One of my main issues lately with blogging and Twittering has been the, what seems like, constant bowing down in front of one another of ’social media types’. Jason Falls had a great post on Friday summarizing many of my feelings. During the weekend we were lucky enough to mooch off of our good friends, since we are currently ‘in between homes’. Several times during the weekend we talked about things like Twitter, Facebook, blogging and more. The conversations, at least for me, were invigorating, challenging and refreshing. Mainly because neither of our friends are into any of these activities.
Talking with people who have little interest in social media makes you much better at expaining it’s importance. Fielding questions that are completely untainted makes you understand how all of this is perceived by the majority of people. Finally, it puts it all into prespective and you realize once again that just because you have thousands of followers on Twitter that does not measure your impact nor your importance.
After these types of sessions I actually feel much stronger about my own personal use of social media, but also how we are using it professionally. I can now go into a meeting and better explain what Facebook is, why it is important and the pitfalls you must watch for when entering social networking. Also I can see more clearly what tools are most effective, again for me, and what social media gadgets will never have value-add. My mind feels a bit more clear today, at least in terms of this topic, because I was questioned in a challenging manner by people who were not ’social media celebs’.
Have you talked to someone not in the social media world today?
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Either great minds think alike or what we’re thinking is a prevailing theme. Probably a bit of both. And I make it a point to reach out to those out of social media daily because the only way we’re going to have jobs in 10 years is if we move the technology that drives the social web mainstream. Education is what we need to be focused on, in my opinion, and that will continually keep us grounded in reality not living in the clouds. Great thoughts here. Nice to put a face with the voice.
Jason, thanks for stopping by and providing a bit of inspiration for this post. I think maybe I’ll go on a 30-day sabbatical from talking to social media folks to really clear my mind ;)
/kff
Great post Kyle, you provide a lot to think about. It’s interesting that you come away from these conversations feeling stronger about the use of social media; often I feel as though there is so much more that needs to happen before the use of many of these tools become mainstream in anything more than a fad/hobbyist sense. Most of the people I talk to who aren’t in the social media circles view social media as an entertainment venue, which makes me feel as though many of the applications could quickly fall by the wayside when the next new thing (whatever that may be) comes along. The bottom line is that real life comes first for most people, and if that means abandoning the facebook page for months at a time, so be it. I’ve already seen this happen with some of the people I’m connected to on facebook, several who were constant users early on haven’t updated their pages in months.
It certainly keeps me grounded, with the firm realization that while this is a growing phenomenon, it is but a small component of communications for all but the most tech-centric industries.
Jen
Jen, I love your viewpoint, particularly “The bottom line is that real life comes first for most people, and if that means abandoning the facebook page for months at a time, so be it.”
So true. I can definitely empathize with the feelings of frustrations, that certainly happens as well. But I will say that it is overcome by the knowledge that there are a lot of great things about social media and I actually like that many of these tools will fall by the wayside because I think many of them are strictly useful from an entertainment point of view. The key, like with all things communication, is for us to all start proving value…which has been difficult for many of us including myself.
/kff
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Glad to hear that you enjoy
it.
Just read some of your posts, lots of food for thought.
Good luck in ALL the changes going on in your life.