below is a list and brief description of 16 ebooks that pertain to social media, including the power or rewarding effect it can have when used properly [having a few different perspectives can’t hurt :)]. They can direct you in the right direction in order to achieve social media success or can help you improve or accelerate your performance if you’re already an active user of the social web.

1. What is Social Media?

This ebook answers one simple question: What is social media? From iCrossing, “What is Social Media?” runs down all the basics, from how social media is being used to providing definitions of the ever-changing jargon that personifies social media.

Download ebook from: www.icrossing.co.uk

2. The Essential Guide to Social Media

“The Essential Guide to Social Media” is a brief overview of how to listen and participate in social media and new media marketing. It is an executive outline of Social Media tools and resources needed to listen and participate, guiding PR, Customer Service, Product Development and Marketing.

Download ebook from: www.scribd.com

3. The Social Media Starter Kit

“The Social Media Starter Kit” covers some of the most popular social media tools and technologies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and blogging, as well as some productivity and supporting tools to make social media task management easier and more fluid.

Download ebook from: altitudebranding.com

4. Getting Started with Social Media

“Getting Started with Social Media” is written as a guide or checklist to get you or your small business started with social media. Basically, it’s your starting point.  A practical chart is also included inside the ebook so that you can print and use it to fill in your different social media profile information.

Download ebook from: orangejack.com

5. What is Social Media Marketing?

This ebook is a brief overview of what Social Media Marketing is all about. It looks at various styles of online communication and includes a couple of case studies.

Download ebook from: orangejack.com

6. The New Rules of Viral Marketing

The smart marketers profiled in “The New Rules of Viral Marketing: How word-of-mouse spreads your ideas for free” tell you exactly how they used viral marketing and provide advice in their own words.

Download ebook from: www.davidmeermanscott.com

7. Getting a Foothold in Social Media

A rundown of some of the basic, fundamental elements of building a social media plan. Although it is directed at smaller and medium-sized businesses it is also consistent for companies of any size.

Download ebook from: altitudebranding.com

8. Customer Service: The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media

In the era of Social Media, there are new tools and philosophies to more effectively listen and engage with customers and in turn, cultivate a more significant community, enhance your brand, build relationships and hopefully create evangelists along the way. “Customer Service: The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media” is about how to do so through a new level of PR, Social Marketing, community management and customer service using social tools driven by a meaningful, value-oriented two-way program.

Download ebook from: www.scribd.com

9. The Simple Web

As bloggers and Webmasters, we want many things: more visitors, more subscribers, more comments, more money, more inbound links and more people saying good things about us. Our wants aren’t in question. It’s the how that gets us. The answers to these questions and more can be found in this ebook.

Download ebook from: www.skelliewag.org

10. A Primer in Social Media

Social media represents a broad change in how people communicate with one another. This is exciting for businesses as it presents new channels and methods of reaching consumers. As such, early adopters have encountered both successes and failures in developing strategies that incorporate this new paradigm. smashLAB advises groups to remain strategic and pragmatic in employing social media.

Download ebook from: www.smashlab.com

11. Social Media Tips

Kodak CMO Jeff Hayzlett and his team put this ebook together to share some of their thoughts and first hand experiences using social media for their business. Hayzlett takes the time to use social media like Twitter and Facebook because in today’s media landscape it’s vitally important to be where your customers are. Kodak has always embraced this marketing philosophy, and today that means being active in social media.

Download ebook from: www.kodak.com

12. Blogs and Social Media

Download ebook from: www.prsa.org

13. SEO for WordPress Blogs

Download ebook from: www.blizzardinternet.com

14. Get Viral – Get Visitors

This ebook provides useful information about Viral and Internet Marketing.

Download ebook from: www.staciemahoe.com

15. The Social Web Analytics eBook 2008

This ebook is an introduction to Social Web Analytics (SWA, also known as Social Media Analytics), the driver for it, how it can be applied, the key vendors and their services, and considerations for your organisation’s procurement of such services.

Dowload ebook from: socialwebanalytics.com

16. Building a Social Media Team

If you’re considering deploying a team to tackle your social media efforts, you may want to read this. We’ll discuss why you might need a team, how to assemble one, roles and responsibilities and more. This ebook includes a look inside Humana’s social media “Chamber of Commerce” and how their interdisciplinary team is driving social media efforts at their company.

Download ebook from: altitudebranding.com

Have you read any of these? Are there any other ebooks on social media that you like or recommend?

*Note: The ebook descriptions that are located under each image have been taken from the original sites or authors and have been slightly modified/reworded.

[image credit: (orange ebook – top left) via inkwelleditorial.blogspot.com]