As new as I am to being an "active" member of the social media community, I have nevertheless become a passionate advocate - urging friends, associates, and industry contacts to learn and find ways of using social media to achieve their specific goals and ambitions. Everyone's different, and individuals will find their own pathway through this forest of opportunities.
I'm constantly exploring and seeking out my own pathway. Even as I urge others to take the time to understand how these tools work, I'm expanding my knowledge base and seeking out the right combination that will work for my goals.
Of course, my challenge lies in the fact that my goals are shifting as I focus on the emerging opportunities in social media. I am already serving as a consultant to a number of clients and firms on social media matters; and in the past - even before my current YouTube efforts, I wrote several corporate blogs for a former employer and a number of individual clients.
Until I became active, I didn't anticipate the clear opportunities that increased awareness and use of YouTube-type social media are making available. To spread the word, as it were, individuals will need to use the tools.
Before you began using Facebook - did you "get it?"
Before I began using Facebook, I "got it" ... I suppose I was already somewhat of a veteran social media explorer, having been an early member of Friendster even before there was MySpace.
ReplyDeleteBut Facebook didn't become useful to me until a lot of other people "got it." It was when there was a critical mass of people there that I actually started checking in regularly and really using it as a communications platform.
And that's another key point to counter the one in your previous blog. There you asked if we were a bit self-absorbed with all this vlogging and tweeting, etc. But when I think about sites that I've abandoned and those I've stuck with, it's clear that however self-absorbed any of the content may seam, it's still about social interaction, and where there is none, the site dies.
I completely agree. Perhaps the answer is that we are self-absorbed - if it's really fair to call it that - because our society and our technology are requiring an ever-more intense focus on our personal brand. It seems to be a requirement of the information age (it that term even used anymore?)
ReplyDeleteI think the site that i didn't "get" at first was Twitter. I had to be persuaded onto it by some YT friends. Obviously, i now find it invaluable for a number of reasons & i've also met some great local people because of it.
ReplyDeleteI guess that goes to show that even people like myself, who are pretty familiar with using social media, can still get caught out occasionally. If that's the case. What hope is there for outsiders?