General solicitation is legalese (or the SEC’s term) for advertising? In the securities world, advertising really means you’re not going to your pre-existing network of investors or family and friends. You are really going to the crowd, the public, and people that you don’t already know, or people that you don’t already have a relationship with.
What constitutes different forms of general solicitation? Well, if you are posting publicly on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or just speaking publicly to a bunch of people in the room who you don’t know and aren’t pre-vetted, you are engaging in general solicitation.