Some call it Web 2.0, and others call it social media. Whatever the name is, it's technology that's helping to shape and drive the growth of the Bollywood Entertainment industry. So what exactly is social media, and how does it help to drive the growth of Bollywood? For the sake of convenience, we'll just call it social media from here on.

Social media is the natural evolution of the Internet. It means building communities that are able to interact and share with one another on the Internet. For example, if you're on a social media website, you may be able to see what your friends are doing online. If they're listening to some cool MP3 music, you may be able to do the same. If they're visiting some cool Bollywood MP3 websites, you'll be able to see those sites as well (ever heard of social bookmarking?).

This makes it very convenient for people to share stuff with others. Bookmarks, digital files such as MP3 audio files, videos, PDF reports and so on. So if there's anything that's worth sharing on the Internet, you can be sure that in this day and age, it's going to go viral. Viral simply means that people are willing to tell others about the cool stuff that they've come across willingly.

And since we see a lot of entertaining, unique and cool Hindi videos online, it's no wonder that people all over the world are paying attention to Bollywood. In India, the culture is unique and many find Hindi movies and music to be a breath of fresh air.

With the widespread adoption of blogging (another form of social media), fans can now create new unofficial fan sites in a matter of minutes and get all their friends to the sites and share some great music or videos. Their friends can in turn leave comments about their favorite Hindi stars on the blogs. Who is their favorite lead actor or actresses? Who is in and who is out? On the Internet, it's all very revealing. Plus, it's a great load of fun and a great experience to talk about Hindi movies on some friend's blog.

Since Bollywood is reputed to be one of the most productive movie production studio in the world, it's really no surprise to see the sheer number of videos and music clips that find their way on to the Internet and spread like wild fire.

The role of these social websites is an important one and cannot be underestimated. They not only capture the hearts of existing fans, they also help capture the attention of new fans. And they allow these fans to further fuel their love for their favorite Bollywood movies or music by giving them numerous channels to communicate and share with one another.

As the Internet continues to grow at a phenomena pace, we can expect the role of social media in the Bollywood entertainment industry to grow in tandem as well.